[brian_]

I'm interested if anyone has salvaged an motor from a Leaf or Volt/Bolt that works well in their Beetle conversion. I'm intrigued by the possibility....as long as the motor fits in the rear compartment?

Just about any motor from a production EV will fit in the space of a Beetle engine. The bigger challenges are

1. mounting the motor to the VW transaxle and mating the motor to the transmission input shaft (if that's the way you're going), or
2. making a whole salvaged drive unit (motor plus transaxle) fit (if that's the way you're going).

Some people have certainly mated Leaf motors to various transmissions, but it is still not straightforward.

A Volt (plug-in hybrid) and a Bolt (EV) shouldn't be grouped together. While both are branded Chevrolet there's little other connection. A Bolt has a substantial electric motor which might be suitable (although the housing is probably not workable), but a Volt has a sophisticated two-motor multi-mode power-split hybrid transmission system.

 

[brian_]

I've been researching Beetle builds for a while now, and it seems most guys either use off-the-shelf Curtis AC-50 motors (Pricey!) or they use DC motors from forklifts or the Netgain Warps. I'd really like to go AC.

The other obvious choice, to go with the ACx induction motors and brushed DC motors, is the permanent magnet AC motor built in China, sold by an Italian company, and branded "HyPer9" by Netgain. It's just as expensive as other aftermarket AC options, but designed to work at power supply voltages typical of these aftermarket and brushed DC installations, rather than the higher voltage typical of production EVs.