Hey /diy/. I've been wondering... how hard is it to convert a gasoline car into an electric car? Unfortunately, I have this Bora in my backyard taking up space, and the engine is completely blown. However, someone did the favor of taking out the engine and now it just sits there with no engine. I've been wanting to convert it to an electric car since it is very lightweight and the trasnmission ( I think) seems to be okay. How hard is this, and has anyone done it? I have some skills in circuits, but by no means am I an electrical engineer. Thanks for any advice!
What you're asking is effectively impossible.
Someone with a proper shop, tools, access to engines and batteries, lots of time and lots of money COULD do it.
But for someone like OP that is so dumb as to even ask the question? Yeah, it's impossible.
Only way the car might move again is on a tow-truck... OR if you went a put a new engine in it yourself.
>>934709
EV swaps really arent that hard to do.
>>934702
It can be done pretty easily, if you can get a bell housing for your transmission.
I know that old Golfs are very popular for this, and you can easily buy a bell housing for the old 1.8l VWs.
From there its just buying and mounting a forklift motor to your transmission, buying (or building) a motor controller to hook to your throttle, and building a battery array.
You can do it and get a good ~40 miles per charge for like 3000$
Just google it, there are a lot of resources out there.
I decided not to take the plunge (even though I had a free forklift motor) and sold my car instead. I doubt there will be people will real experience doing it on here
Average cost of conversion is 10K. It won't be practical and it'll take a lot of time, unless you know your way around a wrench. Google around for conversion kits and figure out how you'll get power steering and brakes again to start.
>>934709
Its a car he's talking about, not a go kart. It has to get inspected by the DMV/insurance before it can be driven.
>>934719
>figure out how you'll get power steering and brakes again to start.
or just stop being a massive pussy? when i go down the mountain in my 3,000kg van i turn the engine off and pump the brakes until there's no vacuum assist, shits fun as fuck and gives you a good workout.
>>934726
Fuck this.
Just license and insure it under it's original name/VIN.
They don't need to know it's got a different motor.
>>934726
>It has to get inspected by the DMV/insurance before it can be driven.
Not if it has an existing title and he's in the US in a non-inspection State. Still, the electric car problem is that purpose built hardware totally and utterly crushes cobbled together shit. It is possible but for the amount of money you will burn for little result you could build a nice home machine shop with industrial tools, or do something else awesome.
Just because you can doesn't make it smart and you won't save money. You WILL expend time, MONEY and effort you could put to other use.
>>934715
You really dont need the transmission with an electric motor. No real gain, it operates fine without. You get all the torque from the motor from the start at all times.
>>936171
>this fucking guy
First off, while true you dont need multiple gears like a gas engine because of torque requirements, electric cars still need a geared transmission to transfer power from your engine to your tires.
And second off, the guy was talking about retrofitting an electric motor into another car. You may not need the existing multiple gear transmission, but you arent going to remove it in a retrofit job ever. You gonna hand build a one off transmission to transfer power down the drive train?
>>936171
People doing conversions like this tend to pin the transmission in second.
>>934702
It's possible, but I would never recommend to DIY it. The batteries used in EV's have enough current to kill you quickly if you short them, to say nothing of overheating and fire risks.
Unless it's from a professionally made conversion kit, or you get a professional to engineer it before you install it, or you yourself have professional level electric engineering skills, this is one of those projects that it's best to just back away slowly from.
>>934719
>and figure out how you'll get power steering and brakes again to start.
Couldn't you have an electric pump for those too?
Don't cars these days have electric pumps running off the alternator for those things instead of running it off torque produced from the engine anyway?
>>936179
>You gonna hand build a one off transmission to transfer power down the drive train?
Not that guy, but I don't see what the big issue is. As you said, it can be single speed, so there really wouldn't be much to it.
>>937393
Most people keep the gearbox. The clutch often goes.
Sell gas car, buy modern electric or hybrid with moderate wreck damage, fix wreck damage, drive result happily.
>>937393
>it can be single speed
yes, but that sets very specific requirements on the motor. You need the transmission to make use of the widely available forklift-assorted EV motors and get the most out of the motor.
>>937385
a vacuum pump would do.
Short answer, with modern tech and ev advances, it's not that hard. Long answer, depends what you want.
First, if you have an automatic transmission in the car, sucks for you cause it's not happening. Unless you're using a purpose built electric motor I.e like a Tesla, most motors won't spin the transmission torque convert fast enough to provide hydraulic pressure.
Now if you have a manual transmission, access to a decent electric motor, and a bank of batteries, sure. Might get 15-40 miles a charge, but with some work you can do it. And with a vacuum pump and another smaller electric motor, you can have your power brakes and power steering as well.
Of course, we're not talking about your state's/countries registration and vehicle verification requirements. You're on your own there.
Tl:Dr
Not that hard if you're will to do the work yourself and spend $1500-3000
>>938776
Reminds me, I need to get /DIY/ some pictures of a car I regularly spot in my town.
Can't remember the brand, but it looks mid-80s and it's fairly exotic, bright yellow.
I went to take a closer look one day and the back is full of gel cell batteries, what looks like home made circuit boards (No silk screening, single sided, copper on fiberglass).
It still has the stick shift in it. I need to hunt down the owner one day and ask him about it.
I can only begin to imagine how peeved Tesla owners would feel if your beat ass diy electric is taking up space at the charging station.
Do you guys know anything about natural gas conversions? I looked into it a few years ago but haven't read much since. It seemed worthwhile at the time.
>>934719
legit... theres so many electric assisted steering now days [im looking at you fucking porche..] that completely replaces the older versions of power steering, apparently its just cheaper. but you feel like you're sitting behind a PC with a cheap gaming steering wheel playing mario kart... no feeling of the road below you, if you just wanna drive and don't care about doing super awesome skids, then sure go with electric power steering.
also.. what's wrong with old school brakes? Remember, longer the lever the more moons you can push. or something like that. With an EV you can just run a big ass master cylinder up front where the rad would go. and get some tubing and run from the brake pedal to the cylinder and have LEVERAGE for days. allowing you effortless braking, even with 2000lbs of car... Just a thought tho.
>>938866
>Remember, longer the lever the more moons you can push. or something like that.
That doesn't come for free.
Just like with a solid lever, the greater the mechanical advantage, the greater the travel ratio.
If you double the mechanical advantage of your brakes, you either half the clearance between the pads and the disks, or you double how far the pedal has to travel.
This is why power brakes are a thing.
