COVID day dreaming- EV swap

"Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle" (1500sand535) 04/07/2020 at 14:42 • Filed to: None

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I’m in the midst of some other car project stuff but I’ve been dreaming of something lately; an EV-swap.

I just don’t know if I’ve got the know how and capabilities. But I love the idea of a Mercedes 300CE or some other luxury coupe from the 80s/90s and Bolt EV running gear with the motor out back.

I guess this is the compromise idea; the real dream is a Tesla motor. But the 200/266 hp/tq from the Bolt would allow something around 3,500 pounds get out of its own way and hopefully keep things entertaining. And it looks like copart Bolts go for The same or less than just the Tesla motor.

Do other oppos daydream about an EV swap? What would be your car of choice.

Anyone know good current DIY information(I’m not anywhere near such a project but I’d love to read more). It seems like there is a huge difference in quality and purposes of home brew EV swaps.

A little inspiration:

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle 04/07/2020 at 15:30

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I know companies like EVWest make drop in subframes and stuff for old VWs and Porsches. In terms of info for a DIY... Not sure.

I do think it would be fun to put a very small, low power system in a Trabant or some other eastern bloc car. It wouldn’t do more than 45, but I don’t think you’d want to anyway. It would just be for short shopping trips

Tareim - V8 powered > Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle 04/07/2020 at 15:33

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EV swapping that Merc would certainly make it a lot more reliable, you’d just have to sort out any potential rust issues

As for what car I would like to EV swap, I’d go for a 22b as I love the car but the ej reliability is a concern

Beefchips > Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle 04/07/2020 at 15:38

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Y eah, for sure! I’ve been keeping an eye on evwest, the electric GT etc... C urrently looking at keeping the stock (manual) transmission in a MGB gt or some other light car, acceleration and speed there can be quite decent . But TBH an electric SL would be tasty too .  

Since you’re bored stuck at home, check out x-engineer.org . This guy describes how to use freeware to simulate a 0-60 and top speed for a car given the torque curve, gear ratios, and some details about the tires (you can calculate if you’ll burn rubber :)

https://x-engineer.org/projects/vehicle-acceleration-maximum-speed-modeling-simulation/

Svend > Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle 04/07/2020 at 15:41

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I do like those old Mercs of that period.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle 04/07/2020 at 15:48

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I’d love to swap a Volt powertrain into a W201. I always liked that car, but hated the coarse 4-banger that most of them had here in the US.

Beefchips > Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle 04/07/2020 at 16:07

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Electrify!

Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 04/07/2020 at 16:13

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The Evwest stuff is cool. I wish they’d expand into other cars/chassis. 

Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle > Svend 04/07/2020 at 16:15

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I’m a sucker for a coupe with no b pillar. 

Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle > Tareim - V8 powered 04/07/2020 at 16:16

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After I posted this I realized a BMW 8 series would be even higher on my list. And speaking of improving drivetrain reliability...

RPM esq. > Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle 04/07/2020 at 16:46

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If somebody built a professional-quality 8-series EV conversion, I would buy the hell out of it. A heavy GT is a great place to start. Actually, now that I think about it, my W124 wagon would make a great EV....

Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle > RPM esq. 04/07/2020 at 19:51

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I hadn’t looked at 8 series prices for years until I made that post; they are higher than I expected. Although my memory may be tainted as there was a car on CL in Oregon when I lived there for like 6 months that this person just couldn’t sell for about $2,500 that had issues. That’s the perfect candidate.

6cyl > Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle 04/07/2020 at 23:45

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Nissan 300zx or a Porsche 928 would both be sweet

Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle > 6cyl 04/08/2020 at 13:21

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A 928 is a great idea. Hmmm.