EV conversion - long term plan

[m1tch]

Hi all,

Owing to the recent announcement regarding the banning of new petrol and diesel cars in 15 years (my car is 17 years old) I thought I would look to the future a bit.

I am currently accelerating plans on my forged engine and turbo build but I am also looking at options after that, say in 10 years time.

I am looking to perhaps do an EV conversion after I have been running the forged 1zz turbo build for a while, that way there will be more recent tech for batteries and motors.

You can already buy an off the shelf kit for the Mk2:

https://www.evwest.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=40&products_id=219&osCsid=6u0ctmam4clu19a1r29msq86v2

Basically replacing the engine with an electric motor with the rest of the drivetrain remaining the same - the electric motor bolts onto the flywheel and the stock clutch is retained.

I am going to actually look to make a plate to mount onto the stock C series gearbox so that I will be ready for when I do swap over to EV.

The good news about the EV swap is that the electric motor will be lighter, the low down fuel tank can have batteries, extra batteries can go in the frunk and our cars have electric power steering so that's that aspect sorted.

Seems like a fairly easy swap over to EV by just using the current drivetrain, will just mean instant torque but retain the great handling on the current platform (along with any mods I have already done).

Just wanted to mention this on the forum to see what others are thinking

[Ardent]

As a torque junkie, i love the instant gratification elec torque gives.

[paulj]

Based on EVs I have driven, adding that torque fun to the MR2 would be immense. Quite a big ticket item though especially as the battery is an additional cost......

Suspect I will keep to petrol, even if in the future you buy it in bottles at the hardware store 

[steveash]

Why do they keep the clutch? It surely won't last long with all that extra instant torque. I remember the original Tesla Roadster based on the Elise had loads of problems with its 2 speed gearbox so they kept a single speed for future models.

I like the idea of an electric MR2. As long as the weight and it's distribution is maintained it would be a lot of fun. The old 1ZZ isn't key to the car's character so I don't think it would be the end of the world to loose it.

[105e]

I recall seeing the original tesla/elise being tested on old top gear, think the problem was the weight of the batteries which ruined it.

[Bcxbcx]

It depends what you will want the car for; Im really far from an expert (and happy to be proved wrong), but I looked at electrifying mine and unless I was looking to spend a large amount on it, it looked like  i would end up with something that was pretty compromised.

If I had a single electric motor connected to the existing gearbox and the right batteries (assuming that I could fit them in) I estimated that for about £10k I would end up with something that at best would have about an 80mph top speed, probably similar acceleration to standard and probably 100 mile range.
But I wasn't sure if I could get the parts that I wanted to enable that.
Most of that cost would have been the batteries too, with a lot of the parts repurposed/secondhand.

If I did something that did away with the gearbox (would need a lot of custom parts like driveshafts) and utilised tesla parts, possibly even multiple motors, bits that can take more power etc; I could probably make something faster with a longer range, but i would have had to spend a lot of money (possibly 40k plus) to the point it just wouldn't be worth it!

Looking at the graph on the Evwest site kinda backs that up. Unless I'm reading it wrong,  you'll have about 100bhp and 120ftlbs max (although instantly), which is  less than the standard car.
And batteries aren't included in that kit either, so the cost is much more too complete.