# What would be the best EV conversion candidate?



## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

If you need front air bags, you're into a car with modern systems- ECU, probably power steering and power brakes. Also probably front wheel drive, giving you less room to work. Unibody construction. All surmountable problems, but more work and more limitations.

No front air bag requirement frees you up quite a bit. An older RWD car with a chassis, no power steering or power brakes and no ECU, makes life a lot easier. Aside from how cool they are (obviously I'm biased), that's one reason you'll see so many converted Triumphs. But even more popular than the Triumph is the VW Beetle and its variants. While CanEV doesn't sell Triumph transmission-motor adapters, they do sell VW ones. 

The rest is just a matter of weight, Cd, money and taste.

If you just want a safe econobox EV, the thing to do is to buy is a used Leaf. In fact one of the best value propositions for people who don't just want an econobox is to take a crashed but driveable Leaf and transplant the entire works into another, older, cooler vehicle. miscrms is doing just that with a Saab Sonnet.


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## Thaddeus_The_Bold (Apr 11, 2016)

I'm actually thinking about an old 944... I had a 944 Turbo once and it was an awesome car, I'm thinking it would make a good donor.


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## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

Check the Garage- think there is at least one in there.


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## evmetro (Apr 9, 2012)

When I first started converting, I chose Metro for many of the same reasons. They do not exactly fit the "sporty coupe" thing, since they are just economy cars, but there were some things that did catch my eye about them. First, they are the benchmark of mpg, which also makes them the king of miles per kW as an EV. This makes the most of expensive lithium. I also like that they are manual steering, so nothing to convert. Air bags are there already, and you don't even need a brake vacuum system if you are on a budget. I do install vacuum systems in my Metros, but often run with them turned off. I doubt that there is an easier car to convert, and the dollars go much further in one of these. If you are young and single, you probably won't pick up women in one of these things, but if you are on a budget, this is one of the best donors.


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## miscrms (Sep 25, 2013)

It seems like Porsche 914 used to be a popular choice. Good mix of VW simplicity with a sportier look and handling, but more budget (and I believe lighter) than 911.


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## evforme? (Jul 23, 2015)

I always like the MR2 for this, 1st or 3rd gen, and it's already got a few electric powered systems that you'd normally have to make electric.


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## Thaddeus_The_Bold (Apr 11, 2016)

Hm, the MR2 might be a good idea. I've always liked them, and they're more than 400 pounds lighter than a 944. That's a big difference.

I just wonder about the whole mid-engine thing. I'm not sure I want to be sitting right next to a big old whirling magnetic field 2 feet from my head.


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## miscrms (Sep 25, 2013)

Another good place to browse for ideas:
http://www.evalbum.com/


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## onegreenev (May 18, 2012)

miscrms said:


> It seems like Porsche 914 used to be a popular choice. Good mix of VW simplicity with a sportier look and handling, but more budget (and I believe lighter) than 911.


The 914 is good because it has lots of good space for batteries. They are great to drive and they handle very well. Light and agile. A great candidate for a nice AC motor like you can get from HPEVS. Be sure you find a good rust free one. Not an easy thing to do today. But they are fun. May not be a good commuter unless your a short person. Im 6'2" and had to put mine on. So I eventually sold it. A good VW Ghia or Notchback would be a good choice.


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## miscrms (Sep 25, 2013)

Assume you've seen this....

http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php/sale-1986-porsche-944-turbo-15k-162817.html

Yes building your own is fun, but you'd probably be hard pressed to just get all the parts together for cheaper.

Rob


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## Thaddeus_The_Bold (Apr 11, 2016)

No, I hadn't seen it. Thanks for the tip. Interesting.

I'm really hoping for an 87 or later so the car has ABS and an airbag. 

Also want an AC motor, at this point.

Still, that's a beautiful ride. Somebody ought to snap that up, I'm surprised nobody has.


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## madderscience (Jun 28, 2008)

My old 85 MR2 did quite well as a conversion. It was a lead acid/curtis/ADC 9" build so no hot rod, but on warm days it could do sub 200wh-mile on the highway at 60mph. It was pretty much the lowest CdA of anything you can find except maybe the 1st gen Insight. No air bags, but other than that, easy and good conversion candidate and TONS of space for battery. I was able to get 21 6v golf batteries into the thing and I still had most of the trunk.

The same chassis with a leaf transplant or a 1000A zilla and the battery/drivetrain to back it up would make a GREAT car.

Oh, and pOny that nagmetic field disndt mess me uP at all!


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## twright (Aug 20, 2013)

How about this one: 

http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php/sale-2000-ford-escort-ev-170297.html


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## miscrms (Sep 25, 2013)

Not as sexy as a Porsche, but Saturn S-series also seems to be a popular / solid choice. Good weight, decent aero, decently built, plenty of parts available, choice of 4 door sedan, coupe or wagon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_S-Series

Rob


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## dougingraham (Jul 26, 2011)

Thaddeus_The_Bold said:


> What would be the best candidate conversion vehicle, if you consider the following factors? Assume a 'sporty coupe' of some kind.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Availability of conversion parts is of low concern. You can savage parts from OEM's these days.
Ease of conversion: Older cars (Pre OBD) makes for a lot easier conversion.
Drivablility range: Lighter is better. Speed: Aerodynamic for top speed, light weight for best 0-60 time. Handling: A well engineered lightweight sports car.
Lowest cost: Probably a 60's or 70's VW because so much stuff is available but the availability of salvage OEM components changes this a lot.
Funnest: This is a personal choice thing. What is fun for me might not be your cup of tea.
Safest: This will track the original car if all systems continue to work properly. If this is really important to you then a Tesla Model S or X would be your choices and no conversion necessary.
Anything else: Pick a car that you like and would be happy to drive for many years. Everything else is possible just by throwing money at it. Starting with a rust free example in good operating condition will save you possibly years of additional work in restoration.


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## miscrms (Sep 25, 2013)

To Doug's point, the possibility of using parts from purpose built BEVs (and HEVs to some degree) is looking like a real game changer. For example, if you use the motor from a Leaf, it comes with a built in 8:1 reduction gear and transaxle. This could probably be dropped into pretty much any FWD vehicle. No adapter plates, couplers or worries about gear ratios and transmissions, just need to get CV shafts made or modified to connect the transaxle to the hubs.

At 80kW (200ftlbs / 105hp), its maybe not be a scorcher, but in any medium sized vehicle around 3300lbs (similar to a Leaf) it should do a respectable 0-60mph in 9-10s with a top speed around 90mph (rpm limit) and ~70 mile range if also using the Leaf battery. In a lighter vehicle, it should do better. There is also the possibility of extracting a lot more performance out of this motor, as ANL testing found that 80kW seems to be a continuous rating. Its not unusual for peak ratings to be 2-3X continuous. Stock performance looks to be better than an AC51, and similar to a dual AC35. 

There are also folks trying motors / gearboxes better suited to RWD, such as Lexus hybrid or Tesla motors.

This approach certainly has its own challenges, and is still being proven but is looking promising. Some folks are using individual components, such as the battery or motor, and coming up with their own control schemes. I'm taking the approach of trying to move the entire drive and control system into a much lighter vehicle. If that works out I will have basically bought my entire conversion "kit" for the $7k price of a wrecked but driveable Leaf from salvage auction. A comparable AC drive system, with 3kW charger and 24kWh Li battery plus all the incidentals to hook up would easily run $15k-20k I would think.

You can check out my threads below in my sig if you are interested. The Leaf link follows the teardown and testing on the Leaf, the Sonett link on the prep of the host and overall planning. The Leaf system has been demonstrated with basic functionality outside the Leaf, and I hope to have it working in the new host vehicle in the next few months.

Rob


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