# Eurovan, VW, 1993 conversion to electric



## Lupin Moonboots (Jul 27, 2020)

blast from the past.... did you ever gain any insight into this? I’m interested in converting my eurovan...


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## onewheelskyward (Oct 29, 2020)

Ok I'm piling on this thread revival- I'm finding that '93 Eurovan parts are hard to come by. There are some leads out there but mostly for vangons, but it can't be that different, can it? A vanagon is basically a rear-engined transaxle.


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## brian_ (Feb 7, 2017)

onewheelskyward said:


> Ok I'm piling on this thread revival- I'm finding that '93 Eurovan parts are hard to come by. There are some leads out there but mostly for vangons, but it can't be that different, can it? A vanagon is basically a rear-engined transaxle.


A EuroVan is a fourth-generation Transporter, or "T4". A Vanagon is a third-generation Transporter, or "T3". They're both Volkswagen vans, but they're nearly completely different. A different engine, differently oriented (longitudinal in on T3 and transverse in T4) so the transaxle is completely different, with different front suspension to fit around the engine (in the front of the T4, versus the rear of the T3) ... I don't know if there is a single part that happens to be shared between them.


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## Tremelune (Dec 8, 2009)

You're gonna spend $10-20k to have a quiet Eurovan at the end...?


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## robmonk (Oct 20, 2021)

onewheelskyward said:


> Ok I'm piling on this thread revival- I'm finding that '93 Eurovan parts are hard to come by. There are some leads out there but mostly for vangons, but it can't be that different, can it? A vanagon is basically a rear-engined transaxle.


I'm piling on, too. VW says my timing is shot and the engine tear-down to figure it out is apparently more than a replacement engine (which doesn't exist, except salvaged). 

I'm thinking yank the engine and transmission and install batteries/controls and hub-wheel motors on all 4. But obviously the tuning and programming of controls would be a labor of love. Or part of a much broader project to provide rapid-tuning control module prototyping software toolkit mated to various combinations of hub-wheel motor and other drive systems. If there were a tool to dial-in drive control systems for DIY EV's, a DIY conversion might not take forever. Hub wheel manufacturers already partner with auto makers to tune their factory-made vehicle motor applications, so a big enough project for EV-conversion toolkit could get a wheel-motor maker's cooperation, potentially.

Do have to echo the "$10-20K for a quieter Eurovan" comment -- Eurovan is a very heavy chassis (truck-rated?), which could be good for something that's going to haul lots of batteries plus daily payload (like my work-van!), but doesn't prolly make sense for a family-van or maybe not even for a camp-van. Like most things, I imagine, it's cheaper and more energy-economizing to make a new thing, and mass produce it, than to fix an old thing in any kind of one-off approach.


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## brian_ (Feb 7, 2017)

robmonk said:


> Hub wheel manufacturers already partner with auto makers to tune their factory-made vehicle motor applications, so a big enough project for EV-conversion toolkit could get a wheel-motor maker's cooperation, potentially.


And despite that support, there are no EVs in production with hub motors. You need to be really dedicated to the idea of trying in-wheel motors to go that route.


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## robmonk (Oct 20, 2021)

Anyone want to buy a 2003 Eurovan GLS, silver, about 108,000 mi, brand-new brakes all around and new rotors on the front? $700.

It needs an engine overhaul / replaced engine (if you were to remain ICEngine), probably $3K salvaged engine + $2500 labor (?). Front suspension was replaced <5,000 mi ago, and Carfax should show routine service mostly completed. 

Rear liftgate has a dent. Front left fender has a dent, and there are a couple other dings too small for me to notice/remember. 

CarFax says the van would market over $8,000 based on service records, but the body work needed takes $1000 (?) off that.


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## Franciskiter (Nov 13, 2021)

Tremelune said:


> You're gonna spend $10-20k to have a quiet Eurovan at the end...?


Right now is not a bad time… engine, transmission, fuel tank, all worth something, $20k, sell $8-9k in parts… not bad. Then you can go camping with a huge autonomy. Soon in Canada we will see $2/l gas. Not a bad move


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