I think there's still an argument for conversions in a few cases where there's no or few modern EV equivalents available, such as truly small cars (in the US) and antique vehicles.
The motor is an interesing idea. I seem to recall a company many years ago that offered that kind of driveshaft motor kit for pickups, though it wasn't modular. Unfortunately fitting the motor isn't so much the tough part. The real challenge is where to put the battery. It's somewhat easier now that batteries are smaller (remember the lead sleds of the 1970s to 1990s?). I suppose you could design a tiny LI battery with limited range that would fit in the back of multiple vehicles. But if you want really good range, you'll need a customized solution. Then when the vehicle is restyled, the battery kit has to also be redesigned. Phil mentions the headaches of convincing a modern ICEV's myriad computers that an ICE is still under the hood, idling, cruising, accelerating. None of this is trivial or cheap, if done right - sometimes even if done wrong. Even for a major automaker with tons of $$$ and engineering on hand, designing an electric powertrain option (EPTO) for an existing ICEV platform is a pretty significant challenge. David Roden, EVDL moderator & general lackey To reach me, don't reply to this message; I won't get it. Use my offlist address here : http://evdl.org/help/index.html#supt = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = The only way to achieve a practical, livable peace in a world of competing nations is to take the profit out of war. -- Richard Nixon, "Real Peace"(1983) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = _______________________________________________ Address messages to [email protected] No other addresses in TO and CC fields HELP: http://www.evdl.org/help/
