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Our Makerspace shares space with a revolving group of people doing electric car conversions. They take cars that are already roadworthy (NZ requires a full road

Our Makerspace shares space with a revolving group of people doing electric car conversions. They take cars that are already roadworthy (NZ requires a full road-worthiness test every 6-12 months) but maybe a sad engine. Rip out that engine, leave the transmission, gas tank, radiator etc. Bodge up a bracket to hold the electric motor and one to mate the engine with the transmission, some people wedge the transmission into 2nd and remove the gear stick. Find a spot for the power controller and hook it up, add a vacuum pump for the power steering/brakes. Now fill the empty spaces (in the engine compartment and where the gas tank was) with batteries .... drive it away .... They start out roadworthy, and nothing that made them roadworthy is taken away. They go down and get retested after they're done. None of the passenger space has gone. AC isn't required here, we wind down our windows, I'll agree heat is an issue.

codecamper 9y ago
Where is this Makerspace? Sounds awesome. Tesla should make their liquid cooled battery packs for the conversion market. Of course their market cap dictates they can't go so low margin, but if the Tesla beast collapses (next market downturn?)... someone should be ready to jump in and convert their battery tech into these turnkey solutions for other manufacturers / converters.
- kwhitefoot 9y ago
  > turnkey solutions for other manufacturers isn't this what the Gigafactory is for?
- Taniwha 9y ago
  We're in Dunedin, New Zealand - the Makerspace isn't the group that's doing the conversions, we share our space with a bunch of other groups that do things like electric car and bike conversions https://valleyworkspace.org/ https://valleyworkspace.org/
Retric 9y ago
Batteries are not inherently road worthy, and a significant chunk of car 'battery' weight is all the systems that make it relatively safe to have an electric car. They are also introducing an unknown power line which could kill rescue workers who think it's safe to cut X, when it's not. Don't get me wrong they could be doing this safely, but it's really easy to mess something up.
djrogers 9y ago
> They start out roadworthy, and nothing that made them roadworthy is taken away They have a completely different weight distribution, which should require a complete suspension overhaul. The engine in a modern car is designed as part of the passenger safety crumple zone, so from end crash worthiness is changed. I could go on. My original point though, was that this is at best a car with 25 year old safety standards being compared to one that meets today’s standards. It’s apples and oranges.

codecamper 9y ago

Where is this Makerspace? Sounds awesome. Tesla should make their liquid cooled battery packs for the conversion market. Of course their market cap dictates they can't go so low margin, but if the Tesla beast collapses (next market downturn?)... someone should be ready to jump in and convert their battery tech into these turnkey solutions for other manufacturers / converters.

kwhitefoot 9y ago
> turnkey solutions for other manufacturers isn't this what the Gigafactory is for?
Taniwha 9y ago
We're in Dunedin, New Zealand - the Makerspace isn't the group that's doing the conversions, we share our space with a bunch of other groups that do things like electric car and bike conversions https://valleyworkspace.org/ https://valleyworkspace.org/

Retric 9y ago

Batteries are not inherently road worthy, and a significant chunk of car 'battery' weight is all the systems that make it relatively safe to have an electric car. They are also introducing an unknown power line which could kill rescue workers who think it's safe to cut X, when it's not. Don't get me wrong they could be doing this safely, but it's really easy to mess something up.

djrogers 9y ago

> They start out roadworthy, and nothing that made them roadworthy is taken away They have a completely different weight distribution, which should require a complete suspension overhaul. The engine in a modern car is designed as part of the passenger safety crumple zone, so from end crash worthiness is changed. I could go on. My original point though, was that this is at best a car with 25 year old safety standards being compared to one that meets today’s standards. It’s apples and oranges.