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This is great and awesome to see, but the prices soon rack-up. - Kit itself: 8,850 - 12 kwh battery pack: 16,000 (no indication on range) - Motor-controller:

This is great and awesome to see, but the prices soon rack-up. - Kit itself: 8,850 - 12 kwh battery pack: 16,000 (no indication on range) - Motor-controller: 3,860 - Charger: 1,950 - coolant pump: 144 Total 30,804, or £36,964.8 inc tax And that is before you add a donor vehicle (and other bells & whistles like LSD etc) and costs/time for removing old engine and putting right the "probably knackered" original body shell (and likely interior too). Call it £40k all in (min) assuming you get a good deal on a donor vehicle + repairs etc. I know classic motoring is not about price or practicality, but just for the sake of comparison: New nissan leaf: £26,845 inc tax New Kia e-niro: £29,595 inc tax New tesla 3: £40,490 inc tax

bfieidhbrjr 6y ago
> no indication on range less than 30 miles at a guess. An optimized and integrated Model 3 has a 75kwh battery from memory, for comparison. This wont be optimized at all on anything with a vastly smaller battery. Still a fun project.
- tomxor 6y ago
  You are totally correct of course, a Tesla is the more practical and economical choice. But fun is the key word i think... I suspect for many people that price is already considered well into luxury car territory (I've never bought a car >£5k, the used car market is large in the UK and the most common way people acquire cars)... Anyway my point is, 40k for most people is not an economical purchase, it's for fun - and even though I think Teslas are kinda cool - I find the idea of a raw EV powertrain in a classic like the mini quite appealing over all the distracting gismos and fairly normal looking modern car you get from a Tesla. - takes cover, behind old mini -
- throwaway0a5e 6y ago
  If you're building a kit for a production volume in the hundreds on up and no reason you couldn't scan a floor pan and then just take a "dozen cells here, hundred there" approach and interconnect it all as necessary. Considering the price point of the kit it kind of seems lazy not to do it.
  - sandworm101 6y ago
    >>"dozen cells here, hundred there" approach and interconnect it all as necessary. Heat. You cannot just daisy chain batteries ad hoc wherever you find the space. These things produce heat. Too much and battery life will degrade rapidly. Much too much and fires start. And too little heat (drawing from frozen batteries) or inconsistent temperatures of batteries in the same circuit can cause all manner of nasty low-voltage surprises.
jcims 6y ago
That's when you pick up the phone and offer 30% of sticker.
tehwebguy 6y ago
Pre-owned electric 2017 Fiat 500e with 20k miles: $7,000.00 on eBay
- akgerber 6y ago
  It will be interesting whether any of the electrical components (battery/charger/controller especially) will be able to be adaptable from budget-priced used EVs to power a kit like this. Plenty of people still want a unique vehicle, and electrical drivetrains are a lot simpler than everything required for an ICE.
  - tpmx 6y ago
    Used Tesla modules seems like a good fit for niche outfits like this. E.g. https://eveurope.eu/en/product/tesla-model-s-module-53-kwhr-24/ https://eveurope.eu/en/product/tesla-model-s-module-53-kwhr-... 5.3 kWh @ EUR 1150 (ex VAT)
taneq 6y ago
Suddenly a Model 3 doesn't look so outrageous.
tpmx 6y ago
£19,200 (inc 20% VAT) for a 12 kWh battery pack is especially outrageous.
onion2k 6y ago
and other bells & whistles like LSD etc It would be dangerous to convert a car while you're on hallucinogens.
- omgwtfbyobbq 6y ago
  Gotta be careful with those Lysergic acid differentials.
- PoachedSausage 6y ago
  And the cops don't appreciate fish driving around, they frown on that.
- hedberg10 6y ago
  dangerous... or grooovy?
nabilhat 6y ago
That cost is actually in the ballpark for an ICE drivetrain swap using new parts and fully prefabricated fitment. Can be done much cheaper going with used parts from wrecked cars. Cheaper still if one has the resources to do their own fitment fabrication work. It's nice though to see an outfit with the kind of reputation that Swindon has earned in ICE motorsports jumping into the EV game. This is bound to be a straightforward and high quality kit for those with the means and not the patience or ability to spend a year of weekends tinkering - that's a section of the EV conversion market that's always been missing. For those who care about the cost and enjoy long tinkering projects, the hobbyist market's already been around for decades, and now the used production parts market is becoming well established.

bfieidhbrjr 6y ago

> no indication on range less than 30 miles at a guess. An optimized and integrated Model 3 has a 75kwh battery from memory, for comparison. This wont be optimized at all on anything with a vastly smaller battery. Still a fun project.

tomxor 6y ago
You are totally correct of course, a Tesla is the more practical and economical choice. But fun is the key word i think... I suspect for many people that price is already considered well into luxury car territory (I've never bought a car >£5k, the used car market is large in the UK and the most common way people acquire cars)... Anyway my point is, 40k for most people is not an economical purchase, it's for fun - and even though I think Teslas are kinda cool - I find the idea of a raw EV powertrain in a classic like the mini quite appealing over all the distracting gismos and fairly normal looking modern car you get from a Tesla. - takes cover, behind old mini -
throwaway0a5e 6y ago
If you're building a kit for a production volume in the hundreds on up and no reason you couldn't scan a floor pan and then just take a "dozen cells here, hundred there" approach and interconnect it all as necessary. Considering the price point of the kit it kind of seems lazy not to do it.
- sandworm101 6y ago
  >>"dozen cells here, hundred there" approach and interconnect it all as necessary. Heat. You cannot just daisy chain batteries ad hoc wherever you find the space. These things produce heat. Too much and battery life will degrade rapidly. Much too much and fires start. And too little heat (drawing from frozen batteries) or inconsistent temperatures of batteries in the same circuit can cause all manner of nasty low-voltage surprises.

jcims 6y ago

That's when you pick up the phone and offer 30% of sticker.

tehwebguy 6y ago

Pre-owned electric 2017 Fiat 500e with 20k miles: $7,000.00 on eBay

akgerber 6y ago
It will be interesting whether any of the electrical components (battery/charger/controller especially) will be able to be adaptable from budget-priced used EVs to power a kit like this. Plenty of people still want a unique vehicle, and electrical drivetrains are a lot simpler than everything required for an ICE.
- tpmx 6y ago
  Used Tesla modules seems like a good fit for niche outfits like this. E.g. https://eveurope.eu/en/product/tesla-model-s-module-53-kwhr-24/ https://eveurope.eu/en/product/tesla-model-s-module-53-kwhr-... 5.3 kWh @ EUR 1150 (ex VAT)

taneq 6y ago

Suddenly a Model 3 doesn't look so outrageous.

tpmx 6y ago

£19,200 (inc 20% VAT) for a 12 kWh battery pack is especially outrageous.

onion2k 6y ago

and other bells & whistles like LSD etc It would be dangerous to convert a car while you're on hallucinogens.

omgwtfbyobbq 6y ago
Gotta be careful with those Lysergic acid differentials.
PoachedSausage 6y ago
And the cops don't appreciate fish driving around, they frown on that.
hedberg10 6y ago
dangerous... or grooovy?

nabilhat 6y ago

That cost is actually in the ballpark for an ICE drivetrain swap using new parts and fully prefabricated fitment. Can be done much cheaper going with used parts from wrecked cars. Cheaper still if one has the resources to do their own fitment fabrication work. It's nice though to see an outfit with the kind of reputation that Swindon has earned in ICE motorsports jumping into the EV game. This is bound to be a straightforward and high quality kit for those with the means and not the patience or ability to spend a year of weekends tinkering - that's a section of the EV conversion market that's always been missing. For those who care about the cost and enjoy long tinkering projects, the hobbyist market's already been around for decades, and now the used production parts market is becoming well established.