Getting Serious on Electric Cars?

[Jim Matthews]

I don't believe they are legal to be licensed for road use here, but see lots of them anyway. I can actually understand an e-bike as more desireable. Less weight to drag around. easy to park and store. Actually a good short commute vehicle. Knew an attorney in DC that used a home converted electric bike to commute the 4 miles each way to his office, except in snow, rain and extreme wind.

You're on to something, regarding distance.
Commutes need to be convenient, and brief.

The killer app for electric bikes, or "E-assist" is urban delivery - where lack of parking causes delays. These are rolling out on flat cities, with decent weather.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle...ce-in-seattle/

[Jim Becker]

I did some reading about EV conversions after Jim posted here. There are some significant problems in the conversion, especially for cars after about 1966, unless you want a basic car without heat, AC, power steering, power brakes, etc. In later cars, the electronics makes it very difficult to convert and keep the features that the original car had. There are also concerns about center of gravity, crash worthiness, suspension, and fire from the batteries.

To my reading, the basic problem is that an ICE car was designed around an ICE and converting it to carry batteries and using an electric motor is a pretty major problem - and expensive. I can't see this as anything more than a niche product. I wouldn't be surprised if GM never makes this commercially available.

Mike

Good observation and I strongly suspect that most conversions are going to be focused on older "classic" vehicles which is a nice niche to be in.

[Brian Elfert]

One would assume if GM started selling a "crate" electric motor kit that they thought about such things as HVAC, power steering, power brakes, and so on.

[Jim Becker]

One would assume if GM started selling a "crate" electric motor kit that they thought about such things as HVAC, power steering, power brakes, and so on.

While the Engaget. article linked to in the OP doesn't detail GM's intended market, it wouldn't be hard to assume from the context of the vehicle illustrated being an old 1977 Blazer that a good chunk of the interest for this kind of kit will likely be vehicles that didn't have things like AC, power steering, power brakes, etc. So I do suspect they have thought of that and would likely have guidance available on the same given they intend to authorize entities to sell the kits and one would thing there will be some "caveats" and "things to consider" offered to end buyers.

[Brian Elfert]

This report does not make me want to buy GM stock. I think they need to devote their development dollars to projects for which there is a significant demand.

GM has averaged over $7 billion in R&D spending per year since 2013. You're going to ditch GM stock because they spent maybe $20 or $30 million on developing an electric crate motor? Projects like these help keep engineers engaged in their jobs. Post-It notes were an accidental invention at 3M that has made billions for them.

I think you would be surprised how much money many large public companies spend on R&D on projects like this that never get publicized. It isn't unusual for companies with lots of engineers to have their engineers work something like 20% of their time on projects that interest them to keep them engaged in their jobs.

[Jim Becker]

Brian, I agree. And in this case, it's something where there may be a good market for folks who willingly spend money.

[Steve Demuth]

I am afraid you are speaking from a position of very little knowledge as to what it would take to do such a conversion. I spent an entire career as an engineer for a major automotive manufacturer and understand the challenge a little better. I even know a guy who used an old Nissan to create an EV. He could have bought a new car for what he put in it. The best one could hope for in such a conversion would be a collector's item with little practical value. Some other posters have already listed several reasons why this is true. The biggest one I see is cost. It isn't even cost effective to replace the batteries in a vehicle that was designed as an EV, much less replace an entire motor and battery pack in an ICE vehicle. Perhaps GM has money to invest for hobby purposes but I am not interested in investing in it.

I have to agree with Art on this one. Whatever the economics (which don't look favorable), the engineering seems extremely challenging, because the weight distribution (and actually, the absolute weight) and the drive trains are so different in an electric vehicle. Batteries, are big, and they are heavy. So in addition to a completely novel engine, you have to re-engineer the physical configuration (for the drivetrain) and suspension systems to do this. If you don't have professional engineering, you're not going to succeed.

[Doug Dawson]

While the Engaget. article linked to in the OP doesn't detail GM's intended market, it wouldn't be hard to assume from the context of the vehicle illustrated being an old 1977 Blazer that a good chunk of the interest for this kind of kit will likely be vehicles that didn't have things like AC, power steering, power brakes, etc. So I do suspect they have thought of that and would likely have guidance available on the same given they intend to authorize entities to sell the kits and one would thing there will be some "caveats" and "things to consider" offered to end buyers.

I agree. It is likely that a 77 Blazer no longer has a/c, power steering, or power brakes (or headlights or tail lights. :^) So it doesn’t really matter.

I have actually driven a car with two engines, one in the front and one in the back. I was a bit worried about this, because there was no _really_ good way to secure the engine in the back, in case of an accident or even heavy braking. I assume the same would be true in a 77 Blazer, with the batteries.

[Doug Garson]

This report does not make me want to buy GM stock. I think they need to devote their development dollars to projects for which there is a significant demand.

While I agree e conversions would be a small niche market, GM's introduction of this kits may do more for market image than retail sales. What would make me not want to invest in GM would be if they were ignoring the e vehicle market. Hard to imagine any car company surviving the next 25 years without a heavy investment in non ICE vehicles.

[Derek Meyer]

I have a friend who is working on a project to convert an old Volvo coupe to an all-electric racer. His project is more about rebuilding the car from the chassis up to look like the old Volvo than just doing an electric conversion. It's a project that goes way beyond the average weekend warrior. He has a website with details if you are interested.

[andrew whicker]

I didn't realize car nuts who trick out vehicles were worried about economic feasibilities.

[Doug Garson]

I have a friend who is working on a project to convert an old Volvo coupe to an all-electric racer. His project is more about rebuilding the car from the chassis up to look like the old Volvo than just doing an electric conversion. It's a project that goes way beyond the average weekend warrior. He has a website with details if you are interested.

Impressive website.

[Bill Dufour]

You could convert a Ford fairlane with dual attennas to be electric and drive under the trolley bus wires. Just make those antennas a bit longer so they can work as trolley poles.
Bill D.

https://buy.motorious.com/articles/n...eks-new-suitor
Bill D.

[Jim Becker]

Older body-on-frame vehicles offer a lot of creative opportunity to completely re-engineer things to account for both the electric drivetrain, batteries and other things. A builder could even completely replace the original frame/chassis, making it very modern and able to handle the incredible performance possible as an EV while allowing "the look" to be maintained externally. I don't think this kind of offer is going to be intended as a Mass Market killing; rather, it's going to cater to a more pointed space where engineering and money are abundant. In this case, GM would get "brownie points" for being the motivation supplier.

[Mike Henderson]

I didn't realize car nuts who trick out vehicles were worried about economic feasibilities.

Wow, that is the truth!

Mike