[MR2] Vague thoughts on an electric MkI

[Steve]

I considered doing this awhile back with my 914, but decided it would be
too expensive to do it right. Mid engine cars are said to be great for
electric conversions though.

http://www.evcl.com/914/ 

http://www.electroauto.com/gallery/vp914.shtml 

http://www.amphibike.org/index.cgi?page=pages/3_wheels/mr2 


On Wed, 2010-04-07 at 22:27 -0700, felix at crowfix.com wrote:
> My little '86 has 434K miles on it, still running good, but a
> conversation at work got me to remembering that when I bought it, I
> thought batteries would be good enough by the time it wore out that I
> would have a choice of good electric cars ... 24 years later, that
> might still be true :-)
> 
> But I was pondering the idea more on a long drive ... wondering this
> time about some day converting my MkI to an electric drive.  Some day
> batteries will be better and there will even be charging stations
> around, enough of them to make it practical for road trips ... so sez
> my optimistic self.
> 
> I don't have any immediate or even near term plans, but I do wonder
> what it would take, how it could be done.  Forget the battery problem
> for the time being, or charging stations.
> 
> 1.  Replace only the engine, keeping the tranny, shifter, etc.
> 
> 2.  Replace the engine and tranny -- after all, the right electric
>     motor wouldn't need gears.
> 
> 3.  Replace the engine and tranny, but put in a CVTwith stick shift.
>     I like the idea of a manually controlled CVT, but I know very
>     little about them.
> 
> 4.  Put electric motors in the wheels, get rid of the differential
>     too.  I have heard that it can be close to an even trade in
>     unsprung weight, adding motors but losing axles.
> 
> Of course, a proper installation would have regenerative braking.
> 
> Aside from the fun of plain speculation, I am curious if anyone has
> done something like this or heard of any good conversions, and not
> limited to MR2s.  I have heard a time or two of backyard conversions,
> but never paid much attention, and I imagine they were not very
> practical, probably used lead acid batteries and had short range.
>