Re: Porsche 356 Kit-Car to EV

[bdube@boulder.nist.gov (Bill Dube')]

>Has anyone on the list had any experience converting a 
>Porsche 356 kit car to electric?  It's based on a '71 VW
>beetle pan with a steel/fiberglass body.  I built it 3 years
>ago and it's been fun, but now I think it's time for a 
>quieter ride.
>

    Almost any type car that you could name has been converted to electric.
Your kit car is based on a VW driveline. This makes the motor adapter and
hub as well as suspension upgrades very easy to find and relatively inexpensive.

    The conversion process is straightforward and the components are readily
available. Battery layout in your unique car will require a custom solution,
but it may be close to that used in a Karmann Ghia. First, however, you must
decide on how much range you can live with, how much performance you want,
and how much you can afford to spend. 

    Take a look at the conversion checklist that the Wilde EVolutions folks
have on their web page. <http://www.evparts.com> This checklist will give
you an idea of the size of the task ahead of you. That same webpage has a
list of all the other major EV parts suppliers. This makes it easy to
comparison shop. Typically, a supplier will make you a better deal on a
complete package than on the separate parts. These suppliers almost all
stock the more popular books on converting a car to electric. I would
suggest buying one of these books.

    Although they are more expensive, you can often stuff a lot more AGM
type (sealed) batteries in a sports car than you can flooded type batteries.
This is because you can install AGM type batteries in any position and in
spots where they are nearly inaccessable. In the Bradley GT, for example,
you can put quite a few AGM batteries in the sides of the body in line with
the wheels. You can't easily put flooded batteries in these locations
because you don't have access to the tops. Thus, you can't check or add
water without removing the batteries or cutting an access hatch of some sort. 
             _   /|             
             \'o.O'              Bill Dube'
           =(___)=           bdube@boulder.nist.gov
              U