Classic Mini Electric

[ajprice]

http://www.bmwblog.com/2018/03/27/first-drive-the-...

A classic Mini Cooper restored and converted to EV. It's a one off for the New York motor show, BMW are starting to bang the drum for the current model Mini EV being launched this time next year.

There's no mention of what the motor is or what the battery size is, but from the article it isn't BMW i3 performance, it's a 65 mile range, and the battery pack is probably taking the space of the back seat, making it a 2 seater. It still has the 4 speed gearbox connected to the motor and the clutch pedal which isn't connected to anything.

[ajprice]

A couple of drive videos, the backrest of the back seat is still there, the batteries are in place of the seat base and come halfway up the backrest, so it is a 2 seater.

https://youtu.be/ws_te83-IJE
https://youtu.be/wyOaKRQcivQ

[donkmeister]

Looks good, I occasionally hanker for doing this sort of conversion but lack of space forbids it.

Out of interest, what makes it a Cooper? I thought the engine was the bit that the John Cooper Works breathed on, and that's not there anymore.

[DonkeyApple]

I don’t know if this is one of theirs but this is the sort of thing that the London Electric Car company do.

Coincidentally an article on their Mog is in the Waspegraph today: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/features/prelude-...

We had a thread on PH probably over a decade ago where it was highlighted that converting old and existing cars to EVs was arguably more eco than junking a perfectly sound ICE car and building a new EV one. An old Lotus Elan would be a bit of fun.

[Rostfritt]

DonkeyApple said:

An old Lotus Elan would be a bit of fun.

Wasn't the Tesla Roadster based on the Elise? If there was some standardised way of retrofitting electric to a variety of older cars this could become a cottage industry. A lot of older cars are nowhere near as cramped under the bonnet as a Mini so could have space for batteries there too. In fact I have seen an advert where a classic American barge is converted to electric.

[DonkeyApple]

I think pretty much anything can be converted it just boils down to how much range you can build in. The original Elan is a tiny car compared to the Elise frame that was used by Tesla but for city pottering it would probably be fine.

They’ve electrified a Rangie Classic.

It’s really all about the cost and whether the market for EVs is being defined by car enthusiasts or brand/tech consumers as to whether there is any real demand.

[oop north]

Electric Classic Cars (in wales somewhere) have done 911s, Fiat 500s, Original Beetles, a Range Rover Classic, currently doing bmw csi (70s). They told me around £45k for a classic Range Rover

[Rostfritt]

oop north said:

Electric Classic Cars (in wales somewhere) have done 911s, Fiat 500s, Original Beetles, a Range Rover Classic, currently doing bmw csi (70s). They told me around £45k for a classic Range Rover

I had a look at their website and am now wondering what classic I would get converted. I think something comfortable that would be a nice daily driver if you didn't have the worry of an old ICE to keep maintained. Currently dreaming of a Citroen DS EV.