Convert your ICE car to EV for £5k...
Discussion
So, would you do it?
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-31...
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-31...
news said:
French startup Transition-One has developed retrofitting technology that adds an electric engine, batteries and a connected dashboard into older models of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, Volkswagen AG, Renault SA and PSA Group for about 8,500 euros, or 5,000 euros after government subsidies in France.
Libeau expects French and European regulator approval by the end of the year and will start pre-orders in September to test demand.
Libeau expects French and European regulator approval by the end of the year and will start pre-orders in September to test demand.
Perhaps.
Take something old and cool with a knackered or undesirable engine/gearbox. 5 grand and it's got a brand new, presumably warrantied drivetrain. Running costs take a nosedive and you get to drive your old and cool car rather than a new modern one.
Devil is in the detail: warranty terms, real world range, performance, will it work with your particular car, how well it's knitted in to the car's existing systems (power steering, heating/air con, cruise control etc), etc. And of course whether or not it actually ends up costing 5 grand by the time all the installation work is finished.
Take something old and cool with a knackered or undesirable engine/gearbox. 5 grand and it's got a brand new, presumably warrantied drivetrain. Running costs take a nosedive and you get to drive your old and cool car rather than a new modern one.
Devil is in the detail: warranty terms, real world range, performance, will it work with your particular car, how well it's knitted in to the car's existing systems (power steering, heating/air con, cruise control etc), etc. And of course whether or not it actually ends up costing 5 grand by the time all the installation work is finished.
I'd seriously consider it.
My daily driver (Rover 75) is a beautiful future classic but its Achilles heel is the engine since at some point spares are going to get harder to come by. Strip out the engine and replace with batteries and motors and you strip out almost all the moving parts that can go wrong in a car. Everything else like broken trim can be repaired or, increasingly, fabricated with 3D printing. It would give a new lease of life to many older cars that aren't yet ready to be scrapped but whose drivers wish they could be more environmentally friendly.
As for the cost, I do 6k miles a year which amounts to around £2000 of petrol. So in under three years time the conversion would have paid for itself and I'd be onto virtually free motoring in a fine classic smoker barge.
Alternatively I could do the honourable thing now and buy a brand new electric car. What's the monthly lease remind me, added up over three years?
The dealbreakers would be the range and the time spent charging it. Plus for me, as I only have on street parking, I'd have to figure out somewhere away from home that I could charge it overnight.
A few years ago we had a surplus of Polish mechanics coming over here and running decent outfits retrofitting LPG. What we need is a stimulus to encourage bright engineers to figure out how to retrofit electric to older cars at which point the price will come down as they will all be competing for business. I know this forum is called Pistonheads, but if Teslas could be charged in five minutes at every filling startion and cost £5k used rather than £50k I expect most of us would be driving one by now.
My daily driver (Rover 75) is a beautiful future classic but its Achilles heel is the engine since at some point spares are going to get harder to come by. Strip out the engine and replace with batteries and motors and you strip out almost all the moving parts that can go wrong in a car. Everything else like broken trim can be repaired or, increasingly, fabricated with 3D printing. It would give a new lease of life to many older cars that aren't yet ready to be scrapped but whose drivers wish they could be more environmentally friendly.
As for the cost, I do 6k miles a year which amounts to around £2000 of petrol. So in under three years time the conversion would have paid for itself and I'd be onto virtually free motoring in a fine classic smoker barge.
Alternatively I could do the honourable thing now and buy a brand new electric car. What's the monthly lease remind me, added up over three years?
The dealbreakers would be the range and the time spent charging it. Plus for me, as I only have on street parking, I'd have to figure out somewhere away from home that I could charge it overnight.
A few years ago we had a surplus of Polish mechanics coming over here and running decent outfits retrofitting LPG. What we need is a stimulus to encourage bright engineers to figure out how to retrofit electric to older cars at which point the price will come down as they will all be competing for business. I know this forum is called Pistonheads, but if Teslas could be charged in five minutes at every filling startion and cost £5k used rather than £50k I expect most of us would be driving one by now.
Chromegrill said:
I'd seriously consider it.
My daily driver (Rover 75) is a beautiful future classic but its Achilles heel is the engine since at some point spares are going to get harder to come by. Strip out the engine and replace with batteries and motors and you strip out almost all the moving parts that can go wrong in a car. Everything else like broken trim can be repaired or, increasingly, fabricated with 3D printing. It would give a new lease of life to many older cars that aren't yet ready to be scrapped but whose drivers wish they could be more environmentally friendly.
As for the cost, I do 6k miles a year which amounts to around £2000 of petrol. So in under three years time the conversion would have paid for itself and I'd be onto virtually free motoring in a fine classic smoker barge.
Alternatively I could do the honourable thing now and buy a brand new electric car. What's the monthly lease remind me, added up over three years?
The dealbreakers would be the range and the time spent charging it. Plus for me, as I only have on street parking, I'd have to figure out somewhere away from home that I could charge it overnight.
A few years ago we had a surplus of Polish mechanics coming over here and running decent outfits retrofitting LPG. What we need is a stimulus to encourage bright engineers to figure out how to retrofit electric to older cars at which point the price will come down as they will all be competing for business. I know this forum is called Pistonheads, but if Teslas could be charged in five minutes at every filling startion and cost £5k used rather than £50k I expect most of us would be driving one by now.
Your Rover only does 17/18mpg?My daily driver (Rover 75) is a beautiful future classic but its Achilles heel is the engine since at some point spares are going to get harder to come by. Strip out the engine and replace with batteries and motors and you strip out almost all the moving parts that can go wrong in a car. Everything else like broken trim can be repaired or, increasingly, fabricated with 3D printing. It would give a new lease of life to many older cars that aren't yet ready to be scrapped but whose drivers wish they could be more environmentally friendly.
As for the cost, I do 6k miles a year which amounts to around £2000 of petrol. So in under three years time the conversion would have paid for itself and I'd be onto virtually free motoring in a fine classic smoker barge.
Alternatively I could do the honourable thing now and buy a brand new electric car. What's the monthly lease remind me, added up over three years?
The dealbreakers would be the range and the time spent charging it. Plus for me, as I only have on street parking, I'd have to figure out somewhere away from home that I could charge it overnight.
A few years ago we had a surplus of Polish mechanics coming over here and running decent outfits retrofitting LPG. What we need is a stimulus to encourage bright engineers to figure out how to retrofit electric to older cars at which point the price will come down as they will all be competing for business. I know this forum is called Pistonheads, but if Teslas could be charged in five minutes at every filling startion and cost £5k used rather than £50k I expect most of us would be driving one by now.
Chromegrill said:
The dealbreakers would be the range and the time spent charging it. Plus for me, as I only have on street parking, I'd have to figure out somewhere away from home that I could charge it overnight.
A few years ago we had a surplus of Polish mechanics coming over here and running decent outfits retrofitting LPG. What we need is a stimulus to encourage bright engineers to figure out how to retrofit electric to older cars at which point the price will come down as they will all be competing for business. I know this forum is called Pistonheads, but if Teslas could be charged in five minutes at every filling startion and cost £5k used rather than £50k I expect most of us would be driving one by now.
Yep, it's very inconvenient. Also, foxes like to crap on anything I leave on my drive so I'd wake up in the morning to a cable on the cable. Assuming I remembered to plug it in that night.A few years ago we had a surplus of Polish mechanics coming over here and running decent outfits retrofitting LPG. What we need is a stimulus to encourage bright engineers to figure out how to retrofit electric to older cars at which point the price will come down as they will all be competing for business. I know this forum is called Pistonheads, but if Teslas could be charged in five minutes at every filling startion and cost £5k used rather than £50k I expect most of us would be driving one by now.
I did the costings on a used Leaf. I would have to own it for about 10 years to breakeven on fuel after binning my 3 litre V6 4x4. I just decided that I might as well gun it everywhere and not worry about MPG!!
I'll probably move to hybrid in the next couple of years, though. It's hard to argue against that, apart from maybe the issue of buying a 10+ year old hybrid with a knackered battery.
Edited by Hoofy on Saturday 3rd August 10:35
I'd do this on my Calibra, when the engine goes chips for the last time. No emissions to worry about, presumably no tax, no oil leaks, far less electrical gremlins, better reliability, less maintenance, loads of benefits. I might actually be able to drive the bloody thing 3 times in a row without making another friend from my breakdown cover..
definitely yes, so many old classics with utter s
te engine/gearbox, terrible reliability but beautiful designs like the volvo P100
Has anyone Tesla powered a DeLorean yet? The engine, gearbox and brakes where utter ste from day one, Iconic design with the ability to actually hit 88mph 
te engine/gearbox, terrible reliability but beautiful designs like the volvo P100Has anyone Tesla powered a DeLorean yet? The engine, gearbox and brakes where utter s
te from day one, Iconic design with the ability to actually hit 88mph Gassing Station | EV and Alternative Fuels | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff