Mow that EVs have adopted a 'skateboard' design, it should be possible to have practically any car body you want on the top of it and be able to change that car body top instead of buying a whole new car.
This would be a return to the coachbuilding days of early motoring when you could have any style of 'horse buggy' that you wanted put on your Rolls Royce chassis.
The Tesla drive by wire technology and one big screen means that you can place the driver wherever you want. Admittedly older cars don't have the A pillar strength so you would not be able to exactly replicate something like A DMC, but I want cars to be like die cast toy cars, where there is an upper that clamps on to a chassis.
As it is, EV conversions where the electrics are placed in the boot, transmission tunnel and elsewhere is a fudge I don't like. This is because you have got too much old, crusty ICE car junk going on, whether that is wiring or the mass of ancillaries in the bonnet.
I specifically will never own a car that is pure drive by wire and has no mechanical linkage backup. If anything else goes wrong with a car you usually have some limited control. If your steering goes out you are likely less than a blink away from a serious accident with zero control over how it proceeds.
Without a physical linkage you might not even notice when your steering goes out until you are already crashing, even if its blaring alarms at you how will you know what is actually happening until you read something or fight against a wheel acting oddly. With a physical connection it something jams or breaks, you will be able to tell instantly.
Granted I do have some bias against electronic steering in general, but even if it was drive by pure hydraulic steering through hard line I would not want it without a physical linkage backup.
True. But if you have a DMC, VW camper van, classic Jaguar E-Type or even a classic Ferrari, it is a death trap. You have not got a NCAP five star rating.
I would want a 'skateboard' that can take forged carbon fibre body shell, a replaceable one, that really does have a Power Wheels aesthetic of fun to it, with women and children able to like the colour and not care for the exact accuracy.
With an immaculately restored DMC you are going to get elderly male anoraks that will 'helpfully' point out that, for your indicator lights, you have 1983 anodised bolts holding them on instead of the period correct painted 1982 variants.
Much like how Power Wheels don't like to pay royalties and do some designs that 'look familiar', I would be happy for this market to go that way, with half a dozen companies making faux DMCs body kits to choose from.
Per their FAQ starting cost is 15k and it goes up to 100k British pounds. I think intersection of people who have a Corolla and would want this is non-zero, but probably not enough to justify any kind of volume production.
Sure, I’m saying someone make a cheaper kit that goes into a Corolla and with various range options. I’d pay a lot to replace all the maintenance parts with electric stuff for my everyday driver. I’d spend more than my car is worth to keep it going but as an electric car, especially for the reliability.
Even setting aside development costs, any such kit would cost more than your car is worth. As for reliability, electric systems have issues too, especially bespoke drop-in systems. Having fewer moving parts is great, but just because a part doesnt spin doesnt also mean it will never fail. Your maintenance costs would instantly be much higher the moment something goes. Whether IC or EV, getting a custom drivetrain repaired will never be cheap.
This looks like a company that does kits and conversions for enthusiasts, not for practical use or economy. Sort of how Tesla was in the beginning. They do escoteric cars because money is probably less of an issue for someone who has a car like that and is interested in making it into an EV.
Deloreans are so ridiculously small in person. No chance I could fit in one. Was really quite surprised but there’s a few of them rolling around in Houston.
I think they're supremely uncomfortable cars from a climate control perspective. The AC is underpowered and the miniscule windows offer very little airflow. The car acts like a greenhouse very effectively.
My father picked one up from the widow of a collector back in the early 2000's. I've had occasion to drive it a couple of times. It's a fun car to drive for the comments you receive and little else. It sounds like this EV conversion would help with the underpowered performance, but I don't see how they could fix the terrible environmentals.
I think I have bad news for you... On the product page they mention "heating" but nothing about A/C. That will typically necessitate an electric compressor and associated plumbing, which is removed when the engine is removed. So I think this conversion is sans any A/C unfortunately.
Luckily there will be no more big engine that heats up everything around it. That might help a bit.
I feel like that would be next on the list anyways because the original AC system was belt driven off the motor that no longer exists. And since this sits in place of the original motor I would imagine if there isn't already some special motor to drive an accessory belt then the AC was removed anyways. Maybe fitting a new AC system was already considered but otherwise there likely is none.
Why not? That seems plausible. It's about 214 horsepower, which isn't a lot but compared to most EV conversions it's pretty decent. The battery might be the limiting factor anyways.
No no no no, this sucker is electrical. But I need a nuclear reaction to generate the 1.21 gigawatts of electricity I need. C'mon I'll show you how it works!
