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Now that cars are like smartphones, we don’t really own them
(www.washingtonpost.com)
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this post was submitted on 11 Nov 2023
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One of several reasons I really want to do an electric conversion of an old car rather than buying a new electric car.
I'm not sure how feasible that is. Batteries are heavy, and take up space, and there's only so much room under the hood for battery modules. If you cram it to the max, can the frame take that load all the time? It might work for a short-ranged car - maybe 100km range, to avoid going much heavier than the normal curb-weight.
You’re not wrong about those things being issues, but also people do electric conversions all the time, there are shops that specialize in it and premade kits you can buy for it. Low range is certainly a very common outcome, but I don’t have big range requirements for most of my driving. Plus, I love taking on projects that are way over my had and muddling through them somehow. It’s how I learn best.
I have my shopping list together to convert an old Kia Rio to electric for 100 km range, it's about 400lbs of lifepo batteries and a 200lb motor. So slightly more than the cratered ICE motor I'd be taking out.
But yah, if you want to drive across the country, convert an SUV or light pickup for the room to keep the batteries, and remove everything weight wise that you can to compensate.
This is actually a not uncommon swap and some companies have even started selling kits to do it on certain vehicles.
Renault Twingo, the original one with the eyes
Would sell like hot cakes in Paris
I've thought about this also but that's insanely expensive and older cars are very unsafe by comparison.
I no longer have a family and don’t prioritize personal safety, but there are a lot of cars that aren’t too old which are still quite safe and lack all the connectivity crap.