Crate Electric Engine

[The Scifi Guy]

It's a shame that I'm getting a little too old and physically messed up to do much more car modifying, but, man, I could see myself being an early adopter and buying this contraption:

https://jalopnik.com/finally-an-elec...p0iLvP6p7sCDI8

Here's their website:

https://jalopnik.com/finally-an-elec...p0iLvP6p7sCDI8

And their tweet site?:

https://twitter.com/SwindonPower?ref...26autosize%3D1


Swindon Electric Crate Motor.jpg

[rrossjr]

Batteries not included. Some assembly required...

[The Scifi Guy]

I wonder how much torque they have compared to our engines? The ad says something around 115hp. That's adequate, but after being spoiled with my 2.4's similar hp, but much larger torque, I would want at least an equivalent amount of torque(around 160) if I were going to do it. I hear that electrics are pretty good in the torque department and it remains consistent throughout the rpm range.

[kwschumm]

You can't beat electric motors for torque. Unlike gas engines the torque is available instantly at any speed.

[norbertone.gt371]

I wonder how much torque they have compared to our engines? The ad says something around 115hp. That's adequate, but after being spoiled with my 2.4's similar hp, but much larger torque, I would want at least an equivalent amount of torque(around 160) if I were going to do it. I hear that electrics are pretty good in the torque department and it remains consistent throughout the rpm range.

Gordon
Make Testdrive with the new Model S Tesla, but not as driver !
As Passenger and the driver should do a kickdown!
Please never ever do it!!!
This car is not from this world
It should be like a catapult start on a plane carrier!

[The Scifi Guy]

Oh, I will never do this conversion. I just posted this for us to talk about.

[norbertone.gt371]

Oh, I will never do this conversion. I just posted this for us to talk about.

Hartmut drove as Passenger in the 2019 Tesla Model S.The Driver means he make a joke with the Kick Down.But Hartmut`s Heart goes out of pulse and that is not a fun.
A Doctor must come just in time.
The Law must be give a order that nobody can do this nonsense.
When the Model S 1000 wil come it will be a Star Fighter on the road.
They must stop that

[JaredT]

I like his comment that swapping this into an old bug would almost double his HP. I have one of those old bugs, hmm...

[JaredT]

looks like there are others in the market

https://www.electricgt.com

These folks electrified a couple old Ferraris, and might do more to cater to the front engine v8 crowd.

[dpre]

Very interesting Jared. I wonder if it would fit in an Opel GT and what the cost is?

[tealcarver]

I went to the web pages that Gordon posted, I can't find the cost or projected cost. Am I missing something?

Bob

[Yellow73GT]

I went to the web pages that Gordon posted, I can't find the cost or projected cost. Am I missing something?

Bob

Yeah, thats the old "If you have to ask, you can't afford it" routine.

[dpre]

LOL I dare not ask, I have already gone way over budget for my Opel GT

[heliman]

LOL I dare not ask, I have already gone way over budget for my Opel GT

Budget?..........Budget?........... Just like there is no crying in Baseball. There is no budget in Opeling. Poor mans Corvette my ass! I always laugh when someone says that. I could have 2 Corvettes and money left over for what I have in the Opel. But then I would just have a Corvette. The Opel is more fun, gets far more attention and fits my off beat personality. The fact that it will never be worth what I have in it means nothing, because I just flat enjoy it.

Talk about loosing money on cars. I bought my wife an absolute immaculate and showroom perfect 15 Corvette about a year and a half ago. 3023 miles on it. I paid almost 40K less then sticker price for it. The PO was going to buy another new one to let set in his garage like he did this one. Now that to me is loosing money.

[dpre]

That is crazy to pay that kind of money and just let it sit. I’m with you, way more money spent than what we will ever get out of our Opel😄but I so enjoy driving that awesome GT 👍

[MattsAwesomeStuff]

Seems a bit gimmicky to me.

The whole spirit and purpose of a crate engine is that you yank the old one out, bolt the new one on, and presto, you've got a new engine that's presumably more awesome than the previous one. Cheap, easy, and universal.

Going through some of their claim:

- They created this because of "manufacturers currently frustrated by the lack of High Power EV systems in low volumes". It's 107 bhp. Is there even a car currently for sale with lower horsepower?

- It's "being developed", meaning, there is no product, this is literally just some people saying "You know crate engines? We should build electric crate engines!". They only thing they've actually made is a press release.

- It's supposed to be turnkey conversion. Install straight out of the box. Except that it can't be, because of all the other electric changes necessary. Like, power brakes. Where is the battery going to go? How are you integrating the dash? How are you handling the 50 various sensors and other items that are now going to be missing that the ECU is expecting to still be there? There's no such thing as a turnkey solution, so this isn't really solving a problem any more than any other random OEM EV motor solves those problems.

- It claims the "highest power-to-volume ratio on the market". Which it claims after identifying there are no options on the market. And who brags about the power-to-volume ratio of a motor? Power-to-weight is relevant, but, volume? This thing (a 3d sketch) looks the same size as a Tesla S rear powertrain, but is only 14% as powerful. If they're going to beat it in terms of power-to-volume, it's going to have to be 1/7th the size. So, something like the size of a softball for the motor and a hardcover book for the controller if they're being honest.

- It's actually 24" x 17" x 11" and weighs 150lbs. So, about that power:volume or power:weight. Yeah, no. The Tesla motor is 70lbs. Controller and gearbox a lot more, but then it can handle a lot more. Volume-wise, a Tesla is only about 30% longer, but massively, massively more powerful.


This thing is basically just a transmission adapter plate and some matching bolt holes. When you do an electric conversion you are doing a significant amount of custom work. This does not solve that problem in the way that you would think it does when they say they're designing a crate motor. The motor isn't the hard part of converting a vehicle to electric. And this is not a convenient way of accomplishing that.

Electric motors last just about forever. So there's no reason to not re-use a pre-existing OEM EV that's already been pre-engineered, mass-produced, and available from used (crashed) vehicles. The demand for crate electrics is surely smaller than the supply of crashed OEM EVs.

I see no need to re-engineer this. A better market solution is to pick a commonly-available used motor and controller (Leaf, Volt, Bolt, Tesla, Prius, whatever), engineer a board that replaces the original ECU and brains so that you can still tell the motor to spin and how fast, and then fabricate some common mounting plates for various engine sizes. ... and that's what the custom EV shops all do.

This company is late to the party and trying to get people interested in the wrong solution by dressing it up as something it's not.

I suppose it all depends on price. That'll decide how ridiculous this is in the end.

[soybean]

It's a shame that I'm getting a little too old and physically messed up to do much more car modifying, but, man, I could see myself being an early adopter and buying this contraption:

https://jalopnik.com/finally-an-elec...p0iLvP6p7sCDI8

Here's their website:

https://jalopnik.com/finally-an-elec...p0iLvP6p7sCDI8

And their tweet site?:

https://twitter.com/SwindonPower?ref...26autosize%3D1


Swindon Electric Crate Motor.jpg

Hey anyone gettin

[dpre]

I'm guessing the price is going to be ridiculous

Also I see my last post didn't include my smiley faces, just a bunch of letters, numbers and symbols. Maybe you can't insert those using an iphone

[Doc_Holliday53]

It's a shame that I'm getting a little too old and physically messed up to do much more car modifying, but, man, I could see myself being an early adopter and buying this contraption:

https://jalopnik.com/finally-an-elec...p0iLvP6p7sCDI8

Here's their website:

https://jalopnik.com/finally-an-elec...p0iLvP6p7sCDI8

And their tweet site?:

https://twitter.com/SwindonPower?ref...26autosize%3D1


Swindon Electric Crate Motor.jpg

Needs more cowbell