Electric conversions-- on the way?

[davideric9]

adding a motor to the transaxle retains all the syncro stuff like the locking differential, decoupler, viscous coupler, and front locker, as well as low gear. Much simpler and way more versatile (although some of this is in the front diff).
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1987 Syncro Westfalia, stock (bought 1994)
1986 Syncro Westfalia SVX, 3 knob (bought 2008)
1987 Westfalia (bought 2010)
1988 Wolfsburg GL (bought 2012)

[skills@eurocarsplus]

[davideric9]

Oh, how many wire nuts in your syncro EV conversion? Please post a photo of your conversion so we can see the correct way to do this....
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1987 Syncro Westfalia, stock (bought 1994)
1986 Syncro Westfalia SVX, 3 knob (bought 2008)
1987 Westfalia (bought 2010)
1988 Wolfsburg GL (bought 2012)

[Abscate]

[djkeev]

[djkeev]

[DuncanS]

Yes, I can see the reason for keeping the tranny since the rear suspension geometry and diff are already there, but I seems a bit of a jury rig system. As a kid, I remember the independent Jag rear end, which was a big favorites of the street rod crowd. Why wouldn't something like that make sense? They were organized around a lot more HP so the longevity of the gear teeth and bearings would be assured. Plus it would give more room for the motor and batteries.

Radiator? That seems a bit odd to me. Does a Tesla have a radiator? I guess for heat, I'd tend to go with a dinosaur fueled job as it would mean more range. I know it wouldn't be as green and will probably be outlawed, but the T3 needs quit a bit of heat given the volume and amount of glass. Maybe a reverse cycle heat pump would be the answer. I really look forward to seeing what iterations the T3 winds up with. I have little doubt that 30 years from now a bunch will be running around with only electrons on board to push that big front end through the wind. Local delivery vans like UPS will no doubt lead the way.

I followed the guy who took a normal splitty and turned it into a 23 window and full electric. But at the end, he went Facebook, which I don't do and lost him. Does anyone know what happened to his project?

Duncan

[vwhammer]

The EV swapped Defender That Electric Classic Cars has done is done much the way a friend of mine is doing his Discovery with the tesla motor in the middle where the transfer case used to be

He is in the process of starting an EV swap business and the Disco is his personal vehicle he is building as a showpiece.
It's getting a full AEM management system with some high-end batteries

Other than that he is working on an older land rover that is getting a lower HP motor in the front attached to the stock trans.

When I say lower HP it's still almost double what the truck came with and has nearly triple the torque.

He is also doing some upgrades on this ol' girl that had an EV swap done about 10 years ago.

That van in the background of the video is getting an EV swap and a little bit of info can be seen in this vid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Q7ZCq3iQgI&t=542s

You could approach a Vanagon EV swap in a number of ways.
On a 2wd, you could simply put a tesla motor in the rear and connect it to the stock axles
On the Syncro, as was mentioned, you can attach a motor to the stock trans but even with a less powerful motor I suspect that the torque would quickly destroy a syncro trans.
You could run the Tesla motor in the middle much like the Disco and Defender (if you can make the room underneath) put a diff in the rear and run driveshafts to the front and rear diffs or go all out and do a full front and rear Tesla motor swap.

If an EV Vanagon was built with practicality and range in mind I have no doubts that it would work for most people most of the time.
A 120-150hp electric motor and its associated torque would be more than enough for even the most heavily loaded Vanagons.
Toss a boatload of batteries everywhere you can and you could likely approach north of 250 mile ranges
Yes I know batteries are not cheap but used Tesla modules can be had at a decent price
With modern batteries and chargers, you can get an 80% charge in 20 minutes.
20 minutes is a regular gas station stop for me when I am on road trips.
Find a charger near a place to eat and you can charge 100% while you do dinner and be on your way.

In my opinion hybrids are the worst of both worlds.
You get all the maintenance associated with ICE setups and lack of range from the EV part of the equation because all your space is occupied by the ICE stuff.

My friend Woody (the owner of the shop) and I have even been talking about a little trailer that would have some extra batteries and some solar onboard for those instances where you wanted to go a little further.
It could function as a camper trailer of sorts to carry extra gear or possibly more space to sleep or maybe a bathroom.
All sorts of possibilities and ways to make electric work.

Sure it's not currently as simple as a plain old gas car but, as tech improves, it will be and for most people in most situations an electric car will works just like a gas car.
It's only the longer road trips where it differs and you have to plan your route a little more.

If Woody can make me a deal on a tesla motor he has sitting at the shop now, my van (the blue one that can be seen in the first pic) might be his first Vanagon conversion.
Don't know if I would just stick to RWD to make it simple or try and do a 4x4 conversion since I have been working on that already.

Anyway, If any of you are thinking about an EV conversion you might give him a shout.

Conversions are his focus but he is an authorized dealer for several companies and likely would be able to help with sourcing parts for the DIYer.

He has only just started the transition from standard auto shop to EV conversion shop but interest is growing and his availability is getting more and more limited.
I should warn you though that to do these conversions properly is not cheap.

https://www.instagram.com/electromodgarage/
https://www.electromodgarage.com/

Sorry, I am kind of all over the place with this post but there are so many things I want to talk about.
I am fully on board with the EV thing and really want to help clear up any concerns or misconceptions.

An EV swap van could be in my future but I have been saving my pennies so I can be one of the first in line when the Buzz hits the market this time next year.

Maybe I will do the EV swap into something a little more racey.
A 300hp RWD EV MK1 Golf has been popping up in my head for a few months now.

[skills@eurocarsplus]

[Abscate]

Pick up Casey’s book on wiring and when you count 10 items of poor workmanship , you have found about 1/3 of the faults. Maybe 1/5, I didn’t look that hard.

A surprising number of people think thst electric cars are “Safer” then gas cars. For tailless monkey DIY, with gas you just have to keep it contained, whereas there are no limits to the way you fubar high power electrics

I’ll guarantee you there are no wire nuts in skills’ auto wiring
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.ssS!

[MsTaboo]

[Tobias Duncan]

[Mckinleyvillian]

[RoryGirl]

[4Gears4Tires]

Creation is a messy process. Wirenuts allow things to be connected and disconnected in a secure way. Great for testing things. Permanent soldered or crimped and heat shrunk connections are for when things are sorted out. Anyone who can make a Syncro EV has the abilities to sort out the wiring with some harness braiding and zip ties when they feel it's ready.

Naysayers definitely look like sour grapes to me.
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'87 Syncro
Ferric Oxyhydroxide Superleggera Edition

[Abscate]

People who do this stuff professionally don’t have a wire nut phase, they go from circuit to implementation. There is nothing new here, electronically.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say the market for Ev conversions will remain the Domain of Uber rich playboys. The labor and cost involved will never make it economical to EV your Town and Country. At todays prices , gas is 25 cents per mile which is a $3000 annual cost. Ev will save about half that cost.

A $10,000 capital conversion to save $15,000 over 10 years?

No.
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.ssS!

[mikemtnbike]

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[vanagonjr]

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