BMW 650 Electric Conversion

[jenksy0198]

Anyone got into conversions?. Im not doing big trips in the 650i  and wondered what a reasonable conversion would cost and what to expect.  Just started doing some sums and thought if I dont need greater than say 150 miles range in any one trip then might a conversion be worth considering?

Appreciate your thoughts. 

[Greydog]

Hi Paul

I watched a program "Vintage Electric" a guy in Wales converts Beetles Sprites etc they did a Lancia Fulvia in the show budget was £40k from memory

May be cheaper to buy a Tesla? A neighbour has one he converted from Lexus it is mighty impressive unless you have to do a journey. Pre-covid he and his wife were attending a family wedding in Stoke, on paper inside the charged range. The reality was stressful the Tesla satnav shows all the available charging points plus the Tesla fast charge points (apparently 80% charge in 40 mins) when they were approaching the M40/M42 junction they were low on charge so followed directions to the nearest services with a Fast Charger, it was out of service (sat nav didn't know that) all standard charge points were in use. They had no alternative but to carry on, they made Stafford Services where after waiting an hour managed to get on the Fast Charger. A journey that took around 4 hours in the Lexus had taken him 6+ hours. For his daily commute he loves it an over night charge lasts him 3 days or so, but for other journeys he has brought another Lexus.

So me I think the cost of conversion would outweigh the benefit I like my Beemer (warts and all) but would I put £40k into it !!! No I don't think I would.

Dave

[X5smw]

Convert the car to run on lpg. 

converting a non electric car would not be viable at all.

the costs to build it from the chassis up would be ridiculous.  Batteries weigh in at around 300kg and you would have to introduce things like regen braking and basically just build a bmw shell over a new vehicle.

our company is switching the fleet to all electric... all good for the office staff, but us as engineers can cover 500 plus miles a day.... once you think about loading it up with gear, and ladders, we got figures of around 90 miles on a purpose built car. 
one of my mates is doing a course at Tesla and it still amazes him what goes into the car design.

Thats my two pence worth

 

 

[Greydog]

That will either extend your working day waiting for a charge to get home 😁 or you need hybrid vans! It will be interesting to see how Amazon get on as they have a fleet of all electric delivery vans now. I wonder how many parcels will be left on board at the end of the shift as I can see drivers hours going up if they have to wait for a charge.

With all the "clever engineering" that goes into an all electric car like the Tesla (Vic's cost over £80k new) I have always wondered why they don't split the battery pack and have one half charging while you drive, with an automatic change when the battery being used for traction reaches a pre-set charge level??  

Thinking head on, if Vic's Tesla has a 250 mile charged range real world about 180. At the super charge rate Tesla quote 40 mins for an 80% charge which in practical terms is around 40 or 50 miles driving. By switching between battery packs the car should remain at around 80% and could be plugged in to top up both packs overnight.

[X5smw]

Basic principle of over unity with regards to charging. You can’t use a battery to power the car, use all the ancillaries and use a Dynamo to charge the other battery... the magnet in the charger would have to be so large, it would stop the drive battery from running and you would end up with 2 flat batteries! 
to trickle charge the second battery to even get a mile of power, would take 500 miles of driving. 
If you could create more power from the device you use, thus overunitiy... you would solve the worlds oil crisis, stop wars and become the richest person ever....
vive la fossil fuels! 
 

[Greydog]

If F1 ERS can produce around 120Kw of energy in less than 1 lap (they actually recharge several times a lap) then the technology is already there just cost and willingness to apply it. 

It wouldn't work for me unless it sounded like a V8

[Greydog]

On the plus side we would all have to drive like Lewis Hamilton to make it work 😂

[jenksy0198]

all good discussion points. Ive seen some of the vintage voltage progs as well and they do seem to undertake a lot of work in addition to the electric conversion. For me range is really not the challenge so at some point it is stick with the best looking convertible in the world and convert it or buy electric. More to follow me thinks....... As to the V8 growl, well Lexus are using synthetic noise so I am guessing this is a simple add on to any conversion!! Crazy.