EV or no EV?

[James]

This is amazing. Swedish guys convert ‘66 Impala to Tesla rwd electric. 550hp equivalent. Weighs the same as the original. Wildwood front brakes, electric power steering, Tesla rear brakes with regen from the power unit. What fun!

Battery unit made from Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid batteries.

Trunk. Tesla drive unit visible end of trunk floor.

Plug in charging at old filler location under license plate.

Pointing to air suspension control. Drive control and display on right. Adjustable regen.

Tesla drive unit for their next Impala.

Drive unit will bolt in there on Impala frame. That top cross member is added to mount the rear suspension.

View showing front frame and suspension. The horizontal square tubes are for battery unit support.

 

[Tom K.]

This is amazing. Swedish guys convert ‘66 Impala to Tesla rwd electric. 550hp equivalent. Weighs the same as the original. Wildwood front brakes, electric power steering, Tesla rear brakes with regen from the power unit. What fun!

Some astounding engineering and fabrication went into that project.

I wonder if it can be licensed for public roads in Sweden?

Maybe @anders_nor would know, even though he's in Norway?

 

[anders_nor]

yes, shouldn't be a problem at all really @Tom K. , sweden is very nice for rebuilt custom cars, norway is not so nice, but even here that would be very possible.

I watched video, and yes, its registerd and all good, looks like a very good build. probably way safer & better than it ever was

EV rating are for X hours of time

so a 1000hp tesla, are rated for... 2-300KW? max in the registration document, and this is whats used as a basis for rebuilt registrations

 

[James]

Newer evs may be more efficient, but that does not change the fact that there is a very significant increase in the energy needed to cruise at 80 vs. 70, and the attendant reduction in range.

Here’s some of his range testing data at two speeds, 90 and 120km/h. 56, 74mph. This is running it down way more than would be recommended normally, like to 1%.
Afaik, this info is only in some videos.

The Wh/km column shows the energy usage per kilometer.

 

[anders_nor]

EVs are indeed horrible for going fast in , with todays battery.

my EV has 4x the range now adays, vs 1 month ago... just from temps alone

 

[James]

EVs are indeed horrible for going fast in , with todays battery.

my EV has 4x the range now adays, vs 1 month ago... just from temps alone

You ever drive one with a roof box for skis? I would imagine it takes a lot more energy.

 

[anders_nor]

You ever drive one with a roof box for skis? I would imagine it takes a lot more energy.

eh yes of course, and yes, correct

 

[AlpsSkidad]

this type of Tesla would be more interesting

 

[James]

^ Meh. Nice color though.
I mean stick a V8 in another car, been done a zillion times. Supposedly it’s special because it’s a Tesla body.

This is at least cool looking-

 

[AlpsSkidad]

^ Meh. Nice color though.
I mean stick a V8 in another car, been done a zillion times. Supposedly it’s special because it’s a Tesla body.

This is at least cool looking-

maybe with the Tesla body (and VIN) they use the carpool lane on the fwy.…

 

[Don in Morrison]

How long would the battery last at full-tilt-boogie at Daytona?

 

[firebanex]

The decreased range with higher speeds is another reason EVs are not as well suited in the wide open spaces of the West.

All I can say is that I'm glad I live in Alaska.. I don't think my Baja can go 80 without exploding.

 

[James]

How about needing to stop and charge on a typical three-hour family weekend ski road trip from Denver to Aspen or Steamboat?

Ok, Denver DIA to Steamboat Springs in a 2023 Tesla Y. 90% state of charge when starting, 14% soc minimum when arriving. (You can adjust all sorts of inputs on thisplanner)

There’s many ways to work this, but a 4 min charge in Kremmling will get you to Steamboat with 25% soc. So, in winter you’d probably spend longer charging. Let’s go 10-15minutes.

There’s all sorts of tools to help with this, Tesla is undoubtedly the tops for this in their software, information handling.
Range anxiety is somewhat mis named. It’s really fuel availability anxiety, because the vehicle tells you exactly what you have left.(and even gives you prob 8-10 miles extra)
Being anxious is like ignoring a gas vehicle’s fuel estimation warning, and not getting off and going to a gas station.

 

[afadeev]

What are people supposed to do that need the room of a Suburban? How about a Sprinter?

Get a Suburban, or a Sprinter!
Duah!

My only concern with EV charging is the apparent downside of frequent use of rapid chargers, as I understand it they are harder on the battery and the more that rapid chargers are used, the shorter the life of the battery. Is that still the case? Kia claims the EV 6 can charge pretty fast at a rapid charger, but I imagine that can vary a lot. I’m wondering how much of an advantage that really is in the real world.

Yes, very much so.
Rapid (L3) charging has at least 3 negatives:

1. Overheating the battery does leave to accelerated capacity degradation
2. Commercial L3 chargers are becoming increasingly overcrowded, especially during popular holiday travel weekends. EV sales are continuing to exceed public and private EV charging infrastructure build-out.
   • You may end up waiting in line to get your turn at the plug. That hasn't happened to me yet, but I had grabbed either the second to last, or the very last public SuperCharger stall available on a few occasions.
3. Tesla and ChargePoint have jacked up the public charging rates to match, or exceed, the cost of driving on gasoline. This removes one financial incentives of owning an EV.

In practical terms, I only fall back on commercial L3 chargers maybe 10-15 times/year.
The rest of the time I charge about once a week either at home (L2 overnight), or at work (L2 during the day).

HTH,
a

 

[James]

How long would the battery last at full-tilt-boogie at Daytona?

Well that depends on the rules one came up with. Probably 30 -45 minutes.
Formula e has gone from originally switching cars mid race, to now having a fixed 33 laps over several seasons. I think they can do fast charging now at 600kw/h in pits. The current Gen 3 vehicles are capable of 200mph, the tires have apparently been an issue, so times are actually slower than Gen 2.
Formula e doesn’t want to go to the time length of a Formula 1 race.

I would think you’d go to swappable battery packs, and do it at a yellow caution or just have normal pits for an eNascar.

 

[cantunamunch]

Well that depends on the rules one came up with. Probably 30 -45 minutes.
Formula e has gone from originally switching cars mid race, to now having a fixed 33 laps over several seasons. I think they can do fast charging now at 600kw/h in pits.

600kW. 30 seconds. Best estimate about 4kW-h gain. https://the-race.com/formula-e/formula-e-fast-charging-increasingly-unlikely-before-next-season/

The thing about Formula E is that the chargers are the same for all teams. When it actually gets implemented.

No competition

 

[afadeev]

How long would the battery last at full-tilt-boogie at Daytona?

I can't speak for Daytona, but at LimeRock, I get:

• 2.5-3 sessions on a full tank of gas (3.0L turbocharged F80). Then refill at ~$9/gallon, in under 3 minutes.
• 10-12 laps on Model 3 Performance before I get battery temp warning and power is handicapped for 3-5 cool down laps (driving in track mode, with most aggressive battery cooling). Then I get full power back, and can finish the 30 minute session with 25-35% battery SOC.
  • Power drops noticeably with the decrease in the SOC, especially below 60%. You pretty much have to drive somewhere to recharge after 1 full 30 minute session. Recharge time to 80% (fast charge limit, then rate of charging slows down) usually takes at least 25-35 minutes.
  • Even with M3Performance, you need to upgrade EVERYTHING to properly enjoy the car on track: suspension, wheels + wider tires, track pads all around, battery cooling. At the minimum. Rear gets floaty at high speed sweepers, so needs more downforce (aka rear wing).
  • An L3 charger is a pretty hard pre-requisite to taking your EV to track and enjoying full day with it. LimeRock didn't have it when I went there, though I hear they may have been installed recently. Previously, the most I could get were two (2) 30-minute sessions (first and last) on any given day.
• Nevertheless, M3P was about 1.5 seconds faster over one lap (at near-full battery SOC), with me driving, with roughly the same level of excitement and purpose.

YMMV,
a

 

[James]

eh yes of course, and yes, correct

You ever try mounting the roof box backwards? Supposedly it can be much more efficient.

Tesla Model 3 with roof-rack box gets much better range if you flip box around

A Tesla Model 3 owner figured out that his electric car is much more efficient with a roof-rack box gets...

electrek.co

 

[anders_nor]

You ever try mounting the roof box backwards? Supposedly it can be much more efficient.

View attachment 203223

Tesla Model 3 with roof-rack box gets much better range if you flip box around

A Tesla Model 3 owner figured out that his electric car is much more efficient with a roof-rack box gets...

electrek.co

no, because it looks stupid, but yes, for some models more efficient definetly

 

[sparty]

NYTimes on electric cars in Norway:

In Norway, the Electric Vehicle Future Has Already Arrived

About 80 percent of new cars sold in Norway are battery-powered. As a result, the air is cleaner, the streets are quieter and the grid hasn’t collapsed. But problems with unreliable chargers persist.

www.nytimes.com