rear engine EV conversion.

[Winfield1990]

I am narrowing down a few car choices , I am not positive if I want to convert the car when I get it to electric , however if I did I am just wondering choosing a front engine car as my choice above a rear engine car , since I would like to have a rear motor with the electric if I did the conversion... How hard exactly would it be to turn a front engine car into a rear motor EV?

As far as trunk space goes the cars I am planning on doing , are because of aerodynamics , looks , and/or , the car I just want it

1st gen eclipse
2nd gen CRX
BMW 8 series

Fiero GT , with a hatchback trunk mod , if I chose it.

With any of those first 3 cars how hard would it be just so I know whether or not its a a worthless dream.

narrowing down car choices sucks.....

[Ryland]

Originally Posted by Winfield1990

1st gen eclipse

That car I believe came with a 4 wheel drive option, Toyota Corrolas also came with a 4 wheel drive option along with a hand full of other cars, I would choose one of those cars if you want to do rear wheel drive.

[Winfield1990]

I dont want a corolla , and yes eclipses came with an awd model , and I plan on the electric being rwd , but my big concern is making it rear engine.

[Ryland]

I miss read your question, I thought you said you wanted rear wheel drive, not a rear engine, I sugested searching for a car that came as a 4 wheel drive option because you can go to a scrap yard and get the rear drive train from alot of the rear wheel drive cars and bolt it on to a it's front wheel drive sibling, electric motors are small enough that the space that would be used by the exhuast and drive shaft shoud be large enough to bolt the motor in, allowing you to place the motor under the car, freeing up space for batteries.
But you want a rear engine car to convert to electric, that is going to really limit your options.

[Winfield1990]

Yup , the fiero was rear engine , rear wheel drive , and are pretty aerodynamic when you get a hatchback mod. I guess thats my backup car incase no plans could work with the other three.

Fino

However I am researching batteries now to try to find out what would be my best option for the electric , want something that doesnt require alot of charging maintenance. As in it will not have memory problems , the shelf life is not really short , I would like something that no matter if it gets ran close to dead it will be fine , and if it gets used barely any it will be fine... It will not get damaged from recharging it at whatever state it was , and the electrolyte will not crystalize from not doing a deep enough discharge often enough.

So I have battery research to do , and I dont know much about them , so I may get turned off on the idea of an electric , and go try to get maximum mpg I can with an ICE

[Ryland]

Why do you want to start out with a rear engine car? why not just something that can easly be made to be rear wheel drive?
Lithium batteries will fit most of your requirments other then not being happy being over dischanged, there are very few batteries that don't mind being discharged all the way and lithium batteries are fussy so you need a good battery management system, but really, any battery is going to do best and last longest with a battery management system.

[Winfield1990]

I want the car to be RWD , and rear engine when its done with the conversion , The reason I stated the fiero was if it would be almost impossible and/or overly expensive to convert a front engine vehicle regardless of fwd , awd , or rwd. Maybe it would be an easier choice for the conversion since its already rear engine and rwd.

I am just wanting some info on cost , fabrication , annoyance , and opinions on whether the I could convert any of the first 3 listed to rear engine.

[Winfield1990]

Maybe wiki is a horrible source to learn about lithium ion batteries , but what do they mean by.

A Standard (Cobalt) Li-Ion cell that is full most of the time at 25 °C (77 °F) irreversibly loses approximately 20% capacity per year. Poor ventilation may increase temperatures, further shortening battery life. Loss rates vary by temperature: 6% loss at 0 °C (32 °F), 20% at 25 °C (77 °F), and 35% at 40 °C (104 °F). When stored at 40%–60% charge level, the capacity loss is reduced to 2%, 4%, and 15%, respectively.[41][citation needed] In contrast, the calendar life of LiFePO4 cells is not affected by being kept at a high state of charge

When they mean full most of the time do they mean while sitting on the shelf or also while in use? 20% maximum capacity per year seems like alot. In one year if I had 200 miles on a single charge I would then have 160 miles on a single charge thats a drastic decrease.

Because with how the temperates vary through the seasons , I hope thats just if its sitting not being used at all because that would be a high maximum loss. Even though I know it would be more of an average with the temperate changes.

I would hope to be able to try to keep my batteries pretty close to a full charge while I am not using them and not have them at half to prevent premature replacement.

[Clev]

Originally Posted by Winfield1990

I want the car to be RWD , and rear engine when its done with the conversion , The reason I stated the fiero was if it would be almost impossible and/or overly expensive to convert a front engine vehicle regardless of fwd , awd , or rwd. Maybe it would be an easier choice for the conversion since its already rear engine and rwd.

I am just wanting some info on cost , fabrication , annoyance , and opinions on whether the I could convert any of the first 3 listed to rear engine.

Get an aircooled VW. If you want it more aero, there are a ton of kitcars based on the chassis. Converting a front-engine car to rear-engine doesn't make a lot of sense, especially since the motor, at 230 pounds tops, doesn't affect weight distribution nearly as much as batteries do.

[Winfield1990]

im not doing the engine for weight distribution thats what the batteries are for , under the floor and in the rear where the rear seats are or are not depending on the vehicle the motor is there to be close to the drive wheels for efficiency and closer to the batteries.

Kit cars are expensive , and I dont want a VW. Large variety of VW kit cars or not VW's dont have the look and aerodynamics I am aiming for with the end picture in my head.

I have my reasons for my planned conversion I just need info on how hard the conversion would be not persuading because of other peoples tastes.