While it takes a little getting used to, there is something quite elegant about an entire powerplant that fits in the space formerly occupied by the transmission. Our electric Bugeye now has the motor affixed, and we are excited that it nestles in the middle of the car, nice and low.
This week, Russ fabricated the mounts, and next we’ll customize the drive shaft to connect that motor to the rear end. Some electric conversions use the existing gearbox… we have elected to eliminate the transmission and to keep the driveline as simple as possible. These motors provide enough torque in a wide range so a gearbox is not needed.
This motor (with about 88 HP), weighs 105 pounds. The transmission that formerly lived in its place weighs about 35 pounds. We’re excited to get this much weight low and centered. The batteries will be located on the ends of the car, but we’re determined to keep the battery and petrol versions as close to equal as possible, in terms of total weight and weight distribution.
Our current estimate is that the electric car with 100 mile range will be about 30 pounds heavier than a fully-fueled Bugeye like Cole (see the next post). That’s after a fiberglass nose weight saving on this green prototype of about 40 pounds. We will use racing scales to balance the electric Bugeye and to get the distribution just right!
We’ll keep the updates coming. BTW, these parts will be available as a kit once we are done, for people who want to do an electric conversion themselves.
