Electric z4?

MikeyH

MikeyH

Elite
 Devon
Hi everyone,
Just watched a youtube video were a UK company is replacing the petrol engine with an electric motor in classic cars to keep them going. Would anyone on this forum consider doing this or is it the Devils work? And would an electric powered z4 still be a Z4 without the amazing sound it makes? Your thoughts would be most welcome.
 
There is a guy on the z roadster forum who is converting a z3?

Very good read if you get time

https://zroadster.org/threads/z3-00s-ev-project.37379/
 
I think it's a great idea that folks want to convert older cars if they love them, but personally I wouldn't want to convert my Z4 to electric. I'd source an NA or NB MX-5 and convert that instead, think the current suggested budget is about £25k on top of the donor car. Zero EV have a test mule, and have been developing a kit for MX-5s I think, there's a few videos on YouTube about it from them.

Basically a car where the chassis is better than the engine for me. Given a choice, anyway.

(My understand is a chunk of the carbon and environmental impact in a car's lifetime is stacked towards the beginning of its life, in manufacturing. Re-using older bodies saves some of that over building an entirely new car from scratch. There's also other reasons for people wanting to convert them of course.)
 
It"s the devils work. : :evil:

Or a least it is until I can't afford to drive around at 19 mpg any more. :driving: :lol: :thumbsup:
 
I really don't see the point in these conversions, how many miles would you have to drive to break even on all the co2 produced to covert the car to electric, and then you've lost the straight six which is half the point of these cars.
 
It wouldn't interest me for my E86.

We used to have an MGB GT in the family and an EV conversion for that would have been great, but not cost effective. Despite several engine rebuilds and modifications, the drivetrain could still be a hassle and didn't always run perfectly so ripping all that out and going electric would make sense. I'd have missed the noise and character of its engine, though.
 
Yes the sound of the car is something I still remember from my mgb roadster although the rest of it is through rose tinted glasses. They were really high maintenance cars. As g600 writes it is the sound of these cars that we all like and if you are going to get rid of that you may as well buy a Tesla. It just becomes a tool to get from a to b. However if legislation stops us all driving ICE in the future we may all need to do this to keep them on the road. Lucky I’ll be dead by then. :D still for now enjoy :driving:
 
It's worth remembering that an electric conversion would likely change the handling characteristics of an ICE car, perhaps significantly. You're removing a lot of mass from the front of the vehicle and putting a load of batteries somewhere, so the mass distribution on the car will change. It may get heavier overall. And I wouldn't want to think about crashing a converted EV, but conversions likely this may be exempt from crash legislation.
 
Better idea is keeping the 6 pot on a 35i /35is and fitting an electric motor to each of the front wheels :evil: :evil: :evil:
 
Driving down to the South of France hopefully this year ….can’t imagine doing that in a battery conversion imagine the range anxiety 😱 half the fun of the Zed is the six pot surely 😀??

Keep the faith….petrolhead not batteryhead..😁
 
Not a chance. Can’t see why you’d want to do it to a weekend car at this point.

Huge costs, tech that will be outdated in no time and the loss of something that adds huge appeal and emotional connection.

EVs have their place, but a classic or older sports car is not one of them imo, at least not for now.
 
depends!! my daily is electric and very neck whipping quick but also very dull and boring. to me motoring is visceral you need to feel, hear and smell it which electric doesn't do - same to me with auto's.

I will be holding out as long as I can to drive my Z4 and my old Land Rover as they are but if it came to not being able to drive them at all either through fuel cost, availability, restrictions on where you can drive or quite possibly castigation for driving a fossil fuelled car then yes it may come to looking for a conversion.

I am in the motor industry and I speak to a few convertors who assure me the costs will come down significantly once the EV becomes mainstream. They see big business in conversions after all if it came down to say £5k to convert as there would be a significant audience.
 
Electric?

Best advice you could get....
Get some pictures taken of the car.
List it on the forum, Autotrader, eBay or just give it away.

V8 LS3 swap.
5.0 V10 from an M5.

That's the only engine swaps you should be looking at.

Now get on the naughty step and think about what you've done.
 
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