Electric Porsche!

I have no idea of what one pays for a early 2000's 911. I only know that the last 911 I sold was a '82 sc that I sold for ~$10k a couple of years ago. Are you suggesting that my $15k guestimate is too high or too low?

"Your concerns are legitimate, so I will address them. First of all, Paul is not a "tinkerer." He runs an established EV conversion shop. My mistake was that he had not previously had experience with lithium batteries. I was not aware of that."

IMHO, established EV conversion shop or not,,, it is still in essence a backyard project. Never done a lithium battery project, nor a Porsche (I suspect) leave you the beta tester. My point it I would much rather be a guinea pig with a cheaper donor. A civic or a Toyota would have all the safety stuff (maybe more) than the Porsche has.

I agree that there is no arguing the "I just want it factor" People drive all kinds of vehicles just because they want to,, I once had an Edsel!

Icarus

 

I like to tinker, hence the clean-sheet-of-paper approach. If I don't tinker on something, I might become sinister and enslave a country, possibly the entire planet

 

A 2003 Porsche Carrera goes for about $30,000 to $35,000.

The company that converted David's Porsche specializes in Porsche 911 conversions.

 

I stand corrected on both accounts!

Still sounds like an expensive test bed to me.

What is the conversion cost?

Icarus

 

There must be a enough world-domination computer games to satisfy your urges, at least for a few hours at a time.

 

daniel, i would love to own your porsche, just not sure i would have paid as much is all. but heck, i paid $14,500 for my Zenn and they currently have AC versions going for $9,999!! so i am not sure i should have paid what i paid for my EV...

but to be honest with ya, its not the performance that is the key thing. who buys a Corvette so they can drive 120 mph?? not many. most buy one because they are cool. and even my lowly, short-ranged, slow, boxy blue Zenn is considered very cool by everyone who happens to comment on it and i get comments nearly every day.

besides, daniel, your answer is just around the corner, next year, spring for an eestor conversion!!

 

Daniel,

You misinterpret some of what I say.

First,,,my reference to the '81 sc was for price comparison only. I understand a 2002 car will have many features that an '82 won't.

Second,, I applaud you for taking a risk, being forward thinking,, and pushing the envelope. My point however still stands (IMHO) that it is an expensive endeavor that by you own admission performs to about have of it's "advertised" spec. While you may love the car for a variety of reasons,, if you had bought the car from Porsche with advertised range, speed, power, specs etc and got it home with only 50% performance I think you would be more upset,, you would demand a refund.

Which brings me to my final point. This is at it's core essentially a one off "tinkerer project" in spite of the experience and professionalism of the folks doing it. As you said yourself,, most tinkerers project end badly. This is no denigration of your specific project,, just of the process in general.

Even Tesla,, can in some measure be considered a tinkerers project,,until the cookie cutter can stamp out roadsters without having to hand build them.

As I said at the very beginning of this thread, you have a cool car that doesn't perform to expectations. If it were me,, I would rather have done this on a cheaper platform. So enjoy you car,, and when I come through Spokane, I will keep an eye out for it.

Icarus

 

No harm no foul,,, Good luck with your project.

As for lambourgini's being a tinkerer's project,,, While I would love to drive one,,, and have coveted a 250 Gt Ferrari,,, I think of any Italian car to be a tinkerers dream,,, just the scope, scale,,, not to mention expense of the tinkering. Fiat anyone?

British cars fall into the same boat,,, especially if it is raining. Don't get me started on French cars. My friend who owns a Trebant keeps it running easier than my friend with a Pugueot!

Icarus

 

Daniel, I applaud your electric Porsche.
Poo to the people who believe electrifying a Porsche is some kind of sacrilege, it's just a bloody swank looking car. As an electric car it still looks great and it's quiet, and green, what more do you want? Electrify a cheap econobox and you have an ugly electric econobox. Who wants an ugly electric car. A honda or Suzuki or Geo, may as well stick with the 3 wheeled clown car.

Good on ya Daniel, I love the Porsche.

 

Oddly enough, those sort of games tend to make my sinister-world-domination urges *much* worse

So I tinker harmlessly in the shop. I can entertain myself for *hours* with a welder, a cutting torch, a hot air reflow station, etc

I don't usually make anything useful. Last year I spent the better part of the summer making a long, heavy box out of 1/4 plate steel, with many drawers inside. Then I lost interest in it and used a cutting torch to take it apart again

Yes, I tend to recycle my scrap steel

 

Well, the ground is thick with used examples that have blown motors. The 3 cylinder Geo/Susuki sold here in North America didn't live long on a diet of API spec generic 5W-30 motor oil. A 15W-40 would have been *far* more appropriate in such a hard working motor, but folks wanted to save $4,50 per oil change and blow the motor instead

Several years back, the Canadian weather channel featured a brief on a fellow in Toronto who converted his Geo to electric. It's a fairly popular and inexpensive conversion

Electric Geo Metro

If you have a rural estate, I can't think of a better way of putzing around down 2-5 km of gravel road. The Geo/Suzuki Metro also had a fairly compliant suspension, at least the sample I drove 15 years ago did. You could probably drive it down a washboardy gravel road without bouncing off into a ditch

The Suzuki/Geo cars sold here didn't last long, as they were incompatible with salt used to deice roads. Unless rust treated annually, they rotted away fairly quickly

 

Geo Trackers are used extensively on Beaver Island, just north of where we live. They are cheap and small, and seem to do well on the crappy gravel roads. I'm not sure how well they hold up, but the mechanics at the rental agency are able to put them back together. The poor things rattle like a loose collection of parts flying in formation.

Tom

 

Maybe it's your inner artist talking, trying to balance out that regimented engineering mind. You could make whimsical sculptures out of old farming equipment, and plant them around the yard like 'moderne' scarecrows.

 

A Porsche on I-90 Spokane- Post falls at 53mph,,, I think you should put a SMV triangle on the back and hope no one rear ends you! The triple trailer trucks in Idaho with the 75mph limit,,, all sounds like a recipe for disaster,,, no offense!

Icarus.