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this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2024
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Of course it's possible, electric conversion kits have been around for decades, and only work with manual transmissions. We just need the battery and charging tech applied to conversion kits. Who wants to start up an EV conversion kit company with me?
I would love to convert my car to an electric, but it’s an automatic so I’d have to spend as much as a new car to convert it.
A drop in ECU replacement and motor/battery would be great, but I doubt the auto industry or the government is going to allow the sale of third party drop in ECUs.
Actually, they do allow (in the US) in an 80's car. A lot of the regulations around that sort of thing are very relaxed for classics.
I don't know of any regulations against one's ability to convert a gas car to electric. In my state, there is no emissions testing even, but I don't know how it's anyone else's buissness what you do with your drivetrain, as long as it's not polluting (sound or environment)
It’s not about converting the car.
I have a 2009 Chevy with an automatic transmission. I’m order to convert it to electric, the ECU would have to be replaced so the car knows when to shift to a higher gear without a combustion engine.
Because of environmental reasons, ECUs are pretty tightly controlled by the government. I don’t know if any company even exists that can sell an aftermarket ECU. There’s plenty that can hack or reprogram ECUs, but even that is becoming increasingly regulated and legally questionable.
Well yeah, if your taking on an EV conversion project get ready to spend $20-30K in parts and at that point your donor should be selected carefully, and with a manual transmission. This is serious hot-rodding, no need for regulations.
Third-party ECUs are already wildly popular items (Holley Sniper and Terminator along with less popular third-party products).
Also, your car being an automatic isn't the difficult part of the conversion, having to fabricate the parts to adapt the drivetrain and battery are.
The issue is the complexity of the bespoke design of drive trains. It's nigh on impossible to design a "one size fits all" or even "fits a majority" of solutions for a conversion kit that isn't stupidly expensive.
See: Edison Motors. A Canadian heavy haul truck manufacturer startup that is trying to offer electric conversions for commercial light and medium duty trucks.