Other may have different opinions.
There’s an Italian company doing kits, I think they keep the gearbox and supply uprated brakes and rear suspension
Apologies if this offends the "progressives", but I completely agree with "Bugsy" An 'electrified' classic 500 (and Motobambino have done one, and market them) has a 'size/range'problem----there is not a lot of space to fit batteries. The conversion done by the Welsh company (and they destroyed a perfectly good car, just because the lady couldn't double-de-clutch basically) only had a very limited range. One of the 'pluses' of the 500 is its light weight---shoving a multitude of batteries into it dramatically increases that weight, which upsets the handling and braking. The standard 500's brakes are marginal in modern traffic---shove a lot of extra weight into it and they become 'unsuitable' You will have to go to disc-brakes at the front (waste of time and money on the rear) AND increase both wheel and tyre width. With disc brakes on the front,and standard size wheels/tyres, you will find that you can easily lock-up the front brakes IN THE DRY---image it on a wet road! The kits ARE expensive, and fitting them is NOT an "over a weekend" job--a lot of the car has to be up-rated to cope with the extra weight. I also agree with "Bugsy" in that if I HAD to drive an electric vehicle (which I fervently hope that I never have to do), I would only do it if it was designed as an EV from the ground up.
In the days when I worked for Radbourne-Racing, and carrying out the engine conversions on (usually new) Fiat 500s, I could lift the engine from the ground up to the work-bench---I am pretty sure that they didn't weigh 200lbs. (I can't do that now!) In those days I HAD to use my 500 as my 'commute to work-car' --it was all I had, and the commute was from South London (West Wickham) to, effectively, Chelsea---and I enjoyed it. It is still fun to drive a 500 in traffic, at the same speed as all the big luxury and SUV vehicles---and I can often get through gaps that they can't even think about.
Totally agree with you 'Bugsy'. At the risk of annoying the 'EV brigade', most of the (Classic) 500s that we are running around in are, on average 55 years old---the engines are strippable, rebuildable, and parts are replaceable---can anybody convince me that ANY "EV" will have that same level of "rebuildabilty" in even 20 years time, let alone 55 years time? Both Volvo and VAG have produced 'Technical papers' where they have admitted that, when you take construction into account as well, an "EV" is NOT green until it has covered about 55 to 60 THOUSAND miles! There is no such thing as "fully green" energy"---it is just that some methods are less polluting than other methods of producing it, and we must continue to improve the "lesser polluting" methods.At the end of the day, if EVs were a practical alternative to ICE vehicles everyone would drive them.
None of us want to pollute the atmosphere, but we do need to carry out our normal lives.
Currently even with all the advances they have made, in general terms they are still seen as a "rich man's toy" to many who just need a cheap, economical and practical vehicle that they can buy second hand and either repair themselves or have repaired at their local garage cheaply and in all honesty EV's are not at that stage in their development.
Converting ANY Classic to EVis an expensive excercise---as you have mentioned, the parts alone are going to be in the $30,000 plus range.Trying tofit the transmission system off a modern 500E into a Classic 500 would be a MAJOR engineering undertaking as just for a start, the 'engines' are at different ends of the cars. What is the problem with the 126 engine that is in your 'Jolly'?
it was running fine, but then turned a corner while driving and suddenly it would not accelerate without trying to die. almost like it was running out of gas. very similar to the video below. it would idle, but would try to die when trying to accelerate.
If anyone has any other ideas, i'm all ears.
it was running fine, but then turned a corner while driving and suddenly it would not accelerate without trying to die. almost like it was running out of gas. very similar to the video below. it would idle, but would try to die when trying to accelerate.
I pulled the plugs and they were black so it seemed like too much gas (or not enough spark or air). I began by draining the gas tank, replacing the air and fuel filters and replaced the carburetor. next the coil. then the distributor cap and rotor. then the spark plugs. i clamped off the fuel line and let it run with the fuel in the bulb and it didn't change, so i eliminated any issue with the fuel pump. I finally called a mechanic that came out and basically went thru everything i had already done and left scratching his head. we played with carb settings, timing, checked and refreshed the points, checked the valve springs/valves, fuel flow etc...all the normal stuff. I have a condenser on order and if that doesn't work i'm going to change out the plug wires, although they appear to be relatively new. I love the jolly because everything is so cheap and it's fun to tinker with. that said, i bought this for my wife and she's losing patience
I can't convert a real dog to eliminate that downside that they have, so I have compromised with a big, cuddly one from IKEA.
We are farmers and there’s nothing to compete with diesel engines for grunt, towing capacity and range…that electric JCB tractor that everyone and his dog says ‘is the future’ is a gimmick, a flawed one at that. Not that I’d buy anything from JCB or, for that matter, Deere, aptly named as they’re expensive to buy, run and repair
If one converts a 'Classic' to EV, the ORIGINAL engine mounts have to be retained----just think of the 'fun' that the guy who put an electric motor into a Ferrari 'Testarossa' had! He had to build a complete sub-frame that bolted onto the original Ferrari engine engine mounts, into which the electric motor and transmission system were then fitted into. On top of that, as a 'classic' Mini owner found, to his great cost, one is NOT allowed to convert them back to I.C. if ANY additional holes have been created (to run wiring looms etc through), and just to make it even more complicated (in the UK), if you DO convert an I.C. powered car/van to EV, there is a very good chance that if you have created any 'passage'holes that were not part of the vehicle's original construction, when the vehicle is presented to the "Vehicle Inspection" depot, the Inspector will say "NO!"
