Tinkering with electric cars?

[crofty1984]

I love spending time in my shed playing with my old motorbikes, but the world is going electric. What can a home mechanic realistically do with an electric vehicle? Upgrade and retrofits maybe? I'm young enough that I'll probably still be alive when petrol power, even as a hobby is dead.

[Quisling]

There is still spinny bits at each corner that go up and down

So no reason you can't work on those

As to upgrades

When we the last time you talked to someone who had fitted a new carb to get more power?

[smn159]

Quisling said:

As to upgrades

When we the last time you talked to someone who had fitted a new carb to get more power?

Odd comment, given the plethora of ways to modify cars to get more power

[Pixelpeep Z4]

Retrofitting will be where it's at.

trying different battery configurations (A vs V etc)

adding extra motors, software, gearing...

rebuilding DC motors?

it's going to be completely different, with its own issues, but plenty of greasy hand action still available

[jjwilde]

crofty1984 said:

I love spending time in my shed playing with my old motorbikes, but the world is going electric. What can a home mechanic realistically do with an electric vehicle? Upgrade and retrofits maybe? I'm young enough that I'll probably still be alive when petrol power, even as a hobby is dead.

Checkout youtube it's a big scene, Rich rebuilds perhaps the best known.

[Quisling]

smn159 said:

Quisling said:

As to upgrades

When we the last time you talked to someone who had fitted a new carb to get more power?

Odd comment, given the plethora of ways to modify cars to get more power

What like remapping them

Which is

Changing a load of numbers in software

Edited by Quisling on Thursday 18th March 10:10

[sjg]

https://openinverter.org/

https://www.diyelectriccar.com/

https://www.electricclassiccars.co.uk/

https://zero-ev.co.uk/

On a basic maintenance/upgrade level, most stuff is DIYable with some care and precautions if involves high voltage. Most of the recent videos on https://www.youtube.com/user/James0852 have been about fixing electric cars, much of it on customers' driveways. I've seen a few DIY Leaf battery upgrades done at home - as long as you have the logistics for a heavy battery (ideally lifting the car, supporting the battery, undo then lift the car away) then it's pretty easy.

[Megaflow]

Pixelpeep Z4 said:

Retrofitting will be where it's at.

trying different battery configurations (A vs V etc)

adding extra motors, software, gearing...

rebuilding DC motors?

it's going to be completely different, with its own issues, but plenty of greasy hand action still available

It is theoretically possible to do all of that, but it would be a brave man to try it, ~600v DC is not to be taken lightly...

[Mikehig]

Quisling said:

smn159 said:

Quisling said:

As to upgrades

When we the last time you talked to someone who had fitted a new carb to get more power?

Odd comment, given the plethora of ways to modify cars to get more power

What like remapping them

Which is

Changing a load of numbers in software

That's a very popular route for turbo/supercharged engines. There's also a huge market for upgraded parts: air filters; intercoolers; free-flow exhausts; etc. Some go further, especially with NA engines, by fitting "hotter" cams and other classic measures to extract more HP - engine transplants, even, like the Rocketeer V6 Mazda MX-5.

[smn159]

Quisling said:

smn159 said:

Quisling said:

As to upgrades

When we the last time you talked to someone who had fitted a new carb to get more power?

Odd comment, given the plethora of ways to modify cars to get more power

What like remapping them

Which is

Changing a load of numbers in software

Edited by Quisling on Thursday 18th March 10:10

And?

[Pixelpeep Z4]

Megaflow said:

Pixelpeep Z4 said:

Retrofitting will be where it's at.

trying different battery configurations (A vs V etc)

adding extra motors, software, gearing...

rebuilding DC motors?

it's going to be completely different, with its own issues, but plenty of greasy hand action still available

It is theoretically possible to do all of that, but it would be a brave man to try it, ~600v DC is not to be taken lightly...

Agreed, but it's all relative.

You wouldn't wanna surprise a horse from behind
You should be careful with extremely flammable vapour in a confined space
etc
etc

[SWoll]

crofty1984 said:

I love spending time in my shed playing with my old motorbikes, but the world is going electric. What can a home mechanic realistically do with an electric vehicle? Upgrade and retrofits maybe? I'm young enough that I'll probably still be alive when petrol power, even as a hobby is dead.

Why? They'll still be making ICE vehicles for a while yet, there's no ban on ICE motorcycles at the minute and will still be loads of interesting old cars/bikes around to tinker with for decades?

[Quisling]

smn159 said:

And?

Which is of course completely impossible with an EV

No way can any home mechanic do anything with them

This is the death of home mechanics (again)

[hyphen]

Who is good at providing 3rd party electrical stuff at cheap prices? China!

Ebay will be flooded with kits of all sorts.

[TheRainMaker]

Give it a few years and there will be loads of stuff for BEV cars.

There are already companies selling up grade kits for the Tesla Model 3, better brakes, suspension, wheels etc.

[Zirconium]

Pixelpeep Z4 said:

Megaflow said:

Pixelpeep Z4 said:

Retrofitting will be where it's at.

trying different battery configurations (A vs V etc)

adding extra motors, software, gearing...

rebuilding DC motors?

it's going to be completely different, with its own issues, but plenty of greasy hand action still available

It is theoretically possible to do all of that, but it would be a brave man to try it, ~600v DC is not to be taken lightly...

Agreed, but it's all relative.

You wouldn't wanna surprise a horse from behind
You should be careful with extremely flammable vapour in a confined space
etc
etc

I was wondering what sort of upgrades you were thinking of fitting to that horse, and where?

[wisbech]

Zirconium said:

I was wondering what sort of upgrades you were thinking of fitting to that horse, and where?

For working horses, gelding is a common alteration...

[ARHarh]

This has been going on since the beginning of cars.

No separate chassis how are we going to modify in the future
Electronic ignition how are we going to modify in the future
Fuel injection how are we going to modify in the future
Catalytic converters how are we going to modify in the future
Tighter emissions how are we going to modify in the future
electric cars how are we going to modify in the future
computer controlled everything how are we going to modify in the future
flying cars how are we going to modify in the future
invisible cars how are we going to find them in the future

There will always enthusiasts who will find a way.

[CubanPete]

Pixelpeep Z4 said:

Megaflow said:

Pixelpeep Z4 said:

Retrofitting will be where it's at.

trying different battery configurations (A vs V etc)

adding extra motors, software, gearing...

rebuilding DC motors?

it's going to be completely different, with its own issues, but plenty of greasy hand action still available

It is theoretically possible to do all of that, but it would be a brave man to try it, ~600v DC is not to be taken lightly...

Agreed, but it's all relative.

You wouldn't wanna surprise a horse from behind
You should be careful with extremely flammable vapour in a confined space
etc
etc

Yep, take the appropriate precautions. Petrol isn't without risk. Lifting any vehicle isn't without risk, I have seen some very dubious methods.

[smn159]

ARHarh said:

This has been going on since the beginning of cars.

No separate chassis how are we going to modify in the future
Electronic ignition how are we going to modify in the future
Fuel injection how are we going to modify in the future
Catalytic converters how are we going to modify in the future
Tighter emissions how are we going to modify in the future
electric cars how are we going to modify in the future
computer controlled everything how are we going to modify in the future
flying cars how are we going to modify in the future
invisible cars how are we going to find them in the future

There will always enthusiasts who will find a way.

Indeed... there's a fair bit of "I don't understand it therefore it can't be possible" going around