RE: Swindon Powertrain launches crate EV motor

RE: Swindon Powertrain launches crate EV motor

Thursday 17th October 2019

Swindon Powertrain launches crate EV motor

Off the shelf engine swaps have been big business for decades; now it's the turn of electric powerplants...



The concept of crate engines is nothing new; rather than spending years of tinkering upgrading individual components, you can simply buy a shiny new OEM powerplant and stick it beneath the bonnet of your current pride and joy. For many years, of course, that's tended to mean splashing the cash on a high-displacement V8 lump from a US manufacturer, something like Chevy's 755hp ZL1 V8 or Dodge's 1,000hp Hellephant.

But the industry is changing, and the aftermarket with it. British firm Swindon Powertrain - which PH visited earlier this year - has plenty of internal combustion expertise manufacturing engines for over half of the BTCC grid. Nonetheless, it's the company's High Power Density electric unit which it has been inundated with requests to make available as a standalone product.


Described as a "ready to integrate electric powertrain for light commercial, sports, classic and recreational vehicles," the 80kW motor is a development of the one found in the firm's resto-modded Mini EV, the Swind E Classic, which puts out the equivalent of around 110hp. At just 600mm wide, 440mm deep and as little as 280mm tall, the company claims the 70kg transverse unit offers the highest power/volume ratio on the market.

Swindon Powertrain hopes the system will "ease the transition for manufacturers currently frustrated by the lack of compact, high power EV systems available to buy in low volumes." Applications could include everything powering a pure EV or supplementing an existing combustion engine in an OEM's hybrid setup, to running a quad bike or the loading platform of a commercial vehicle.

"To date, niche manufacturers have not had access to compact, high-power EV powertrains they could source in low to mid volume, leading to a vacuum of supply," says Swindon Powertrain's managing director Raphaell Caille. "When you factor in development costs, specialist OEMs haven't been able to electrify their vehicles as quickly as they would like. Our ready-to-install 'crate' powertrain will accelerate EV adoption in sectors poorly served by the larger tier one manufacturers and integrators."


Multiple mounting points and flexibility when it comes to inverter and cooling pack locations are said to enable the unit to fit a wide range of vehicles, while waterproofing options make it suitable for off-road leisure and recreation applications as well. From a PHer perspective, though, it'll be its potential for use in DIY conversions which generates the most interest; enthusiasts have been pulling electric project powertrains from Twizys, Zoes and the like for a few years now, the crate option being a much simpler way to go.

"Some of these classic EVs currently use second-hand parts of unknown provenance. The HPD project draws on our engineering expertise from over 48 years in motorsport to offer a reliable, compact and durable solution for this sector too." says Caille. So, which car are we sticking it in first?


 

 

 

Author
Discussion

V8 FOU

Original Poster:

2,970 posts

146 months

Thursday 17th October 2019
quotequote all
Obvious question - how much???

dublet

283 posts

210 months

Thursday 17th October 2019
quotequote all
Great but what use is in EV motor without a battery pack? Really need a "crate" lithium battery pack that can be fitted into different chassis - somehow.

geeks

9,119 posts

138 months

Thursday 17th October 2019
quotequote all
V8 FOU said:
Obvious question - how much???
My thoughts too. That said, the E-Classic (the mini pictured) is £80k! https://swind.life/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/E-Cl...

jeremyc

23,335 posts

283 months

Thursday 17th October 2019
quotequote all
V8 FOU said:
Obvious question - how much???
What the article fails to mention is that it is not available yet. This is the announcement of a development programme.

Swindon Powertrain news said:
The HPD project will develop tooling, including castings, and identify manufacturing techniques to have the unit in production by June 2020.
website link

Gojira

899 posts

122 months

Thursday 17th October 2019
quotequote all
Hard to see it as a bad idea, but as doublet said, what about a battery pack?

Even I can come up with some amusing ideas, but with out a battery they won't go far, and that'll be the tricky bit to crate.

Wish them the very best of luck though - I can imagine the sizures it would cause, turning up at a track day with one of these in a caterham, until someone trips over the mains cable biggrin

garykane1980

16 posts

195 months

Thursday 17th October 2019
quotequote all
All the electric items in the Swind E Mini brochure are optional extras - how ironic! biggrin

As someone above said, a crate battery pack coupled with this would be helpful and the way forward for reducing the waste we produce from both producing new and scrapping old cars, which are largely inefficiently recycled or sent to landfill.

I use a BMW 1-Series 123d for my short and traffic-filled commute to work. I don't need anything more and the car is in perfect condition for 11 years old, but it doesn't have stop-start and is sore on diesel, so I'd happily do a conversion if it didn't cost the price of a new car!

unsprung

5,467 posts

123 months

Thursday 17th October 2019
quotequote all
jeremyc said:
V8 FOU said:
Obvious question - how much???
What the article fails to mention is that it is not available yet. This is the announcement of a development programme.

Swindon Powertrain news said:
The HPD project will develop tooling, including castings, and identify manufacturing techniques to have the unit in production by June 2020.
website link


A for engineering.

D for communications.

Utterly, utterly painful to read that press release / website text. Even if they don't have the money for a proper comm's bod, have some relevant students round to put in the effort. Or go on one of the freelance marketplaces.

If they would like attention and word-of-mouth, they need to celebrate -- up front -- the change that their solution will bring about.

And they need to allay fears of cost -- up front -- even if there is at the moment no official price point.




anonymous-user

53 months

Thursday 17th October 2019
quotequote all
80kW and 70kg.. Oh dear, that's terrible........ (and if it's less than £20k i'll be surprised.......)

unsprung

5,467 posts

123 months

Thursday 17th October 2019
quotequote all
Max_Torque said:
(and if it's less than £20k i'll be surprised.......)
Really? Oh, that's unfortunate.

A keen price is needed to induce the widespread conversions that we'd all want.


panickyjabofoppo

52 posts

110 months

Thursday 17th October 2019
quotequote all
Love that. Absolutely love it. However, they surely have to include a battery solution to go with it. Deeply hate that ‘s’ word, but like the majority (I’m guessing, obviously) of this package’s supporters I don’t know if it simply needs an off-the-shelf battery ‘pack’ of some description or something massively and intimidatingly more complicated.

spikeyhead

17,222 posts

196 months

Thursday 17th October 2019
quotequote all
Then add the cost of the battery and charger

BogBeast

1,136 posts

262 months

Thursday 17th October 2019
quotequote all
Good start - would like to have an idea on price and would have liked more power but I certainly like to build my next kit car as an EV or hybrid so count me very interested..

Toltec

7,159 posts

222 months

Thursday 17th October 2019
quotequote all
Max_Torque said:
80kW and 70kg.. Oh dear, that's terrible........ (and if it's less than £20k i'll be surprised.......)
Particularly as you are going to need a couple of them.

swisstoni

16,844 posts

278 months

Thursday 17th October 2019
quotequote all
Great idea. Hope they are affordable.

Blib

43,789 posts

196 months

Thursday 17th October 2019
quotequote all
I've just registered my interest in buying a crate motor. That should see the project fail to progress.... hehe

anonymous-user

53 months

Thursday 17th October 2019
quotequote all
Blib said:
I've just registered my interest in buying a crate motor. That should see the project fail to progress.... hehe
Why wouldn't you just buy an number of second hand EDU's from an existing crashed EV? For example, get an i3 EDU, that's got 130 kW as standard, and with a bit of extra voltage could easily get probably 160 kW peak without too much effort........



Black S2K

1,462 posts

248 months

Thursday 17th October 2019
quotequote all
Max_Torque said:
Why wouldn't you just buy an number of second hand EDU's from an existing crashed EV? For example, get an i3 EDU, that's got 130 kW as standard, and with a bit of extra voltage could easily get probably 160 kW peak without too much effort........
How practicable would that really be for a DIYer?

I have visions of people with a dangerous amount of knowledge blowing themselves up

At least with an ICE, getting the AFR wrong only blows the engine up.

ChocolateFrog

24,847 posts

172 months

Thursday 17th October 2019
quotequote all
Max_Torque said:
80kW and 70kg.. Oh dear, that's terrible........ (and if it's less than £20k i'll be surprised.......)
I would think it would need to be under £5k to get a decent uptake.

A1VDY

3,575 posts

126 months

Thursday 17th October 2019
quotequote all
Not suitable for DIY use.
Qualified electricians only otherwise the A&E's are going to be busy..

ChocolateFrog

24,847 posts

172 months

Thursday 17th October 2019
quotequote all
A1VDY said:
Not suitable for DIY use.
Qualified electricians only otherwise the A&E's are going to be busy..
If Rich Rebuilds can take a Tesla apart with a kitchen knife then I'm sure it's not beyond the average competent DIYer.

Just avoid touching the sparkly bits with 2 hands.