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Wanting to buy a Trabant 1.1 and convert it into a EV. (lemmy.dbzer0.com)

submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I'm wondering if this is a completely stupid idea, I've done some research already about where to put the batteries (can likely be wired up in the boot with motor in the front, or potentially have a bank under the bonnet in lieu of where the fuel tank would live anyways) but I am somewhat worried about the weight.... however I suppose given modern batteries it should be just about doable.

Would be a fairly cheap project anyways, the actual car can be bought on the cheap as barely anyone wants Trabi 1.1's for some reason & second hand batteries are always a possibility. Might even try and find a regular Trabi with a blown engine (as often happened) as they often go for nothing.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I guess the concern on the weight is the frame itself? I would assume you should be able to upgrade the suspension and brakes to handle the weight, but if the frame itself can’t handle the weight those others don’t matter.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

Yeah thats the main worry, Trabis have a fairly puny steel frame with duraplast panels bolted on, I think in theory it should be fine though even if the range on it isn't great.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

I'm not super familiar with trabants, I mean in a detail sort of way. But to EV convert there are a lot of things to factor in. For example the go to conversion is to buy a wrecked Tesla and use its battery and drive unit. However the model 3 pack is bigger in length as the trabant 1.1 at 218cm vs the trabant wheelbase of 202cm and width is 150 cm vs the trabant at 151 cm. Which means you're opening up the pack and using the modules. Likely need to make your own battery boxes at that point.

Totally doable. Take a look at some of the youtubers who focus on this because there is some cool tech coming out now specifically for this purpose.

Some even go super simple where they leave the gearbox, and just make an EV motor adapter to connect and you can even shift the gears (pointless but fun).

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

If you did do this swap I'd try using first gen leaf components

Edit: reason for first gen leaf components is that it's well documented, the batteries are air-cooled (they do suffer more degredation compared to the water cooled counterparts) so less work, the electric motor and inverter are a decent size, and the battery pack is pretty small