Lightest car to convert?

Do you own or use a EV. Then this is a good place to discuss things.
glerwill
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Lightest car to convert?

Postby glerwill » Sun Jul 27, 2008 9:19 pm

Hi,
I'm new to the forum - but it stands to reason that a lighter is easier to convert...

I'm considering converting a car for the following requirements:

-carry 2 adults and one dog
-to be used as a second vehicle for up to 20 mile commute daily
-no long distance travel
-keep costs down where possible
-willing to take things out to reduce weight!
-capable of achieveing 70mph for short distances

Thought a ten year old ford puma could be a good choice? approx 1020 kgs at the start...

thanks for any assistance

Graham

any suggestions on motor/batteries/controller required

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qdos
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Postby qdos » Sun Jul 27, 2008 10:23 pm

Funny I was just looking at a friend's Puma yesterday But they at over 1000kg that's not light and you're going to use up a fair bit of the little room there is in them with batteries too.

Cinquecentos have been done, lighter cheaper and more space

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floydster
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Postby floydster » Mon Jul 28, 2008 11:13 pm

I've seen a few kit cars that look like 4x4s but are based on fwd donors (can't remember the name, maybe Qdos can help). Might be worth a search on ebay for unfinished projects. Should be plenty of battery room on-board.

Floydster
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qdos
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Postby qdos » Tue Jul 29, 2008 5:32 am

Kit cars make superb EV projects there's hundreds of different ones out there it all depends on what you are looking for, mostly though they tend to be open top sports cars.

Not sure which Floyd is referring to maybe the Jimini? They already have an EV option on that.

Along the lines of a Puma there's the Quantum which is Fiesta based and is a bit more practical than the Puma with hints of Elan about it. The red one at the back is a hard top hatch back coupe

Image

Or Perhaps a Banham , Audi TT ish?

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floydster
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Postby floydster » Wed Jul 30, 2008 11:49 pm

Here's one I'm thinking of: http://www.madabout-kitcars.com/kitcar/ ... ls.php?156

but there's another that looks like the old Lada 4x4 but I can't remember what it's called (anyone?).

Floydster
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qdos
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Postby qdos » Thu Jul 31, 2008 7:09 am

I'm not sure Jage are still going. They based teir kits on the old RWD Mk1 and Mk2 Escorts

Not sure at all about the Lada Niva / Cossack kit you're talking about

NCF Diamond maybe ?

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Most of the 4x4 type machines now are based on heavy 4x4s plus their aerodynamics are pants ofcourse.

The Hustler by William Towns would have been good for an EV, Mini based

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bobc
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Postby bobc » Thu Jul 31, 2008 12:01 pm

I'm converting a reliant kitten - they were pretty light (650kg ish from memory) & can be picked up reasonably cheap.
They were fairly ropey when new mind you, & will not have improved in the 30 odd intervening years.....
Doing up seems fairly reasonable though, parts seem easy enough to get.

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qdos
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Postby qdos » Thu Jul 31, 2008 12:24 pm

Just remembered the Rickman Ranger, Floyd is it that?

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MalcolmB
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Postby MalcolmB » Thu Jul 31, 2008 2:10 pm

You probably won't get much lighter than this, but your dog would have to be fairly small...

eBay item: 220261296160
Messerschmitt replica

grantcrawley
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Postby grantcrawley » Fri Sep 26, 2008 9:35 am

floydster wrote:Here's one I'm thinking of: http://www.madabout-kitcars.com/kitcar/ ... ls.php?156

but there's another that looks like the old Lada 4x4 but I can't remember what it's called (anyone?).

Floydster


It's called a Lada Niva or Lada Niva Cossack for the "deluxe" version.


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