EV Rally 2008: EV Porsche 928 Conversion

Jeff McCabe is a mechanical engineer who converted his 1984 Porsche 928 in a full electric vehicle.
He gave me a ride and I was able to ask him a few questions on his car and the future of EVs.
Enza Sebastiani

Produced/Shot/Cut by Enza Sebastiani
1000 Hearts - Copyright 2009
www.enzasebastiani.com

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• EV
• Porsche
• 928
• 1984
• Jeff
• McCabe
• Rally
• 2008
• www.eaaev.org
• www.eaasv.org
• Jerry
• Pohorsky
• Electric
• Car
• Barack
• Obama

[aoescool]

hahah sweet.. may I know the specs on your car like top speed, range, 0-60, and or quarter mile time.. for my own personal knowledge so I can get an idea of it.

[eaasv]

Hello,

You can contact YouTube user:

jmccabe928 for more info about the car.

Jeff has a clutchless system so 0-60 time is affected by 2 second delay for shifting.

0 - 35 MPH time is 4.8 seconds compared with 2.7 seconds for the AC Propulsion eBox.

[handofchurchill]

You said manufacturers just need to quit making excuses and put money into development. Even still they're horrible: ex the Tesla. Costs three times as much as a normal Lotus Elise and weighs over 1000 pounds more! Hmmm.

Search youtube for Top Gear Tesla. Or, Top Gear G-wiz

"What we have here then is an astonishing technical achievment. The first electric car that you might actually want to buy. It's just a shame that in the real world, it doesn't seem to work." -Jeremy Clarkson

[handofchurchill]

Also, I thought you were implying your car weighs 800lbs total which would have been ridiculous, my bad!

Long term EV's are expensive. If a battery dies you have to replace it. Until you replace it it overworks the ones around them. Every time you cycle them you diminish their life. Cold weather is brutal on them. Overcharging or half cycling a NiCad NmH or Lead battery kills it quickly. Overdraining LiPo or LiIon batteries, same. I'm sorry Ev's are impractical til a better battery is invented

[handofchurchill]

I do know about EV's. I've read countless articles on themand in almost every case the car, especially with lead-acids, is heavier than stock and requires upgraded brakes and suspension. You now have lithium, which is lighter but very expensive in comparison. My point was to get there you went farther than most people are willing to go. From everything I mentioned below to how you even replaced the original SAFETY GLASS windows with plexiglass. It's neat but impractical.

[jmccabe928]

@handofchurchill , My car weighs 2,765 lbs. and has a 120 mile range. It has all needed items, like headlights, signals, heater and yes, even a booming sound system. Like I said, stick to commenting on things you know about.

[handofchurchill]

While I appreciate the work you've done there it seems more a showcase of what's possible, albeit crude, than the best solution.

Natural gas and biodiesel are better ideas, cheap and very clean. It's very easy to create natural gas as opposed to hydrogen, and biodiesel is everywhere. I've even read where people go to restaraunts and buy their old cooking oil for use as biodiesel, and it works! These also both allow one to keep their IC engines and car intact for simplicity, resale, and parts.

[handofchurchill]

You also move the windows up/down witha rod and wooden knob? In most homemade EV's there's no room for groceries or kids.

I don't hate EV's, they're just not the best solution for the problem at hand in my opinion. Electricity has to be made somewhere and power plant = pollution.

Owners of classics will never agree to, even if federally mandated, convert their cars to EV. It'd ruin the historic nature, feel, and resale of their prize. Your 928 could never realistically be reconverted.

[handofchurchill]

Your arrogance aside, I do know about electric cars which is why I commented on how much I dislike EV's. I highly doubt you car weighs 800 lbs when an early 928 weighed almost 3600 blbs. It has the heaviest and strongest subframes structures ever made. Still, you've gutted the car to the point where it's not practical anymore for the average person. Example, you've removed the electrics, so you have no abs, no headlights, assuming no brake lights or turn signals, no horn, radio, ac, heat, etc

[jmccabe928]

@handofchurchill , As far as torque, yes electrics produce massive amounts of torque down low, but this quickly fall off. They are the easiest car to launch because of this. this is reason that they dont need a clutch or automatic trans. The spinning tires you here is me showing off :) As far as recycling lead acid batteries. They are probably the most efficiently recycled items, next to cars as a whole. Over 85% are reused including the plastic cases. Have a nice day ! Jeff

[jmccabe928]

@handofchurchill You should stick to commenting on things you know about. Electric cars arent one of them. Lets start with the weight, with the lithium pack that has been in the car for nearly two years now, my 928 weighs 800lbs. less than it did stock with 1/3 tank of gas. The lead acid version was within 50lbs. of the stock car. This was with 1,300lbs. of lead.

[handofchurchill]

Also EV cars are inherently very heavy and batteries have severely reduced life and output in cold weather unlike California where this guy lives. Also electric motors produce massive torque across all rpm's and since most EV's have no clutch or trans they tend to be tricky to safely launch from a dead stop. (Listen to the tires at 36 seconds). Imagine driving this heavy ass torque monster in rain or snow.

Thankfully she stopped his idiotic rant at 4:39. Just the facts sir, just the facts...