BMW EV conversion burns rubber!!!

1991 BMW 318i coupe converted to full battery electric power. It was stripped of an engine, gas tank, muffler, catalytic converter and other gas-related parts, as well as its headlights, hood, handles, badges, and other external hardware. It was then primed for painting, and over several months, its electric drive system was installed. The car will not be painted until all mechanical work is finished, since it would have been damaged by all the heavy equipment (hoists, dollies, jacks, jack stands, power tools, etc.).

motor: custom built DC Warp 9 by Jim Husted of Hi-Torque Electric, Redmond, OR
controller: Cafe Electric Zilla 2K
batteries: Ninety 100 Ah Thundersky/ Thunderstruck 3.3 V cells
engineer: Andrea Furia, with Electric Louie of Long Beach, CA
CNC design: Andrea Furia
machinists: Andrea Furia, Angel Martinez, and Louie Finkle aka Electric Louie
consultants: Electric Louie, Arturo Diaz, Jon Kemper
welding: Electric Louie
owner: Bill Dale, Los Angeles, CA


At the time of the video, only 40 of the 90 cells were installed in the car; even then, it still preformed better than it did when it was new. When finished, I will use it to correct misunderstandings about EVs, popularize them, and help to cut off our dependence on foreign oil-- billions of dollars per year that we can then use to revitalize our schools, health care system and roadways, and to pay off our national debt.

The driver in the video was Arturo Diaz

The Ford Ranger at the very end of the video is also an EV conversion done by Arturo Diaz.

The small silver "mystery car" in the background was an EV conversion by Electric Louie.

The only vehicle in the video that is not an EV is the white stake truck.

The live entertainment was Kylie, Louie's faithful K9 companion.

Stay tuned for the finished product...

Thanks, Louie!

IF YOU ARE INSPIRED BY THIS VIDEO, CONVERT YOUR OWN CAR TO AN EV-- YOUR FRIENDS WILL HELP YOU, AS MINE HAVE!

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• EV
• conversion
• burn
• rubber
• electric
• Louie

[phoenixsx1]

how much to convert the Dog to EV

[sockosockosocko]

man, that was less that half your battery pack? this video just caused me to go window shopping for a zilla...!  great video! and thanks for your comment!

[MrBry329]

nice what the power and motor on that im trying to build one but dont know where every thing go besides the batteries and motors

[Shadowpillar]

I found a '91 325i with a blown motor...

this makes it even more tempting.. :)

How much did the conversion cost? what kind of motor did you use? what is the top speed? how long does it last, etc.

[charlieflint]

That's stupidly fast off the line, nice work! :-)

[fdxnaoseinomes]

good acceleration

[LightningEVAustralia]

Bill, nice to see her in action, should get some nice milage out of her with that 27kw/h pack.

Why don't you post some more vidz.

I've have started sourcing products for the EV3, getting me a nice A123 pack, 7.5kw/h, just enough for 100km and a stomping 180kw. Should be fun. lol.

[billdale1]

thanks-- the gas 2.0 project is different from what I'm doing in just about every way, except that they are working to mainstream EVs. The only reason a kid makes it to MIT is cuz he knows how to use his head, so I'm confident that now that they've got a very usable vehicle that is absurdly expensive, they'll be attacking the economics of it all and make some progress there, as well. That may be accomplished using the STAIR (St Andrews Air) battery or other advanced energy storage.