Wired.com had a great post recently about a guy who is building a Porsche 911 electric power car. He’s converting a 1981 911 Targa using some top of the line electric drive train components.
Here’s an excerpt from the Wired.com post:
Start with a $9,000 1981 Porsche 911 Targa in great condition with just over 100,000 on the odometer and a recent paint job. Remove and sell the engine for $3,000, redo the dash and seats for $1,800, then install a NetGain Warp 11 motor. It’s one of the biggest DC motors available for conversions, and it runs $3,000. Add one of the best motor controllers around, a Cafe Zilla Z1K ($2,000, used). Clifford is running a baker’s dozen 12-volt lead-acid AGM batteries (156-volt system) that a friend donated, but he hopes to swap them for lithium-ion down the line. He’s got another $5,000 in an upgraded clutch, motor adapter and miscellaneous parts.
Altogether, he’s into the project for $17,800 so far. That includes $11,800 in conversions, parts and components. [Source: Wired.com]
Not a bad price overall. Especially considering the car is half of it. With the lead-acid batteries currently installed, he’s only going to have a range of about 30 miles. With lithium-ion batteries, he’ll get 60 to 100 miles before needing a charge. Definitely not enough range for me. 100 miles would be my minimum with 150 to 200 miles being a more realistic number given my current driving needs.
The car should have plenty of get up and go, though. Estimates are coming in conservatively at 156 hp. The crazy part is the amount of torque the electric motor can produce. The NetGain Warp 11 motor is capable of 460 foot-pounds of torque at 1,400 amps. That promises to provide some serious performance.
Seems like we’re seeing more and more of these conversions. I bet it won’t be long before we see some kits being sold or at the very least plans put up online of how to convert your Porsche to electic. I love that you would never know this was an electric car other than the sound (or lack thereof) it was making.
[Source Wired.com]
thats actually kinda cool because in reality not many people are going to spend countless hours retoring dead 930 targas to their orginal state. this gets them on the road fairly quick and cheap.
And isn’t it greener to re-use resources than manafacture brand new Hybrid cars? plus this is much cooler.
Now there’s a business for you, converting cool old cars into modern green cars. I can 356 electrics now.
This is cool to do with a few older Porsches, but just don’t do it to all of them. We still need some survivors out there. I wouldn’t mind owning some kind of electric car in the future, and yes range is very important. 150 to 200 miles minimum.