Hey Scottie,
ev conversion kits look interesting & I reckon a stack of people would be real interested on your thoughts about of them.
* batteries will be replaceable & replaceable by better tech
* ordinary mechanics could work on them for you maybe (competition, not getting ripped off)
* frankly cooler cars
Downside is that they don't seem to have the same range, & a cheap conversion is going to cost you $20-$30k.
Still, I think something like an older Suburu Forester ~2007 - you know - the ones that blew their head gaskets - would be really cool if you keep the weight down low. Should be really cheap to buy second hand by now - even a dead one seen as though you're tearing the guts out of it anyway. The head gasket & the electric window winder were the only real problems with them so far as I know, & while they're a bit small for a bigger driver (especially if you have a sun roof) - they handle well & are great cars generally.
What do you reckon? soz if you've done it already.
What you are talking about ain't a kit, it's a company making the car for you. The cheapest "kit" on market soonish would be the one for the mini Cooper/smartcar for $5k. Not including installation cost. Adding to @Kaizen, Rich rebuilds is a great YouTube for building electric swaps and all that.
The ev revolution is a total nightmare for so many logistics as well, one example is people rarely think about road tax since the cars are heavier, means more damage to roads quicker if it's gonna be all electric. Also Tesla's seem to have issues with battery coolant lines being punctured or just plain frail. Another could easily be told about how the recycling infrastructure as a whole is so not ready for full ev since it was never intended to do so in the first place.
I also think personal ev swaps are cool and all but I would probably be out of field to want to work on ev in the future, the amount of wiring and computational components are going to be an absolute headache. (Cough cough new Ford lightning)
Seems like a waste of time and a great deal of money. You could replace the engine in an old Forester (to use your example) with a rebuilt one for far less money and the car will be a lot more practical and usable as an actual driver. (Unless of course you're just doing it as an expensive hobby where practicality is not a consideration.)
If the price, performance, and range is up to par or better, is when it would make economic sense. With that said, for project cars, anything goes. People have gotten really inventive with their EV conversions. And if folks have the know how and the will, why not?
