Comment on Tesla Slumps Below 50% Share of California's Electric Car Market
CucumberFetish@lemm.ee 23 hours agoThe biggest issue with an EV conversion is the weight of the batteries. For a lot of passenger cars, adding 500kg of batteries maxes out or even exceeds the vehicle’s gross weight.
CmdrShepard42@lemm.ee 4 hours ago
These conversions replace the entire drivetrain so you’d be losing the weight of the V8, transmission, transfer case, and drivelines and replacing them with a little 4 cylinder engine, generator, and batteries.
CucumberFetish@lemm.ee 3 hours ago
Considering that even the hybrid cars made by car manufacturers themselves are heavier than their ICE counterparts, I don’t think that by retrofitting an older car you’ll get a better result.
For example, 2024 Hyundai Tucson curb weights:
Heaviest ICE: 3663 lbs
Lightest hybrid: 3692 lbs
Lightest plugin hybrid: 4115 lbs
CmdrShepard42@lemm.ee 1 hour ago
A hybrid has all the same ICE components with the addition of the generator and battery pack so it’s not surprising that it would be heavier than the pure ICE counterpart. These kits will be replacing old iron block engines (along with the other aforementioned drivetrain components) with a small aluminum engine and generator. Even if they are a bit heavier, these are old trucks with poor aerodynamics where a few hundred pounds isn’t going to make much difference in the grand scheme of things.