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0 pointscmrdporcupine4y ago0 comments

$15k is way too low of an estimate. Even if you have a machine shop and the skills can do all the machining and welding yourself. To do the conversion, you'd need (just for components in addition to the motor): controller/inverter (a hefty one), DC-DC converter, charger + BMS, battery, cooling system, accessory adapters for AC/heat, brake pump, etc. + a pile of contactors and wire and other high voltage components.

Then you gotta build motor mounts, adapt to existing manual transmission or figure out some other gear reduction + attach to axles, cases for batteries and other components, wiring, etc.

It'd be a big project and probably around $40k all in by the time you were done.

I can see some of the EV conversion specialty shops using this Ford motor as part of their services though because it is higher wattage than most of the products the DIY market is used to.

Note that this is a higher voltage motor than most DIY electric car conversions are done with, too. So harder to work with safely and harder to configure battery pack.

0 comments

earthscienceman4y ago

That's completely reasonable, and I don't disagree with anything you've said. Still not an order of magnitude though! Anyone doing an engine conversion on a project car is burning money anyway, and while it won't be for everyone... 40k is not in the realm of impossible for a lot of the car DIY crowd. In fact, of all the circles I've ever touched on, car mod crowds are probably the most willing to spend ludicrous bucks on an unnecessary project.

Make fun of the rich guy buying $7000 status watches, god knows I will, but there are thousands of relatively "poor" people in every American city spending 10's of thousands on their shitboxes... and I love it.

Guest190238924y ago

> Make fun of the rich guy buying $7000 status watches, god knows I will

I'm going off-topic, but just a heads up, there's a fairly large watch community out there (https://www.watchuseek.com/forums/) that have a passion for watches and treat it as a hobby like any other. They're probably one of the friendliest online communities I've come across. I haven't bought any thousand dollar watches, but I've spent a decent amount of time reading about watches and releases, and I know there's a lot of people out there that save up their money for years, decades, or life, to buy a $7,000 grail watch they've dreamed of owning. They might look like rich guys wearing a dumb Rolex status watch to an outsider, but sometimes that couldn't be further from the truth.

earthscienceman4y ago

I poked fun at them in an attempt to be self-aware, I'm currently wearing Sinn 656L as a lowly postdoc. Nothing crazy, mais quand-même.

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BoorishBears4y ago

$15k is way too low just like it's way too low for an engine swap.

In that, you can do it for $15k as your starting budget but you'll have to cheap out everywhere, get lucky many different ways, sell the things you swap out and still have it creep upwards.

Likewise, unless you're starting with a junkyard motor $15k is probably not enough.

A proper turnkey conversion for a V8 Miata for example ends up right around... $40k.

jacquesm4y ago

Exactly. Anybody that looks at the $3900 price tag for the motor and that has never done anything like this before might be tempted to think that they can afford it. If you're going to build it from junk yard stuff then you will be able to stay under $20K, otherwise it will likely be much more.

skykooler4y ago

Where are you finding the voltage for this motor? I've looked several places (including Ford's own site) and can't find proper specs anywhere.

cmrdporcupineOP4y ago

It's not in the specs, but there's breakdowns of the whole Mustang Mach E drivetrain by Munro Live on YouTube, and they get into the battery pack, inverter, everything else. This is the rear motor out of the Mach E, minus the inverter.

The Mach E battery pack is 450 volts. So after going through the inverter, it'll be a bit less than that, but still very high.

Almost all commercial non-DIY EVs have quite high voltages, 300 and over at least. DIY EVs tend to use lower voltages but at higher amps.

EDIT: though it would not surprise me to find that you could run this motor fine at lower voltages but with higher current

jacquesm4y ago

No, the current would be limited by winding diameter so there won't be much room on the high end but at the same time you may simply need less power.

dntrkv4y ago

Or you buy a wrecked Model S and swap things over.

tomcam4y ago

Prices are still pretty high on those things

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 pointscmrdporcupine4y ago0 comments

Then you gotta build motor mounts, adapt to existing manual transmission or figure out some other gear reduction + attach to axles, cases for batteries and other components, wiring, etc.

It'd be a big project and probably around $40k all in by the time you were done.

I can see some of the EV conversion specialty shops using this Ford motor as part of their services though because it is higher wattage than most of the products the DIY market is used to.

Note that this is a higher voltage motor than most DIY electric car conversions are done with, too. So harder to work with safely and harder to configure battery pack.

0 comments

earthscienceman4y ago

Guest190238924y ago

> Make fun of the rich guy buying $7000 status watches, god knows I will

earthscienceman4y ago

I poked fun at them in an attempt to be self-aware, I'm currently wearing Sinn 656L as a lowly postdoc. Nothing crazy, mais quand-même.

1 more reply

BoorishBears4y ago

$15k is way too low just like it's way too low for an engine swap.

In that, you can do it for $15k as your starting budget but you'll have to cheap out everywhere, get lucky many different ways, sell the things you swap out and still have it creep upwards.

Likewise, unless you're starting with a junkyard motor $15k is probably not enough.

A proper turnkey conversion for a V8 Miata for example ends up right around... $40k.

jacquesm4y ago

skykooler4y ago

Where are you finding the voltage for this motor? I've looked several places (including Ford's own site) and can't find proper specs anywhere.

cmrdporcupineOP4y ago

The Mach E battery pack is 450 volts. So after going through the inverter, it'll be a bit less than that, but still very high.

Almost all commercial non-DIY EVs have quite high voltages, 300 and over at least. DIY EVs tend to use lower voltages but at higher amps.

EDIT: though it would not surprise me to find that you could run this motor fine at lower voltages but with higher current

jacquesm4y ago

No, the current would be limited by winding diameter so there won't be much room on the high end but at the same time you may simply need less power.

dntrkv4y ago

Or you buy a wrecked Model S and swap things over.

tomcam4y ago

Prices are still pretty high on those things

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse