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the energy density and weight limitations of affordable batteries ... 200 1991

If you do a search in the archives, you might find a couple of threads about it, but I don't ever remember anything coming to fruition.

And yes, you can get the motor, and even the sophisticated electronic controllers, as well as the engine and driveshaft mounts, but those are the easy parts.

I know that electricity is almost "free" energy compared to the price of gasoline, but the tradeoffs are a difficult hurdle to tolerate, and likely not worth the sacrifices you will have to make.

The main problem is the necessary batteries. Unless you want to invest about the same as a new car in (relatively) exotic batteries such as lithium compounds, combined with elaborate cooling and/or charge control systems, you will never be satisfied with the results unless the resulting car is just "for show", or to make a "statement". It will never be practical, and certainly not cost efficient no matter how much cheaper electricity is compared to gasoline.

Briefly, affordable lead-acid batteries do not have the energy density per unit weight, nor can accept a charge fast enough, to be practical. There is a limit to how much weight the Volvo body and suspension can carry (and the brakes can stop) safely, and you would need to surround the driver with batteries stashed everywhere -- all passenger seating areas as well as the trunk, to get decent range combined with power to accelerate to road speed.

Hey, the past couple of weeks, the price of gas has been going down. It's a nice thought, but ...

If you must convert your car into something else, I think, IMHO, converting to natural gas (or even propane) makes a lot more sense from a cost/benefit perspective, and is far easier -- the technology to do that for your car already exists with only a modest investment, and you'll be able to carry passengers :-).

Regards,






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