So here goes nothing. I'm kicking off my build for a 400+hp awd electric conversion of my 74 914. I will part out a Volt and use the drive unit in the rear of the car, the battery will be rotated 180 and go in the tunnel between the seats. A Model S drive unit will power the front wheels completing the AWD.
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My 74 914 2.0 I picked up for $3400. It was a California car but the jacking points are rusted out.
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How are you going to synchronize the two engines?


PS:

The 2013 Volt with parts only title I will use the battery and drivetrain from.
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I would just add more batteries instead of the front engine. You will need some weight on the front to get traction in front any way.

Another great project that will sell in 20 years partially completed...

Lots of battery and 2 drive units
Better build out the suspension 1st
Sounds like it will be a 2 or 3 ton car

Welcome to the world

I have seen some people here with unreal talent.
Some with great skill sets and some that learned on the go.

It would be nice to have a car that could go out for a nice long drive and have it so you are not freaking out on the range left.

We will be keeping an eye out on this project.

Good luck.

Bob B

After seeing first hand what happens to a 914 when you start adding a ton (literally) of weight to it with my car that had an electric conversion in it when I got it, you may want to pick a different chassis specifically one with a solid roof and real brakes.

As an engineering feat it's going to be cool to see the first electric AWD 914

Ford ranger maybe

I've seen the same thing with V8 cars and race cars. The 914 weighs 2000lbs because they used the bare minimum in sheetmetal. People have engineered and fabricated reinforcement parts since the factory race cars.
With all the forces involved and cutting you are doing, you are better off starting with a coupe at least from the 90s like an RSX or 240sx.

+1

I also like this project. Love the can-do spirit. I'm also curious about how the front and rear motors will be synched. Someone mentioned brakes. From what I've read, both the Volt and Model S have regenerative braking. Any chance this will be incorporated into the build?

After retiring from Ford I worked at a consulting company where one of the projects was the conversion of a Toyota Corolla to battery electric using Li-Ion batteries. The scope of that project was easier than your conversion because there was no IC engine to deal with and there was only one electric machine. We used a Siemens motor and a Borg Warner single speed trans axle. I architect-ed the Motohawk controller and wrote the Simulink software that "glued" all of the bits together including the battery management system, motor controller and shift lever. The was no thermal management system for the battery packs that were packaged in three locations (not recommended). Your biggest challenge will be the software to make the battery pack and the electric motor happy and allow it to function. Those OEM systems require a lot of handshakes to enable them to function. (We also did some consulting on the VOLT battery system).

Good luck on your project and keep us posted!

As the First one on 914 world to own a Tesla S (ask Eric @PMB) I gave the guys and Eric a ride when they picked up my 6 for restoration. Early 2014 (Five 5 years ago.) I was 127 on the reservation list for my car, so I was a believer. 220 miles on my 60 packs O yea I bought lot of Tesla stock back in the 2013-time frame. I believed musk could do it.

I also drove a Volt when GM had a demo of their cars at Hollywood Park parking lot and the pack in the 2012 went away very fast like 30 miles. They had a nice course set up.

It would seem to me that you would want to work on the rear wheel drive set up and put some modern extra batteries up front. Batteries in the center may be a tight fit like the Karma Frisker that made for an odd seating position in in my humble option. The 914 is super narrow so ck that out.

You need to rebuild the longs and maybe put extra bracing there. That is a big job but I take it that you can weld.
If you could put in the regen braking that would be sweet. This is a huge undertaking and it will be sweet.

Good luck.

Bob B

Good luck.
I learned a long time ago, that if you have an idea, try it.

If you don't, you will wonder for the rest of you life, if it would have worked. Many ideas came to fruit just by people trying something new.

Greg W.

Dropped the drive unit/generator from the Volt.
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Battery dropped as well. Time to get the shoe horn out.
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Are you running the Volt generation unit also? I would be down with that one. I have only seen one but there is a volt running around that has a diesel powered generation unit. Last time I saw it pop up, it was getting a true 126 Mpg, think diesel locomotive, very same concept.

As for all the stuff, all he needs down the center tunnel is the batteries, everything else can be ran out the logs if need be. A 5 gallon fuel cell will get you a pretty far piece as the volt is a hybrid, and the Bolt was the true electric.

Best of luck with the build, your resume suggests you can work out the drive sync issue with a bit of software and a controller. Couple of wheel sensors or flange sensors and you could sync them up no issue.



BTW if you look at two builds on here your center tunnel should not be an issue, and you will actually increase rigidity if done correctly.

Thanks for the update and carry on.

Interestingly, Porsche has just introduced their first electric car the Taycan. https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/porsch...-car/ar-AAGNT2K
700 horse power. Yikes!! I want one.

Let's see....is it the red wire or the blue wire??? Holy Moly Mamma. That's a mess of wires. Looking forward to seeing this come together

Electric Porsche


The hub-mounted electric motors were powered by batteries with a terminal voltage of 60 - 80 volts and a capacity of 170 - 300 ampere-hours (Ah). At a normal speed of 35 km/h the vehicle had a range of around 50 km. The Lohner-Porsche received a great deal of recognition and praise at the Paris Exposition of 1900.
Lohner-Porsche electric vehicle, 1900 – Technical Museum


Bob B

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Good luck with the build.

Folks on this site can definitely help with advice on suspension and other parts, and how to reinforce/repair the chassis. These cars rust from the inside out so look carefully for hidden rust.

You may want to consider the engman stiffening kit, I think now sold by Maddog?

I adds a lot of strength back to the center of the car to make up for rusting/age.

It is easy to install (weld in) as well.

I second the idea that the front motor may be more trouble than it is worth.

John

0 to 60 will be 1 second hahahahahaha. I love it wish you all the success.

I would recommend the 914LTD kit to re-enforce the chassis, covers omer area and goes all the way to the rear suspension outer pickup points.

In my former auto-x car I have both the engman and the 914LTD kits installed. IT is very stiff. My class I had to weigh in at 2160 lbs. I stiffened the car like crazy.

We acquired a fleet of VW Rabbit pick-up trucks for our maintenance department back in the early 80's. They weren't getting the range the manufacturer claimed, so we had to analyze the problem. As we were working on that issue, I sketched out an overview for an electric hybrid drive train. The design incorporated solar, regenerative braking and pulse charging with AC electric motors at each wheel, and a small displacement petrol motor for driving an AC generator to charge batteries when the vehicle was driven at night and during inclement weather conditions with low battery levels. The most efficient batteries of that era were nickel/iron.

I had a lot of push back from the 'nay-sayers' telling me that it would never make it into a major auto manufacturer's vehicle, as if it actually worked as designed, the oil industry would probably buy up and shelve the patent.

One of the other engineers in my department who was an I/C gear head looked at what I drew up and saw the possibilities. He design the ECU to pull everything together. Again, it was the 80's, so we didn't have LSI micro computers like we have today. As it turns out, the basic technology (minus the solar charging) is pretty much what ended up in Honda's and Toyota's early hybrid vehicles.

Watching this thread to see how your project turns out

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