I believe the range issues will be mitigated with the deployment of quantum/glass batteries ... estimated to extend the range of a Tesla Model-3 to 1,000 miles.

Will be interesting to see how that pans out

Let's suppose I buy 2 914's in similar condition. The first one keeps it's original engine. The second gets the EV treatment. I keep both for 4 years while driving about the same number of miles on both. After the 4 years, I decide to sell both. Which one do you think will have the greater resale value?

At this point, I wouldn't even guess. I have a numbers matching 73 2L fully restored to what I think is a strong #2 condition (if not a weak #1). I know of a couple recent examples of very heavily modified 914s, with very little that is original, that have received serious offers WAY above what my car is worth. It seems there is a market for very well-executed modified 914s. And done right, an EV could be fully reversible.

If I ever win the lottery, I will take a 914 chassis to Porsche and give it to their special wish department. I will ask them to flare it, make it really nice inside with a leather interior, plus full AC and heat. And have them put a full Taycan drivetrain under it, complete with all the electronic bells and whistles the Taycan has.

Then I will show up at parade and kick everyone's butt in the Autocross competition.



Or maybe I will do it myself. But I kinda like the whole factory warranty thing.

Clay

A friend of mine sent me a picture of me sitting in my car after taking his son for a ride. I was smiling from ear to ear. For you purist at that time i had a honda V6 in my 914. The reason for the photo was at present i have not driven my 914 in over 2 years trying a new engine combination, and have not seen that smile I had while driving my car in over 2 years. The bottom line is driving our cars and enjoying them whether they have a stock 1.8, a jet powered engine, an electric motor, or a twin turbo LS is what gives us that happy feeling and puts the smile on our faces.

We have already seen that type of range increase in the last 15 years. The GM EV1 had a range of around 80 miles when it came out in the mid-late to 90's. If you put it the same weight of modern batteries it would have over 700 miles of range. Nothing really happened between the EV1 and the Tesla roadster.

In my 914 which has been electric for over 25 years, the school that converted had to use big old heavy lead acid batteries adding about 1500 pounds. Considering the weight off the engine gas tank and other parts that was removed, half the car weight was batteries at the time. There was batteries everywhere in place of the engine, the gas tank, the front trunk. The rear trunk was filled with the controller, relays, shunts, fuses. It might of had 50-60 miles of range. Now I have second generation Chevy Volt batteries which are 7 year old battery tech at this point. I have a bank in the front in place of the tank. and a second back laid out flat in the rear trunk just so I can drive and test things as I fit everything back in the engine bay. It has the same range as the the old lead acid batteries the whole car is sitting at 1700 pounds.
My plan is to have four banks total three in the engine bay around the motor and transaxle and one in the front. It will have about 124 miles of range. The weight and balance should within 50 pounds of a stock 6.

If I wanted to spend the money on brand new batteries (16K) I could bump that range to around 265 miles. The weight would go up 200 pounds.

Batteries get about 10 lighter, have 10 percent more power, and keep dropping in price, in every generation of batteries. So many people are working on this now a generation is about 18 months.

In 5-6 years an electric Cayman might be out, maybe I will switch to that drivetrain and batteries.

and you definitely will win the ax in it.
assuming you do not black out.
-- i think you can still get astronaut training at nasa in houston?

if i ever make it back to texas, one of my favourite places, i will beg you to be strapped into the passenger seat. i'll need a plastic bag taped to my face to safely contain the effects of g forces.

There is no way your 914 EV weights 300lbs less than stock when the engine and full gas tank weigh 400lbs.

So how much will the Box EV swap cost per saved gram of co2? Not to rain on your parade but you spend major money on a minor improvement, or a zero improvement on a national scale.

My Nissan swap passes OBD2 smog standards, gets 300-400 miles per tank, refills in minutes and allows me to do 914 driving events. At less than 5000 miles per year has no effect on co2 levels.

Anybody who is driving a sports car for "cost reasons" is doing it wrong. We don't get these cars because of $/CO2 saved, we get them because we like to drive them. Or work on them. Or shine them up.

I like electric 914! I've seen a handful of them, ranging from scary wild (Otmar's "California Poppy") to mild (a guy who used his to take the carpool lane over the bridges on his way to and from work, not having to pay tolls). They've been done with varying degrees of skill and finesse, much like any other conversion.

I have liked them all for what they are. I would be happy to see more done, especially as EV tech improves. I expect them to get even cleaner and cheaper to operate as our power generation gets cleaner and cheaper.

I also expect that it's going to be a minority of 914s that get electrified. And I am quite happy with that as well.

--DD

I‘d love to see a bolt in Tesla conversion (as has been done in 911s) for a 914. Once solid state batteries become affordable, range and charging times should become irrelevant.

Then again, I‘d love to see multiple liquid salt nuclear reactors supplying clean energy across a reliable distribution grid. I hope to live long enough tones such things become reality.