Would you ditch the Honda S2000's F20C for an electric motor and batteries? That's exactly what Brian did and, for our edification and amusement, he documented the entire build process along the way.
Brian's logic behind the project:
I've been wanting to do an EV conversion for awhile but never committed to anything. The ever increasing gas prices and some research pushed me into realizing this isn't that crazy of an idea. I was originally thinking of selling my car and buying something even more economical but the car already got 26mpg commuting to work. So even doubling my mileage just didn't make up for the cost of a new prius for example vs how much it would cost to convert my current car and how quickly I could recoup that investment.
I currently spend a mimimum of $300/month just to get to work assuming I don't drive anywhere else. Cutting that cost in half with a prius 20-30k would take awhile to pay for itself. The conversion I've estimated at around 6k. Montly costs being about $30 in electricity. So in theory I can recoup this investment in a of couple years. Not bad compared to the 10+ years for the Prius purchase. Now we know gas prices will continue to raise so it would actually pay for itself in less than that amount of time but not needing gas at all is the real solution and it's just cool!
He started by removing the stock S2000 F20C powertrain, transmission, rear axle assembly and all accompanying electronics. He then sourced an electric motor capable of powering the little Honda roadster, specifically a dual-shaft Advanced DC FB1-4001A capable of operating between 72 and 144 volts. His goal was to run at the maximum capacity of 144 volts and will do so with 45 160Ah lithium-ion batteries, 30 cells under hood and 15 cells with a battery monitoring system mounted in the trunk
We'll let Brian explain all of the extreme techno mumbo-jumbo in his blog, but take a peak below at his first drive of the recently finished electric Honda S2000.
First Drive:
We're not worthy.
[via s2kev.blogspot]