Battery Vehicle Society

I'll shortly be purchasing a kit car chassis and building a 7 type roadster and i want to go lekky (See pic below of one i built last year - 2 litre power)

The target weight will be no more than 600KG, I would like decent acceleration, top speed of 60 - 70mph so with the right motor and Li LiON batteries what 'real world' mileage could i expect? I would like 150+ Is this feasible?

Here's a pic of what I'm building.

I feel you may need deep pockets for that kind of range. I used LiFe batts in the MEV R2 and it is a great performer. Having tried a range run yet.

We're already building one which we took the chassis to Stoneleigh the other week.

See chassis here below



Ours is aimed at being a sprint car not a distance car but yes it is possible. Lots of money for the batteries though but we have got a cunning plan if you are interested. We can also supply nose cones and scuttles if you want.

As Stuart says the batteries to do it are not cheap but if you'd like to have a chat......

I apreciate that the batteries will be a few grand. People spend many times more on normal engines so hopefully (when monies allow) not a problem.

I will be most interested in your 7 project!!

Good man! that's the attitude

Indeedy how much will it cost you to mod a Zetech or Duratech ? and at petrol prices of £50+ a tank you know it makes sense hooray another converted petrolhead! mind you my G27 is staying Pinto powered for a while to come yet LOL

Hi Andy

I'm looking at an electric conversion with similar weight and performance goals. From the reading I've done and looking at examples on the EV album, I'd expect an energy consumption of around 200-250 Wh per mile. With lithium ion batteries I reckon I'd need a 10 kWh pack to get 40 mile range. This pack would weigh a little over 100 kg and at current prices from Thundersky would cost roughly £3500 from China before import duty.

So what are the cheaper alternatives to Li LiON? £11k for 120 miles does seem excessive to say the least!

peugeot are supose to be making some super batteries that are twice as good and half the price but won't be availabe for a couple of years. I'm rather hoping that by the time i'm ready for batteries they will have come down in price.

LOL that's the $1 million question that one.

Much like computers the specs keep going up and the prices down on the whole. If you are looking at a 2 year build then it's certainly worth the wait to finalise on batteries. It's all very much dependant on how you want to drive the car though and how deep your pockets are. It's kind of like chosing an engine for an ICE kit. Hyabusa, Duratec, Vauxhaull or Pinto for example

With my last 2 cars the furthest i drove them was from Warlingham (Where i live) Nr Caterham to a hilltop cafe called Newlands Corner for our kit car meet once a month which is my side of Guildford and is about 35 miles. So there and back would be 70 miles so i would want at least 100 miles to have a bit spare. All other driving would be local darting about in the sunshine.

Looking at other peoples projects i think it's possible considering the weight of a 7. I guess 50 60 mph would be ok as i'm no speed demon!!! A Citroen Balingo is going to be far heavier than a 7 and hopefully i'll be able to carry the same amount of batteries.

I was going to have a decent 12v battery to run all the electrical stuff like indicators, lights etc but i doubt i will ever use the car at night so consumption would be minimal apart from running the coolant if needed.

This would free up all the power for the drivetrain.

I know that hill top cafe well. You may well have seen me there though it's been many years now since I've been, I used to live in Godalming just South of Guildford.

Ok then as you're not an out and out speed freak then maybe Steve Green's Jester may interest you too I was looking for a pic of it earlier but couldn't find where there was one and there's also the Jimini too.


^ Jester above , Jimini below v


Both are more sedate than the Seven which lets face it is all about going QUICK