No, not a joke, a long term plan. I do 30,000 km p.a. so difficult to alter my driving patterns.
With petrol prices increasing more incrementally than electricity, it makes sense to think about removing the ICE. To sell the phev would lose $5k to $10k, so better to use this money to convert it. And most electricity in New Zealand is renewable so less pollution as well.
Thanks for your examples of either replacement batteries or more batteries, which apparently work. As you say “neither has pursued making a kit” so I’m guessing it’s pretty simple.
If I remove the ICE and put in batteries, I'm thinking that the electrical system in the phev won’t need to be modified much (if at all).
I guess the questions are compatibility and finance.
Will new batteries be compatible – same amps/volts, charge / discharge rates...? Or could I either run the old batteries as a separate system (for heating, other electrics) or just remove them when they die and add new ones the same as the replacement ones for the ICE?
If compatible, then by the time my old 10 Kw batteries expire I can replace them with some that will give me more range (from the current 30 km to 50 km?).
Not sure how much an ICE weighs (400 kg?) so if the batteries weight the same (or less) for the space and power produced, then happy days. If less weight = more km / kW.
Finance - my phev does 15 km per $2 per litre, so 13 cents per km. To plug in I use 8 cents per km. So a saving of 5 cents per km, for 30,000 km = $1,500 p.a. (less initial battery and installation costs). Tesla are in talks with their battery supplier to produce one that will be US$100 / kW, so for 40 kW (a decent range) that’s NZ$8,000.
$2,100 saved p.a., is a 4 year pay back period required (not including installation).
Maybe a worthwhile project, with savings for the environment in not making another vehicle and not trashing the old one, but maybe better to wait till the battery prices come down a lot more.
Thanks for your thoughts.
