SimonRafferty

I'm still here! Things have progressed hugely since then - it has become pretty easy to build an EV, as there are so many EV's on the road to rob parts from. I arranged to buy a Lotus from someone (in 2014), dismantled my Freelander & scrapped the body to clear space to build the lotus. Unfortunately the seller changed his mind at the last minute - so all I have to this day is a pallet of bits! Since then, I've been working in Movie SFX - and we've used a variety of EV powertrains in various projects. I'm just about to start another one, based on Tesla components. If any of you want help, info or advice - just ask and I'll do my best to help! James007, I see you're in Crawley. I live in Horsham - which might be useful.

I previously built an electric Land Rover Freelander (details here: http://www.4x4offroads.com/electric-land-rover-freelander.html ), but it needs new batteries. I cannot bring myself to spend 6k on Lithium Ion batteries for what is a fairly horrible car! I used a Freelander because I know them inside out, it's fairly light and can carry the weight of the batteries easily. So, I decided to base the new one on a vehicle I like! Thinking about it, the one car I like most outside Land Rovers are Lotus Esprit - but know relatively little about them mechanically. I'm sure some of you will throw your arms up in horror at the thought of destroying a calssic car to build an EV - but I guarantee it will be done sympathetically in such a way as it can be returned to standard if the need arises. I've not secured a donor vehicle yet though have kept an eye on eBay for accident damaged vehicles - but what I'd ideally like is one with bodywork in good condition but without the engine / gearbox. Do any of you have any photographs of the vehicle without the bodywork - of a rolling chassis? The power plant will be the same as the Freelander which is a Siemens AC motor capable of producing the equivalent of 400Bhp and 450Nm of torque - though that would require twice as many batteries as I can afford - but even still 200Bhp and 200Nm should give reasonable performance - particularly as you have a flat power curve with max torque at zero rpm. The Freelander with a single gear gives a top speed of 93mph and 0-60 in about 7 sec - but weighs double what I think a Lotus could weigh. Do any of you have any leads on such a vehicle or suggest any better places to look than eBay? Si