Over the last few months I have been tidying up my series 1 xj6. I'm going to be converting it to electric. They're beautiful cars and am proud to have one after fawning over them for years. It came with a 350 chev' but when that died i resolved that it should become electric, i'd wanted to build an electric car for ages, and was weighing up other nice cars like an Alpha Romeo or Audi but this is the opportunity that landed in my lap.

I had a bunch of plans for the build but when i found a wrecked Tesla for cheap i threw them out the window and bought the motor and batteries from it. This would make my car 420kw (560hp) and capable of around 300km range. It should be at least 2-300kg lighter than the Tesla too.

You'll find a picture of the motor and inverter below. I'm going to redesign the rear subframe to house it. The original battery is quite large and 400kg so i'm breaking it into four smaller pieces, three in the engine bay and one in the boot (trunk). (The first photo is mine, the others are stock photos, theyre better than what i have).

These plus a range of other electric brakes, air conditioners and power steering pumps i hope to drive that car exactly like it used to. I also want it to look as original as possible, original gauges, buttons everything. Being single speed i wont need the gear shifter, i really like it though and may devise a means to use it but that's a long way off. I cant help but feel some humour in the fact that i'm turning a car notorious for dodgy electrics, to be full electric, it may never actually go anywhere because its always broke!

I work full time and have two young kids, so its been a slow process so far, hopefully i can be done by next christmas. I'll post updates slowly and answer any questions.

 

Itchyback!

I had no Idea you were that far along with kit. I have yet to even put together a budget or sort out where I'm going with the whole thing.
If you saw my last post on the other electric thread, I'm thinking like you are - modify the rear housing to stuff the motor in to get closer to the direct drive scenario.
Two things strike me as funny about Vintage XJ electric conversions:
1. As you say - going full electric on a car with notorious electrics
2. When the uneducated ask what size is your 'motor' you can actually respond with motor specs when they expect 'engine' details.

Lastly - why do I find it completely exciting to convert my XJ to electric but I'd sooner have my car crushed than lump it?
Curious...

 

Interesting approach. All Electric ancillaries and direct drive like the Tesla would up the range a bit.

 

This must be the only car where converting to battery electric drive increases the range !

 

Napoleon, I've been working on it for at least two years, i saw your response and was going to respond but didnt want to hijack the thread. the Tesla has a removable rear subframe exactly like the Jag. you could modify the body to fit it, then you'd have sweet outboard brakes too, its probably just as hard to fit the motor in the original subframe.
I think Electric is classy, a chevy v8 seems uncouth.

Isamerica, thats the idea, i have fantasies of installing solar panels in the panels which depending on the quantity would help run the ancillaries or even charge the main pack. Plus installing some means to drive the belts of normal systems would be difficult since there is no ancillary shaft on the tesla motor.

 

Itchy:


If a Chevv lump is couthless, go for a Cadillac or Buick.


An interesting piece on last night's news. Couthful driver of a MBZ screwed up. Or was it purposeful. Smashed in to the Tesla show room.
Bedlam along the way.


Carl

 

Hi Carl!

I'm an Oldsmobile guy personally... :-) I poke fun at the lumpers but really I get it. We're all good in here.

Keep the info coming Itchyback!

 

This is a very interesting project. Essentially you're throwing away a very heavy engine and gearbox, plus the ancillaries, and installing a fairly heavy battery and a reasonably light electric drive train. So I suspect you end up with a car that is about the same weight, although it may end up lighter, who knows ?.

Keep us all posted

 

Some of us "lumpers" poke fun at unimaginative, hide bound purists too, but we also get it. We're all on the same side, or we're supposed to be, of keeping these beauties on the road.
(';')

 

Fraser, yes. I weighed everything on the way out, all up the things related to engine weigh about 450kg.
The motor weighs 120kg and the battery 400kg. plus ancillaries and battery boxes i'm looking at an additional 150kg roughly. taking into account the weight of fluids like petrol, oils and coolant it will be very close to original weight.
I havent ruled out halving the batteries which will still leave me with a range of 150kms, but 200kg less, which would mean the car would weigh less than when i started. Then i could add the extra batteries like luggage for longer trips if needed.

 

itchy, are your battery setup like these?

this is that electric Mustang in Austin tx.

 

same chemistry as far as i can tell, both are lithium

The Tesla ones i think are a higher energy density 200wh/kg vs 150ish, depending which battery they're using. I dont know how they compare for the energy discharge ability, 'C' rate. some batteries can empty themselves quicker than a bulimic at a buffet, others are low and slow.
My understanding (open to correction), a lower 'C' rate, like 1C would mean you could have hundreds of volts and amps, but still not be able to accelerate as fast as someone who might have fewer volts/ amps, but a higher 'C' like 5c.

I suspect theyre comparable.

 

Napoleon:


I like Oldsmobiles as well. Too bad, the historic mark is gone. I've had three over the decades:


1. 55 Olds 98 Holiday coupe. By far my favorite Olds. Alas, no AC and we lived in PHX, AZ.


2. 50 Olds 88 Four door. Given to me. Fairly decent condition, but would not run!!! I got it started only once, on about 4. It ledft, life issues, or other toys.


3. 94 Olds Achieva. It's little DOHC four banger impressed me. Used as a sub for my Jaguar during it's conversion. Handled decently. Good power.
Great MPG. And one back seat flipped forward to allow long stuff to be stuffed in it's boot, aka trunk. Dear departed kinda liked it. It was her favorite color, red!!!


Carl .

 

Interesting project.

Be careful what you do to the LithiumPolymere batteries, 400+ Volts in that amperage is nothing to play with. Lithium batteries tend to be a bit unstable when charged wrongly.

How are you going to assure that the batteries don't get overcharged while the energy recuperation systems are recharging them when braking etc...?

Also, if you are breaking up the battery pack, why not place them where the fuel tanks are situated? Maybe you would only need to break them in two parts then. Heck, you could even connect the fuel tank selector to the two individual "electric fuel tanks" in that way... ;-)

 

Funny that you say that - when I build mine I was thinking of using the fuel tank selector as my 'start - stop' switch...

 

"Be careful what you do to the LithiumPolymere batteries, 400+ Volts in that amperage is nothing to play with. Lithium batteries tend to be a bit unstable when charged wrongly."

I was pulling the pack apart yesterday, it was pretty scarey, i had rubber shoes and gloves but not knowing exactly where everything went i was very cautious about what i unbolted and touched.
I have a lithium battery charger for 400v and a battery management system to ensure they arent overcharged.

"How are you going to assure that the batteries don't get overcharged while the energy recuperation systems are recharging them when braking etc...?"

Regenerative braking will at best add 10% to my range so it would never come close to being able to overcharge the pack. its also software controlled so

"Also, if you are breaking up the battery pack, why not place them where the fuel tanks are situated?"

i havent ruled it out but its not a preference for a few reasons.
1. One module easily fits each side but i need two to fit to have any value for space saving.
2. I still think i could make it work but its such a tight fit, then adding in some means to mount it its difficult to imagine how i could functionally be able to get it in and out.
3 its in a exposed position for impacts, i'd prefer somewhere else.
4. I could more easily fit some other things like a charger and DCDC converter so the space wont be wasted.

There are 16 modules in total, i will put them into four lots of four, two in the engine bay, one in the transmission tunnel and one in the boot/ trunk.
I'd prefer more in the engine bay and could possibly fit two lots of five modules in the engine bay and one lot of four modules in the transmission tunnel. but then i'd still have two for the boot/trunk. for ease of manufacturing it would be better to make four boxes the same.

 

Great project Itchy. Fine innovative solution and will follow your progress with huge interest.

Suggest a calendar entry for you in 2018 . . . Inverell, just across border into NSW is hosting the inaugural National Solar Transport Expo next year at our National Transport Museum. I'll chase details and advise. Perhaps we will meet next weekend in Brisbane?

Reason I mention this is your reference to Solar PV collectors. I do know that beyond individual manufacturers, universities and Oz Solar Challenge entrants . . . the principal Asian developers of the new "flexible" PV solutions will be there . . . an obvious wish-list item for those wanting to mount on curved surfaces and 3D panels.

On the broad theme of your approach, and perhaps influenced by our significant travel distances here in Oz, a 300Km range starts to sound meaningful. For me, 2 such cars would still leave me on the outskirts of either of our closest capital cities! My contemporary Jags are each good for 1,000Km minimum. Not a criticism of your project . . . rather a BIG encouragement for you NOT to abandon your full on-board battery pack.

Probably sounds sacrilege but have you considered an XJ40 instead as a quick way to gain a 200-300Kg weight saving? On a related topic, how goes the roll-out of re-charging stations in Queensland where, if I recall, all major coastal cities are about 400Km apart?

Best wishes mate,

Ken

 

I keep meaning to attend Electric Vehicle Association meetings and events but havent been able to attend a single one yet! Please let me know the details, i'd love to attend, hopefully driving and electric jag It would be very lucky to be going let alone have solar panels on it but its on the list for sure.

I'm pretty committed to the whole pack, but if for some technical reason it cant happen then i've been scheming devious ways to circumvent that rule. like putting in a temporary battery to pass inspection than upgrading to the full pack but thats dodgy as and would rather be legitimate.

200-300kg is nothing to sneeze at and would add a significant chunk of range and speed. The series 1 has a not great drag coefficient, its kinda heavy compared to modern cars, its old and rusty and analogue gauges and wanting the car to be original added a degree of complexity that i could do without. That said it was a decision of my heart rather than my head and my heart belongs solidly to the series 1.

Accessing chargers while travelling is not so much an issue of access but time. Brisbane city and gold coast and a few other places have high output chargers (at inconvenient locations) that can put out over a dozen kw's and on an empty pack like the tesla that could take a couple of hours to recharge. More and more are being built by Tesla, some major carparks offer charging stations and supermarkets are getting on board too.
A domestic socket would also do but at 2.5kw/h output my pack would take 28hrs to charge from dead flat.

For the near future most families would need a petrol car and an electric car. In time petrol will be less necessary. 90% of my days i drive less than 50km, 99% of my days i drive less than 100km total, 300km range would cover any eventuality and with opportunity charging at work/ the supermarket, i'd only need a petrol car for odd occasions and then i could hire or borrow one.

 

A new more trinary personal transportation world is in our future, and it being shaped right before our eyes.

Walk-able cities with improved public transit, where the individual's personal car is unnecessary because of ride sharing and Prime like delivery of almost everything you need. That solves the charging problem for city dwellers and their stock of idle personal transportation that sits mostly unused yet can cost hundreds of dollars per month to just park.

Suburbs will race to convert to E-burbs that are electric transport compatible. Cleaner, greener and scaled with electric vehicle range in mind. Car parks at work and shopping centers with charging and perhaps large solar installations on the roof to offset demand.

Might be necessary for families to keep or share a larger petrol powered vehicle at hand for regional trips and sports and recreation that requires towing. I'm particularly aware of this need as I have a family of 7 and my Escalade is barely large enough for regional trips now, and I frequently tow something.

My wife commutes 30 miles round trip to work every day with the occasional stop off for something on the way home. Looks like an Electric crossover is a viable option for us when the time comes.

 

Nice to see a rational discussion about electric futures rather than the rabid fanboy stuff claiming ICE is dead in 5 years!! We live about 120kms from a major city and 20kms from our local town so an electric vehicle would probably work for us as a shopping trolley even though we are non metro.

"A domestic socket would also do but at 2.5kw/h output my pack would take 28hrs to charge from dead flat. " A bit pessimistic maybe. You wouldnt really never be flat , and a standard 15A outlet would knock that back a fair bit so you would probably get a useful overnight charge, unless the charger itself throttles it down.

Confused by the range comments up thread. Dont see how the conversion increases range, or am I misinterpreting. I can go a theoretical 690klm to empty, but in reality world I usually do 250klm a side and thats about as far as I want to drive in a day these days. Wouldnt the conversion land you in the same general range?

Will be interesting to see this come together, as per the other one that completed recently. A whole new era custom builds.