Model A Electric Motor Drivetrain?

joltesvig

joltesvig

Senior Member
I have a 31 Model A Coupe which I drive around town for fun but I have my eye on a 31 Model A 4-door Sedan (Murray body) to convert to an electric Model A drivetrain.
Has anyone tried taking out the engine and putting in an electric motor and batteries instead?
I have a 4-Door Sedan in mind for a conversion to electric drivetrain and I would like some advice. I would keep the old drivetrain in case I or someone else some day wants to convert it back to original.
I just want to know if I can do the conversion without permanently ruining a perfectly good Model A in case I or someone else would like to convert it back to original.
Thoughts, advice anyone? Know of anyone who has tried this to get in contact with?
 
something like this
 

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Interesting idea. The Fordor would (I am guessing) be the best to chose from for a battery installation. But, not only would there be weight, but the amount of room needs to be looked at too.

Lead/acid batteries take maintenance, and gel-cell batteries would be expensive. Of course the latest technological useful batteries cost would be out of this world.

Question - Could the transmission be eliminated? My thoughts is it could; due to the fact that electric engines always have maximum torque at all speeds.

Ron/IA
 
One of the guys I worked with several years (6 or 7) back took a project (with several other guys) like this on as a High School project. Their donor car was a Datsun Pickup. It actually was pretty neat, but with the limited amount of batteries they used, range was pretty short. They had intentions of improving on it, but I lost track after we didn't work there anymore.
 
Mike Picard in Colorado did it with a 1952 Willys Jeep. I saw it last weekend at a show. (See story below.)

The vehicle uses a huge array of lithium batteries. The electric motor runs on 150 VDC and 250 amps. Yes, that's about 38 Kilowatts! It runs for about an hour before requiring a charge.

Everything from the flywheel back is stock. It has a 5:XX rear-end, so the electric motor overspins the drive train by 3:1, which lets him go 70 mph.

Mike burned up several accelerator controllers in his attempts to "get it right." And when they burn up, they emit a huge cloud of black smoke. Everything in the box vaporizes in a few seconds. 38 KW is a dangerous thing to mess with. But he was successful, and now drives around this goofy electric Jeep with big fat wires all over it.

I enjoyed the technology but not the effect it had on a nice old antique. Oh well... it was his to do with as he liked, as they say.

Here's the article:
http://www.coloradocountrylife.coop...adventure&catid=47:other-resources&Itemid=106
 
My 16-year-old grandson, who loves Model A's, has been talking about this for over a year, ever since he saw the Tesla. He's a combination of a futurist and old car fan, and will no doubt try this some day with something. A Model A? Not one of mine! ;)
 
neat idea but to get the benefits of electric cars it needs to be aerodynamic... now it would be neat to make some sort of chevy volt setup with a small diesel engine that runs a generator.

speaking of has anyone ever put like a 3 cyl forktruck diesel engine in a model A?
 
The energy density of gasoline is about 10X that of a good batery.

If it was my project, I would convert a small pickup truck to electric as the truck is set up for a heavy load.

Marc
 
Having worked on older electric cars and golf carts I have thought about an electric car
I have worked with programable controllers ---much better than resistor coils, regenerative braking can be programed in --it would be easy to get 3-4 thousand $ invested in motor, controller and batterys if you search for bargains --- in a golf cart the batterys rarely last more than 3 years of heavy use, 5-6 in light use, but you don't go very far between charges the last couple of years
perhaps if you found a forklift that had good controller and motor , the A spur gear trans is pretty efficent, ---t105 golf car batterys can be found in the 140$ range each, you might have to add "core" tradein to that price, 8 might be enough for short trips---but 10-12 batterys are more likely using 8 volt ones --1000 lbs or so, the electric motor will be 250 lighter than the original engine --so you still are adding 750 lbs or so
 
Check with Duke's Garage in Westminster CO. They convert many cars to electric. I visited them today, and they were talking about possibly converting a Model A. Their phone number is 303-487-1355. Their web site is www.dukesgarage.net
 
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I have an old 1929 Model A ford roadster that I love to drive in good weather..
Alas, I suspect that withing the next 10 years, the number of gas stations will start to seriously dwindle. So, I have been wondering if I should sell the old car while there is still good fuelling options. Or.. i had a thought that I might be able to convert the old guy to an electric.

I have been pondering this for a while and recently I stumbled upon this company that might offer some solutions.

http://www.electriccarpartscompany.com/

Seems like I am not the only crazy one after having read this thread.
 
MacOnMeHill said:
I have an old 1929 Model A ford roadster that I love to drive in good weather..
Alas, I suspect that withing the next 10 years, the number of gas stations will start to seriously dwindle. So, I have been wondering if I should sell the old car while there is still good fuelling options. Or.. i had a thought that I might be able to convert the old guy to an electric.

I have been pondering this for a while and recently I stumbled upon this company that might offer some solutions.

http://www.electriccarpartscompany.com/

Seems like I am not the only crazy one after having read this thread.
Click to expand...

I may be out of touch with the real world being retired but why would the # of gas stations be decreased in the future ?
 
joltesvig said:
I have a 31 Model A Coupe which I drive around town for fun but I have my eye on a 31 Model A 4-door Sedan (Murray body) to convert to an electric Model A drivetrain.
Has anyone tried taking out the engine and putting in an electric motor and batteries instead?
Click to expand...

What? And deny yourself the pleasure of the sound of a Model A at idle? :eek:
 
I just got rid of a warehouse cart because of the cost of batteries. It took 6 - 6 volt (36volts)
lead acid batteries. The batteries cost in the range of $85 / $105 with only a 1 year warranty. It was in need of batteries again so I sold and will let someone else worry about having to replace the batteries every 2 to 3 years. I considered converting it to gas power but decided to sell it instead.
 
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