• The motors we use are from Netgain in the US but made in Italy and shipped straight to us in The Netherlands. The batteries are either second hand (Tesla) or new (Mercedes / VW overstock). The chargers are from China and we import them ourselves. The BMS system we use is from Latvia.
    A kit for a VW Beetle starts around €23.000 ex VAT for a diy conversion with 44kWh of batteries and 20kW of charging. Fast charging is not available on “low” voltage conversions and “high” voltage conversions are more money because the motor costs more and you’ll need extra parts for CCS. Lots of conversion prices include restoration work which means more hours which means more money. Economy of scale plays another big part; we sell around 100 Hyper9 motors a year, some in a kit and some to companies creating their own. That is peanuts compared to an OEM.
    Prices will only come down a bit through government incentives as raw materials only go up in price as do labour costs.

    *I chose a Beetle kit as an example because it’s a simple conversion without any frills. No extras needed like ac, power steering.

  • Thanks for all the detail. Very interesting.

    Do you ever wonder whether it would be better to not bother with modifying the steel bodyshell of an ICE car and just get a carbon tub made which resembles the original car but has sensible places to put the electric gear? Maybe this is just scifi, but if I was rich I'd go looking for a firm which could scan a bodyshell and use CAD to edit it and then press a button to get a tub made. I don't know whether the type approval/IVA process would allow this, but I'd like a one off ultralight carbon campervan, with no side impact bars or any of that stuff. Like that EV camper which some students built, but tailored to my requirements.

    https://cleantechnica.com/2021/10/25/the-perfect-rv-hasnt-been-created-yet-oh-wait-it-has-the-solar-powered-stella-vita/

  • In The Netherlands that would be next to impossible to get on the road. We can’t really modify the shell end even swapping a Mini into a standard grp shell is getting very difficult.

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