Hooniverse Asks: Which existing vehicle should be turned into an EV?

Jeff Glucker

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Audi has killed off the TT. In an effort to create space for more electric options, the TT has gone away. I can’t help thinking that the TT could’ve perhaps survived had it morphed into an EV. A sporting EV variant to round out a potential lineup filled with electrified vehicles for everyone.

Make a TT RS E-Tron version too, while you’re at it.

What other vehicles out there might be well served with an electric version? Something like a Focus wagon would be great. Electric pickups will be an interesting option. But what else would yo like to see electrified?

About

Jeff Glucker

Jeff Glucker

Jeff Glucker is the co-founder and Executive Editor of Hooniverse.com. He’s often seen getting passed as he hustles a 1991 Mitsubishi Montero up the 405 Freeway. IG: @HooniverseJeff

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41 responses to “Hooniverse Asks: Which existing vehicle should be turned into an EV?”

  1. neight428 Avatar
    neight428

    Ford Excursion or a passenger van with a high tow rating. It’s the solution for the whole road trip range problem, you put big assed supplemental batteries in trailers and pony express-style switch out stations wherever you want.

    Reply
    1. 0A5599 Avatar
      0A5599

      I had a friend who downsized to an apartment for a few years before purchasing his next house. He offered me the use of his backyard grille while he didn’t have a yard. When he came to retrieve it, he was a little perturbed that I had replaced propane at a tank exchange place, rather than having his original tank refilled. His tank had been unblemished. This one had been chipped and dented and had several coats of poorly sprayed paint from previous exchanges.

      Imagine how he would react to a $25k trailerload of batteries that had been charged only four times being swapped for a set that had been around since the days when Jalopnik was still relevant.

      Reply
      1. outback_ute Avatar
        outback_ute

        His original tank may have gotten to the point of needing a pressure test to stay in use; not having to do that is the main benefit of swapping systems.

        I’ll take the fixed route, limited mileage idea a step further – garbage trucks would be much better as quieter EVs, including regen braking instead of squealing brakes they always seem to have.

        Reply
        1. SlowJoeCrow Avatar
          SlowJoeCrow

          You’ll be pleased to know that Seattle just deployed the first electric garbage truck in the US.

          Reply
          1. 0A5599 Avatar
            0A5599

            There might be some interesting city council meetings after a truck runs out of battery juice while running all the hydraulic stuff and has to run a long extension cord to the home owners’ outside outlet and stay parked there long enough to get back to base.

          2. SeattleCurmudgeon Avatar
            SeattleCurmudgeon

            It probably just drives around in a circle loading blue tarps and stolen bicycles all day.

        2. Sjalabais Avatar
          Sjalabais

          But the squealing brake option is 500$ extra!

          Reply
          1. nanoop Avatar
            nanoop

            “Sonic pedestrian awareness augmentation” sounds worth 500 to me.

          2. Sjalabais Avatar
            Sjalabais

            “We’re here, working”-soundtrack is always good to have.

          3. Sjalabais Avatar
            Sjalabais

            “We’re here, working”-soundtrack is always good to have.

          4. outback_ute Avatar
            outback_ute

            Or the “quick, put the bin out!” alarm.

            One of the local councils here in Melbourne has just put an electric garbage truck in service too. Best part is it is the good old Iveco aka International Acco that has been the staple Aussie medium duty truck with the same basic cab structure since 1972.

            Mind you NZ did it last year, also with an Acco.

      2. neight428 Avatar
        neight428

        A substantial portion of your powertrain being subjected to the “rented mule effect” does have its downsides.

        Reply
      3. Victor Avatar
        Victor

        Jalopnik was once relevant ?

        Reply
        1. 0A5599 Avatar
          0A5599

          Believe it or not, yes.

          Reply
          1. Victor Avatar
            Victor

            That ship has sailed .

    2. Maymar Avatar
      Maymar

      Borrowing from this idea, there’s probably room for a battery powered Savana/Econoline-style van (either cargo or passenger). Plenty of floor space means plenty of room for batteries, and there’s enough in commercial uses that pretty consistently cover a set route, or at least a specific max daily distance, and always return to the same facility for downtime. As a parttime gig in college, I did some courier driving for a local school board, and I don’t think any of the routes covered more than 250km/day

      Reply
  2. 0A5599 Avatar
    0A5599

    Ford Lightning, naturally.

    Of course, not everyone has access to a clock tower.

    Reply
  3. Mister Sterling Avatar
    Mister Sterling

    You’re on the right path, Jeff. And since we lost the great Focus Wagon, I’m going to suggest a car you already like, the Subaru XV Crosstrek.

    Reply
  4. Lokki Avatar
    Lokki

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f10ca255d0ad60bc126b05f7508b7bec443e660be3615fac3392f96b8d0c4a79.jpg

    Reply
    1. Vairship Avatar
      Vairship

      https://www.evwest.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=40&products_id=226&osCsid=pgt8os4cnnluarnbh98o6pcb01 Batteries sold separately… But they also have kits for the Thing, Porsche 914, 356, etcetera.

      Reply
  5. mdharrell Avatar
    mdharrell

    It has occurred to me that I have a Volvo 66 GL wagon lacking several critical parts of its powertrain and a broken Zap Xebra with a complete powertrain…

    Reply
    1. 0A5599 Avatar
      0A5599

      So you’re thinking of using Volvo parts to make the Xebra less reliable? That’s absolutely brilliant!

      Reply
      1. mdharrell Avatar
        mdharrell

        I’m not convinced it’s possible to make the Xebra less reliable, and I say this as the current owner of two Austins.

        Reply
      2. mdharrell Avatar
        mdharrell

        I’m not convinced it’s possible to make the Xebra less reliable, and I say this as the current owner of two Austins.

        Reply
    2. SlowJoeCrow Avatar
      SlowJoeCrow

      An electric motor and a CVT would be an interesting combo, or is the CVT one of the missing bits? Perhaps an electric 66 with a small gas generator range extender?

      Reply
      1. mdharrell Avatar
        mdharrell

        The front half of the CVT is among the missing bits, as I needed it for my other 66 GL. I think I could use one of the original drivebelts to connect an electric motor to what’s left of the CVT, though.

        Reply
      2. mdharrell Avatar
        mdharrell

        The front half of the CVT is among the missing bits, as I needed it for my other 66 GL. I think I could use one of the original drivebelts to connect an electric motor to what’s left of the CVT, though.

        Reply
        1. SlowJoeCrow Avatar
          SlowJoeCrow

          a janky electric conversion of a rebadged Daf sounds totally on brand for you 🙂

          Reply
          1. mdharrell Avatar
            mdharrell

            I know, but I’m tempted to do it anyway.

      3. Sjalabais Avatar
        Sjalabais

        “Take that, Fisker”, would be a cunning theme.

        Reply
  6. P161911 Avatar
    P161911

    While I was out at lunch I got behind a Nissan NV200 van, the little commercial van. I realized that it was almost the exact same size as a Nissan Leaf. Don’t know if 150 miles would be enough range, but it seems like there would be a market, especially for city/urban use.

    Reply
    1. Vairship Avatar
      Vairship

      The Ford Focus, C-Max, and Transit Connect were all basically the same platform. There was a Focus Electric, and the C-Max came in Hybrid and plug-in Hybrid versions.
      Yet somehow, no-one at Ford ever figured out that an around-town delivery vehicle like the Transit Connect could have been offered in hybrid or full electric versions with basically zero engineering effort… (that long flat floor is just BEGGING for a layer of wall-to-wall batteries).
      And that the passenger version would be an instant Bolt competitor.

      Reply
    2. Vairship Avatar
      Vairship

      The Ford Focus, C-Max, and Transit Connect were all basically the same platform. There was a Focus Electric, and the C-Max came in Hybrid and plug-in Hybrid versions.
      Yet somehow, no-one at Ford ever figured out that an around-town delivery vehicle like the Transit Connect could have been offered in hybrid or full electric versions with basically zero engineering effort… (that long flat floor is just BEGGING for a layer of wall-to-wall batteries).
      And that the passenger version would be an instant Bolt competitor.

      Reply
    3. Amoore Avatar
      Amoore

      https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/340e08ccf18d1512392c2c2979ee3aaeb86f7599d8f3fbef2ae27c02a77a8025.jpg It exists!

      Reply
      1. P161911 Avatar
        P161911

        I should have read the whole Wiki article, not just the little summary column.

        Reply
  7. P161911 Avatar
    P161911

    As a Volt owner, Plug In Hybrid EV EVERYTHING! (except sports cars).

    Reply
  8. Zentropy Avatar
    Zentropy

    School buses. They have set, limited routes, so range isn’t a problem, and they sit overnight at designated locations, making recharging infrastructure simple and predictable. Plus, they’re currently big polluters and noisy as hell.

    Reply
    1. Vairship Avatar
      Vairship

      Yes! Plus, if there’s ANYONE whose lungs could do with less pollution, it’s young kids on those buses.

      Reply
  9. Monkey10is Avatar
    Monkey10is

    In London UK the private hire car business splits into three parts:

    (i) The classic London ‘black cab’, wave for one at a street corner,
    (ii) Minicabs — typically saloon/sedan cars, order by phone or online apps,
    (iii) Corporate cabs — order online, charged to a corporate expense account — like the US ‘livery cars’.

    The black cabs are now available as a range-extender PHEV (https://www.levc.com/tx-electric-taxi/) and likely to be available just as an EV in a few years.That is driven by clean-air legislation and the power of the licensing authorities.

    Most of the minicabs (whether licensed or uber) seem to be one of the varieties of Toyota Prius. No-one tells these people what they can or can’t buy, so i assume this is driven by a simple financial benefit to the drivers;lower running costs, tax advantages and maybe attractive finance deals from Toyota.

    The corporate cabs all seem to be either Mercedes E-class diesels, or Ford Galaxy/VW Sharan people carriers. Strangely this latter group hasn’t yet jumped on board with hybrids — although the minicab drivers example suggests that it would be cheaper in the long run. My guess is that for premium sedans like the Mercedes, hybrid drivetrains are pushed toward the top of the range to compete with Tesla rather than lower in the range to undercut their own (expensively developed) diesels. Ford and VW appear to be amongst the slowest manufacturers when it comes to delivering volume sales of HEV or EV, The Galaxy in particular is on an old Mondeo chassis and I don’t suppose they see the point in re-engineering it for a different drivetrain.

    So “the EV i would like to see” would be an E-class or Galaxy competitor with a PHEV powertrain hybrid. If they can price it right it should be a category killer.

    (A longer wheelbase version of the Prius would be a good step towards the Galaxy-killer; a people-carrier body on Prius chassis would kill it dead. We almost need a Camry equivalent in the UK to challenge the E-class; perhaps badged as a Lexus for those who care about the name).

    Reply
  10. Monkey10is Avatar
    Monkey10is

    In London UK the private hire car business splits into three parts:

    (i) The classic London ‘black cab’, wave for one at a street corner,
    (ii) Minicabs — typically saloon/sedan cars, order by phone or online apps,
    (iii) Corporate cabs — order online, charged to a corporate expense account — like the US ‘livery cars’.

    The black cabs are now available as a range-extender PHEV (https://www.levc.com/tx-electric-taxi/) and likely to be available just as an EV in a few years.That is driven by clean-air legislation and the power of the licensing authorities.

    Most of the minicabs (whether licensed or uber) seem to be one of the varieties of Toyota Prius. No-one tells these people what they can or can’t buy, so i assume this is driven by a simple financial benefit to the drivers;lower running costs, tax advantages and maybe attractive finance deals from Toyota.

    The corporate cabs all seem to be either Mercedes E-class diesels, or Ford Galaxy/VW Sharan people carriers. Strangely this latter group hasn’t yet jumped on board with hybrids — although the minicab drivers example suggests that it would be cheaper in the long run. My guess is that for premium sedans like the Mercedes, hybrid drivetrains are pushed toward the top of the range to compete with Tesla rather than lower in the range to undercut their own (expensively developed) diesels. Ford and VW appear to be amongst the slowest manufacturers when it comes to delivering volume sales of HEV or EV, The Galaxy in particular is on an old Mondeo chassis and I don’t suppose they see the point in re-engineering it for a different drivetrain.

    So “the EV i would like to see” would be an E-class or Galaxy competitor with a PHEV powertrain hybrid. If they can price it right it should be a category killer.

    (A longer wheelbase version of the Prius would be a good step towards the Galaxy-killer; a people-carrier body on Prius chassis would kill it dead. We almost need a Camry equivalent in the UK to challenge the E-class; perhaps badged as a Lexus for those who care about the name).

    Reply
    1. outback_ute Avatar
      outback_ute

      There are Lexus hybrids. I think one of the big advantages of the Toyota hybrids is they use the batteries so conservatively they last a long time, and the rest of the system (engine, transmission) is incredibly reliable.

      Reply