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by zackmorris 42 days ago
Thanks, I couldn't find the price.

I've been looking for 200+ hp engine swaps for my 100 hp, 125 lb-ft of torque lifted 1986 Toyota pickup with 31" tires (like the one on Back to the Future but 1 year newer and not extended cab).

For comparison, my 2013 Nissan Leaf has 107 hp, about 200 lb-ft of torque, weighs the same 3300 lbs, and does 0-60 mph in about 7-10 seconds depending on the weather.

So even accounting for the 300-500 lb weight of the 22r engine and accessories vs 1000+ lbs of electric motor and batteries, doubling the hp would be ludicrous speed (0-60 mph under 6 seconds), by all but 2010s era EV times.

I just looked up the price of Nissan Leaf battery swaps:

  24 kWh (refurbished): 84 miles of range, $3,500-$5,000
  40 kWh (upgrade): 125 miles of range, $6,500-$8,000
  62 kWh (advanced upgrade, requires reshaping): 195 miles of range, $12,000-$14,500
  
  Labor: Approximately 5-7 hours of labor at $100-$150/hour, adding $500-$1,500 to the total.
Found this page of 200 hp motors:

https://electricmotors.com/200-horsepower-electric-motors.ht...

  ($23,579.99 + $19,657.99 + $20,611.99 + $22,267.99 + $27,199.99 + $27,199.99 + $13,383.99 + $13,029.99 + $15,159.99 + $10,989.99 + $10,819.99 + $13,469.99 + $13,469.99 + $13,851.99 + $13,851.99 + $14,259.99) / 16 =
  $17,050 (200 hp average price)
  
  $14,500 + $1500 + $17,050 =
  $33,050 (200 hp full swap price not counting charger/inverter etc)
So while $27k is a lot, it's probably close to the going rate.

Also I feel that these numbers are inflated, due to the US's current 100% import tariff on Chinese EVs:

https://www.utilitydive.com/news/joe-biden-china-tariff-hike...

I'm part of the "radical center" politically (the opposite of centrist/moderate, popularized by Thom Hartmann and others), so this disappoints both sides of my sensibilities.

An electric motor is far easier to build than a gas engine, so should cost less than a crate engine (which are typically $2,000-7,000). Of course that's limited by copper and aluminum prices (not to mention lithium for batteries). Edit: wouldn't want to forget rare earths like neodymium either!

I believe that the decades-long delay in EV manufacturing (see Who Killed the Electric Car) was a supply chain problem, not a tech problem, since we've known how to do this since the 1980s and arguably for more like a century since the first cars were EV/biofuel powered and we've had nickel-iron and sodium-sulfur batteries forever that could have done the job, but I digress.

If/when the economy crashes in 2027/2028, and after voters demand better, I'd expect a cottage industry to open up again that builds EV parts for 1/2 price or less.

1 comments

It remains to be seen what they actually end up selling for, but it seems like Slate intend to offer a 200 hp motor, 52 kWh battery ... and the rest of a whole vehicle for $28k. That makes $27k for this "eCrate" package (which, granted, comes with 14 kWh more battery) seem like an absolutely terrible price.