[da-coder]

The name is in reference to a common lithium coin cell battery size (CR-2032).

Aethestically I am shooting for this:

Going to opt to wrap the car blue.
Wheels are going to be Enkei TFR in copper.

Debadged. Looks much cleaner.

Added 20mm spacers to the rear from H&R. That brings the distance from tire (205s) to outside of fender to 11mm, which is the same as the fronts.
The car looks miles better without the strangely inset rear wheels. No scrubbing at all either.
When I upgrade to the Enkei TFRs (8" wide wheel), i'll put 215s on and it should look almost flush.

Next up is a Progress rear sway bar or muffler (if the AEM one is still available after my new paycheck).

For the BEV conversion, that will be at least a few years in the future after I get a second vehicle.
Plan is to attach batteries where the rear seats are, making the floor flush with the back shelf.
Calculated volume and energy density of selected batteries means I'll get about 100 miles of range.
The motors I've selected mean I'll get 160kW at the front wheels and 50kW at the rear.
Price is looking like about $3000 (not including CAN bus stuff to make the Honda systems happy again).
This car really lends itself to being an EV in both title, purpose, and design. If only the Fit EV's weren't lease only.

 

[Outatime]

Have you heard of the ORBIS wheel? I think it would be amazing to see on a CR-Z, especially converting to an EV. There are some videos on Youtube that show the company demonstrate it on a civic.

 

[96firephoenix]

Have you heard of the ORBIS wheel? I think it would be amazing to see on a CR-Z, especially converting to an EV. There are some videos on Youtube that show the company demonstrate it on a civic.

those never made it to production...

 

[ryanthegreat1]

those never made it to production...

For many reasons. Really poor design when you consider how cars are actually used and the desired traits.

 

[Outatime]

those never made it to production...

Damn...I think your right. Did another search and found no actual recent updates on the product. They sounded so cool though, it sucks every time I see an interesting product idea and eventually ends up failing.

 

[da-coder]

Have you heard of the ORBIS wheel? I think it would be amazing to see on a CR-Z, especially converting to an EV. There are some videos on Youtube that show the company demonstrate it on a civic.

In hub wheels don't seem to be the way EVs are going. There is one I've seen which uses them:

I am going for cheap used junk parts. A Nissan Leaf gen 3 dc-dc converter / inverter / motor stack is insanely cheap.
For the rear I was going to use a Honda (or Toyota) twin electric motor rear diff. These are sometimes listed under $100.
The most expensive part is going to be the batteries. I was thinking Chevy Volt battery pack and splitting it.
There are also the honda SH-AWD PDU's which have 4 inverters built in already. 1 for the front motor, 2 for the rear, and 1 for the A/C compressor.
If those come down in price i'd definitely go for that.

 

[PeterPerkins]

Interesting idea. Good luck with the project.

I've done a few EV conversions over the last 30 years. (Wish I still had my van now... )

The batteries are usually the most expensive part as you say.

Talking to the CR-Z CAN system will be problematic and tricky to sort out,
especially if you want to retain the OEM cluster/dash and don't want error messages and 'boing' every few seconds!

You will likely need to gather data from each CAN connected module in a working car to stand a chance of making some sort of cluster fooling device.
ABS, EPS, CLUSTER, SRS may be others I have forgotten.

 

[ryanthegreat1]

The CAN stuff already exists via K swaps. If you get serious and have a moving BEV CR-Z I will share with you the secret recipe.

 

[J1000]

@da-coder use LEAF batteries as well. Check out the Resolve-EV controller if you haven't already. It lets you use all LEAF components in a custom vehicle.

Hub motors don't work because wheels take so much abuse bouncing through potholes and water and everything else. Also they increase the unsprung mass by several times. Lastly, hub motors aren't efficient or powerful enough because the RPM of a tire at highway speeds is way too low of RPM for an efficient electric motor to turn.

Instead of converting to 100% EV I think it would be cooler to increase the battery size and voltage and make it a super-hybrid instead.

 

[da-coder]

@da-coder use LEAF batteries as well. Check out the Resolve-EV controller if you haven't already. It lets you use all LEAF components in a custom vehicle.

Instead of converting to 100% EV I think it would be cooler to increase the battery size and voltage and make it a super-hybrid instead.

I was looking at the Leaf batteries but they'd be harder to split. Also the Volt's are liquid cooled so you can ask more than 3C out of them.

That's a possibility but I've got a CVT.

 

[da-coder]

The batteries are usually the most expensive part as you say.

Talking to the CR-Z CAN system will be problematic and tricky to sort out,
especially if you want to retain the OEM cluster/dash and don't want error messages and 'boing' every few seconds.

I've actually made an electric vehicle before but it was lead acid and very low range. Quick as heck tho. That was way back in high school.

I don't intend to stick with the og dash unless i can reverse engineer it. I am also very concerned with error codes that would keep it from passing inspection.

 

[J1000]

I was looking at the Leaf batteries but they'd be harder to split. Also the Volt's are liquid cooled so you can ask more than 3C out of them.

That's a possibility but I've got a CVT.

The LEAF pack is built in two halves already with a current sensor, fuse, and service disconnect in between so it is ready to split from the factory.

 

[96firephoenix]

The LEAF pack is built in two halves already with a current sensor, fuse, and service disconnect in between so it is ready to split from the factory.

didn't know that... intriguing...

but the liquid cooling is still a valid point in favor of the Volt battery.

 

[da-coder]

Installed some Lamin-X yellow tint on my fog lights.

Got the iJDMtoy rear LEDs and hooked them up via the license plate wiring. Didn't want them to get brighter with the brake lights anyways. Saves me the headache of errors. And it makes the rear bumper much easier to remove. Since i put in LEDs for the license plate lights, i am also not going over the max allowable current.

Side note, i may have to redo the wiring in the future as i might not have protected the wires from the split loom edges properly. We'll see if it lasts.

 

[Fediej]

Quality/longevity for the iJDMtoy lights is hit and miss. Had the smoked lenses on my 2014. They looked cool until diodes started burning out. Less than a year, not long enough to even worry about the splices. Hope yours are the good ones.

 

[da-coder]

I really need to get some mudflaps. The Z handles insanely well in ice and snow though! I have all seasons on and it handled it like a champ. Never got sketchy and never lost control (on accident, that is).