Hi guys, this post is just about the idea itself, which probably wont happen, because the Tesla donor car is in NSW, and Im in Tassie.

I guess its about lamenting that I cant do it, despite having everything from the donor “Tesla” rear axle set up.

I really wanted to put the whole rear axle from the Tesla into a 240 wagon.

The guy wants 9K for the whole car, but minus the front end, because he used it, to fix another Tesla. Its only done 5,000 ks, so the battery and rear motor are in good nick.

Im going to think about it for another 2 weeks, then hand the details over to you all here. So you can use it, if this interests anyone. Its not listed anywhere, but got onto it through another inquiry.

I'll be interested to hear where everything would fit, eg. whether there could still be a load-space.

    Forg

    the other problem is mating up the whole rear axle into the 240 wagon, and then having an engineer pass it. The battery pack for the Tesla is a flat, long and wide. So Im thinking the wagon might end up like the 140 panelvan. No back seats.

    The wiring up, would be the major problem, as I have no idea about this.

    What appealed to me, was the whole back axle holding the rear motor, and fitting this into the 240 wagon. It would take some modifying into the 240, but having the whole rear axle set-up, would include suspension, and drive shafts from the EV motor, onto the rear wheels.

      David Bello is currently doing a 164 EV conversion in Cali using reclaimed Tesla battery packs. The battery is in modules.

      @Johan I was interested in someone else's suffering, I didn't want to inflict that upon myself. 🙂

      I reckon i could do all the mechanical stuff, but all the electrical I have no idea about.

      • Forg replied to this.

        Canoe

        It’s like all the 12V connections you’re used to, just with cables made of 5mm radius copper! 🙂

          Is the Tesla donor car a Model 3, Y, X or S? What year? What model (standard range RWD, AWD etc). The donor car makes a HUGE difference as to whether you'd have any hope of making it work. Depending on the donor car, the batteries may be modular (as @Roinik mentioned) or they may be basically glued permanently into the Tesla's battery pack, meaning you'd have to use the complete pack as a unit, which would likely be too long and wide to use in any Volvo. Also, the rear track width on the Tesla is likely to be hundreds of mm wider than the 240 rear track width, so you'd likely need massive wheel arch flares unless you can somehow narrow the track. Might look cool! Not to mention yeah, cutting and shutting the 240's rear structure to mount the Tesla rear subframe and suspension might be hard to get past an engineer. I suggest doing a lot more research and I'm happy to help as my partner and I have converted a 240 wagon to an EV and we also have a lot of knowledge about Teslas and EV conversions (and EVs in general) having been in the scene for over 20 years and both engineers with automotive companies in the past.

            carnut222

            Hey Lad , i may have asked before but did you have anything. to do with the Holden commodore EV i saw at Williamstown North workshops/coffee roaster storage guys place? His father was part of the motor design company .. Sadly GM decided it wasnt to happen and/or the Chevrolet Volt was brought in instead iirc.

            And also sadly the dads other partner obstructed the sale of the design wanting big money to sell out , nobody had the cash , what a waste opportunity. They had planed to upgrade all the refinery electric pumps with the motor tech they had but that big conglomerate pulled out when GM reneged. So sad. It would have saved the refinery millions in power costs too….

                Ex850R I had some minor involvement in that Commodore EV project, basically just in the early stages to consult with them on the structural and packaging aspects of it, specifically with respect to the batteries. IIRC they were basically packaging all the batteries where the engine and transmission would have sat in the petrol version, so it was a rather odd shape of battery pack. Not really practical for production IMHO.

                  Swapping the entire Tesla rear subframe into a 240 isn't happening easily.

                  Even the Model 3 is a LOT wider than the 240.

                  There has been a company that built a cradle that fits a Tesla drive unit and bolts into a Jaguar XJ6…using Jaguar style suspension.

                  This wouldn't be too hard to fit in the 240.

                  Alternatively, you could build a cradle to hold the drive unit and fabricate a DeDion axle running the original 240 suspension.

                  This would be MUCH easier if you can switch the motor to run in reverse, as it would sit nicely in there and clear the factory Panhard bar…but otherwise you could go the other way and mount the axle in front of the drive unit with a Watts Link in front of the axle. Not technically hard to do, but will need engineering.

                  If you have a Model 3, the battery modules are either bonded in the car, or are nearly 2 meters long…even if you repackaged them you'll have them hanging lower than the sill.

                  Model S or X modules are easy to repackage. They are about 900mm long, 300 wide, and about 80 thick.

                  10 days later

                  carnut222 HiYa, so what cars are wider, which could take the rear axle set-up more easily put in. Maybe im dreaming, but Id like to leave the Tesla rear axle set-up, as is. If thats possible. I know that whatever car it goes into, the donor car will have to be modified. But Id rather only one part be modified, not having to do it to both the car body and axle set-up. Id love to use a XC70. Just love the shape, but maybe not wide enough. TIA.

                      Canoe I guess the best thing to do would be to look up the track width of the various Volvos and compare to the Tesla rear axle track. Something like an XC70 would probably be a lot closer to being feasible than a 240. Would be interesting to see how the Tesla rear axle subframe mounts and whether it's similar to the Volvo rear subframe. Would be nice if the bolt holes lined up! That's wishful thinking! 🙂

                          I think a 740 may be better as well but old Volvos are tiny sat next to even a Corolla……

                            Ex850R 740 rear track is over 100 mm narrower than an XC70, so not nearly as good for this conversion as the XC70 would be. Yeah, 740 rear track is wider than a 240, but still way too narrow.

                            Tesla Model 3 rear track 1580 mm

                            Tesla Model Y rear track 1630 mm

                            Tesla Model X rear track 1710 mm

                            2017 Volvo XC70 rear track 1570-1580 mm

                            Volvo 740 rear track 1460 mm

                            Volvo 240 rear track 1350 mm

                              Canoe

                              Do an old Effie , F100 Ford.

                              Have you considered the engineering cost never mind the fab costs?

                              If you cant work this out yourself and satisfy an engineer you are competent its all just a fairytale cos it will cost 10x what a regular EV car equivelent would and thats IF you can get smeone willing to build it.

                              Ive seen that UK mob that does LR , Ferrari , etc etc with bolt in EV setups ready for each car and its ridiculous never mind sacrelidge.

                                  carnut222

                                  There are a couple of videos in this list that show the subframe in detail, and how he gets it in the Jaguar…spoiler, it isn't bolting straight into an XC70…

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