Guy Converts An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle. Watch The Step By Step Process

The Engineer9
He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (55)

What follows is one man’s crusade of transforming his Fiat into an electric car.

He decided to convert a regular vehicle into an EV and bought the cheapest option ($1,000) he had available; 1990 Fiat 126 Bis.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (1)

126 Bis was the right choice because it is a simple vehicle to convert, since installation of steering wheel system or electrical pump isn’t required.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (2)

The radiator and fan had to be removed because the car is water-cooled.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (3)

The dismantling of accumulator, heating and cooling system, engine and fuel tank begins. The back seats were taken out as well for making way for the accumulators.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (4)

M8 screws tying up the engine to gearbox were unscrewed and the starting motor was removed. This was followed by disassembling the rear of body and removing it along with the engine.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (5)

The fuel, water and electric connections were dismantled before the engine was removed.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (6)

He opted to keep the gearbox and clutch for the time being with plans of making some modifications following the driving tests.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (7)

Fiat 126Bis engine.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (8)

He then dismounted the clutch lining, clutch pressure plate assembly and flywheel from the engine.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (9)

Clutch lining, clutch pressure plate mechanism and flywheel.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (10)

After having spent time with measurements, he designed the new transmission mounting bracket.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (11)

Check out the CNC cut.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (12)

The piece to attach the flywheel.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (13)

The CNC cut.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (14)

Electric engine connection piece.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (15)

The CNC cut.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (16)

Spacer design.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (17)

It’s cutout.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (18)

This is a temporary assembly for ensuring that pieces fit together and for carrying out a few tests.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (19)

Testing of engine and control unit commences.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (20)

One of the indicators, purchased from eBay that will be installed on the car.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (21)

Installing a charging socket to where the fuel tank was.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (22)

Once he removed the fuel tank, he realized that the gearbox was being kept in place because of fuel tank and had to incorporate a rail profile for keeping it in place.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (23)

Since accumulators are quite heavy, he couldn’t just place them on the backseat floor.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (24)

He built a support for placing the accumulators.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (25)

Once they were in place, he covered them using a plexy bell tape and installed a fan to cool them down.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (26)

He then processed to take out the old gas pedal and had a potentiometer pedal installed.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (27) He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (28)

Wiring has been all set up.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (29)

Next comes the installation of electric motor at its correct place.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (30)

Theoretically, everything should work fine now.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (31)

First test video follows

Flywheel was making the car heavy and thus slow, this led our designer to shrink it down by making use of turning machine.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (33)

This is the end result after a few minor adjustments.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (34)

He designed and then cut the front-panel to install the indicators.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (35)

Installing the front panelHe Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (36) He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (37)

Front panel all set up.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (38)

The front panel functioning.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (39)

Cutting a piece of plexy for covering the accumulators.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (40)

He combined all of the electronic pieces in a nice looking box.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (41)

Installed a fan at the back-end so that the ESC won’t get too hot.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (42)

Installed the box a little higher so the fans would work properly.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (43) He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (44)

Accumulators covered with plexy.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (45)

Now is the time to improve the looks.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (46)

Done! Now it’s on the road!He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (47) He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (48) He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (49) He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (50)

Free fuel!He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (51) He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (52)

As the last touches, he installed sun panel on top.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (53)

Theoretical and practical data coincides. On sunny days, the accumulators will charge with 1 ampere.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (54)

Completed.He Converted An Old Fiat Into An Electric Vehicle (55)

Here is a video of this vehicle in action:


Did you like this build? Now check out how one guy converted his old car into a super car using car putty!

9 comments

  2. Paul Reply

    Did you make and improvements to the suspension because of the weight distribution and batteries over the rear axle?

  3. FF Reply

    Why he changes gear while driving. Electric motors just get torque command from gas pedal. There is no gear shifting

  4. John Fiott Reply

    Very nice, but no regenerative braking so when he stops he needs to disengage the motor or stall currents will rise immensely. Also very prone to theft and vandalism unfortunately. And finally the 126 is not the most comfortable car in the world, not the one with the best suspension and road holding. But a nice clean well-thought out project just the same. Some details would have been nice.

  5. M Reply

    Hi,

    only thing that bothers me here is how did he manage to overcome the problem with servo driven brakes? Suction is normally applied by the petrol engine which obviously is missing in this setup. Any ideas?

    • Victor Reply

      Servo in the fiat 126? I had an ’83 model, not sure about the BIS version, but we talking manual brakes only. You can install an electric vacuum pump.
      Cheers.

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