There wasn't much context, but I recently saw a video of an electrified, convertible Lincoln Continental.
It certainly makes me want to EV swap whatever lead sled I can get my hands on.
Photography by J.A. Ackley
If you’re looking for a plug-and-play option to electrify your vehicle, Chevrolet Performance offers the Ultium eCrate package. It includes everything you need to convert over your ICE car to electric.
The package begins with a 400-volt motor–good for 200 horsepower and 266 lb.-ft. of torque–that can be mounted to a GM transmission.
“An exciting aspect of Chevrolet Performance’s upcoming retail offering is the potential to replace the internal combustion engine of a compatible vehicle with a fully electric propulsion system, while preserving as much of the original vehicle as possible,” said Prashant Ahire, Chief Engineer for the Chevrolet Performance eCrate. “Retaining a transmission helps mitigate the need to create a new driveline arrangement, while also maintaining the feeling of shifting through gears.”
A 66 kWh lithium-ion battery pack supplies the juice. It measures 7.3 inches to 13.7 inches tall, 50.2 inches wide, and 71.1 inches long. The battery pack weighs 947 pounds.
The package also includes the following accessories to make your car go electric:
So, what vehicles can you use this on? Anything that can fit it, according to Ahire. The endless amount of possibilities excites him.
“Leveraging over 100 years of engineering, supply chain, manufacturing and other core competencies, GM is well positioned to serve as a trusted partner for customers looking to embark on their own electrification journey,” Ahire said. “The upcoming customer offering from Chevrolet Performance represents an exciting opportunity for the business to expand the benefits of EV technology into the aftermarket industry.”
The Chevrolet Performance Ultium eCrate package will be available mid-2023, and only through Chevrolet Performance-approved installers in limited quantities. Pricing will be announced closer to the time of the launch.
There wasn't much context, but I recently saw a video of an electrified, convertible Lincoln Continental.
It certainly makes me want to EV swap whatever lead sled I can get my hands on.
...only through Chevrolet Performance-approved installers in limited quantities...
This tracks with what they told me last year. You have to get approved and trained to be allowed to buy these, and if your name isn't something like Hennessey it's hard to get their attention.
Also, transmission? Sheesh. They didn't even use a transmission on their demo vehicle at SEMA last year, that yellow '57 Chevy from Hot Rod.
This would totally be suitable for something like my old Cadillacs. They were effectively going for electric propulsion characteristics.
As good as this looks, I think they'll have trouble moving units with the single crank arm steering wheel.
More seriously, depending on pricing, this could be a really good package for modernizing old iron. I wonder what the motor weighs and how much of that 947 pound battery would be offset by a lighter motor and loss of gas tank.
I know it's going to be too rich for my blood, in addition to being unobtaium at the DIY and grassroots level, but I'm super excited to finally see visible progress on this resuming.
This isn't the end goal, just a step in the right direction.
Only about 200hp? Likely expensive?
If it were more like 400hp, I'd bet there would be much more traffic
Interesting.
In reply to Apexcarver :
They had the system in a COPO body Camaro at SEMA in 2018. That car could supposedly run 10s in the quarter.
So I think 200hp is an initial offering, and bit of re-flashy-flashy to the motor control unit could unlock a significant amount of power.
Though this really isn't a performance thing. The battery is too heavy. But if you're doing a resto on a cruiser 200hp and 255lb-ft available at 0 rpm while being completely silent is an appealing proposition.
200hp? Nearly a 1000 lb battery?
I'd be a lot more impressed if it was a 200 lb battery and nearly 1000 hp.
It's basically a Bolt powertrain... Think 'adequate performance' rather than 'high perofrmance' applications.
Yeah, it's definitely a Bolt battery pack and the motor specs match what's in the Bolt too. Same is probably true for most of the other "modules" included I bet. Mostly off the shelf Bolt stuff.
The trans adapter and controller are likely the stuff that required the majority of the engineering here.
The big question in my mind, is will this setup cost more than a new Bolt does?
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