If this is the future of classic tuner cars, ECU Shop Thailand is showing the way.
Electric Civic website: www.ecu-shop.com
Slowly by slowly, the progression of cars inches closer to electric power under the hood. But, what about our old, gas powered cars, like rad era ’90s Hondas that we grew up wrenching on?
ECU Shop Thailand’s electric Honda Civic build might be the answer.
Earlier last year, ECU Shop Official took the wraps off several projects at the Bangkok International Motor Show including their Honda EG 3 Motor EV (posted below.)
If you can understand Thai, this video of ECU Shop describing their project might be of interest.
ECU Shop took a 1994 Honda Civic, took out the four cylinder gas engine and transmission and engineered a 3-motor swap with accompanying battery pack and accessories package to swap in its place.
The tail of the tape is each motor is 60 KW. Multiplied by 3 and, on a full charge, this motors output 180 KW or, as the plate on top says, 240 HP and 443 lb-ft.
Compare that to this Civic’s “largest” gas engine, a 1.6L D16Z6 that put out 125 HP and 102 lb-ft.
The battery pack is a 380 volt, 100 Ah, 102 cells build.
A 7.2kw on-board charger capable of level 2 charging is paired to the battery pack.
Doling out that power is a sequential, 5-speed transmission.
The brains of the operation controlling how the motors, battery pack, regen system, and vehicle accessories all talk to each other is managed by ECU Shop’s Vehicle Control Unit.
And, it’s not all bare bones, unlike your run-of-the-mill EV conversions, this electric Civic’s got A/C.
Here’s a helpful infographic explaining how it’s all tied together.
ECO Shop does not list this Civic’s weight, but some simple back of the napkin math should put us in the ballpark.
It helps these Civics are already lightweight, around 2,200 pounds.
Minus the engine, around 310 pounds, and we’re down to 1890 pounds.
If 60 KW motors weigh around 33 pounds and a 3.2V 102 ah lithium-ion cell weighs around 4.9 pounds, the total weight of three motors and 102 cells adds 598 pounds.
Let’s toss in another 100 pounds for the electric AC and miscellaneous components and this electric Civic probably weighs around 2590 pounds, about 400 pounds more than a stock gas Civic.
With a 38 kwh battery pack, a 3-motor setup optimized for performance over economy, and knowing how much it probably weighs, I would guess this Civic’s got about a 100-125 mile range.
I could not find any video of this electric Civic giving it the beans, so, presumably, this Civic isn’t up and running yet.
When I do come across this electric Civic burning up some tires, I’ll update this blog post accordingly.
What do you think of this Civic with an electric swap? Let me know your .02 in the comments below.
Sources:
1. This 90’s Honda Civic Hatchback Has An Electric Powertrain | 11th Gen Civic Forum (civic11forum.com)
