For $3200
An Australian student has just won a prestigious award for his conversion kit, which can turn internal combustion engine cars into hybrids at a meager cost. He claims that its design allows for bolt-on installations to be completed in one day. The issue price is only $3,200.
The auto industry is moving toward electrification, but the challenge of reducing carbon emissions is here to stay. ICE cars, which existed before and even during the transition to green cars, are not going away anytime soon. The startup Rapid Electric Vehicle Retrofits will offer owners the opportunity to electrify their cars for a small fee.
According to Alexander Burton of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, the key to its success is its special pancake-shaped axial flux motor. It bolts to the wheel hub and has a rotating plate between the brake rotor and the wheel. Burton says each engine can produce 67 hp.
A student has invented a cheap way to convert cars with internal combustion engines into hybrids
He’s testing a prototype in his Toyota Corolla – the motors are mounted to the rear wheels, and the “standard battery” with a capacity of 15 kWh is located where the spare tire would normally be. At the same time, the power reserve on all-electric traction is about 100 km.
