Hi there, I know this is boarder line sacrilegious, but ......
Have any of you considered it or done it? Converted your 964 to electric?

I know that there are several air-cooled 911's that have been converted. And from what I've seen it's not an overly complicated thing to do.
Remove the 3.6 flat six, take out all of the oil and fuel stuff. Drop in an electric motor, controller, charger and figure out where to stuff batteries.
There will be details, like how will I handle power braking and power steering? Those problems are readily solved. Just have to swap parts.

With battery tech getting better every day and more power dense (meaning, it'll take up less room) doing a conversion seems more and more attractive to me.

After going through the purist arguments in my head and summing up the many years of petrol loving fun I've had, I've decided that the many things I love about my car would not be diminished in any way by converting it over to electric.

The two things that I will miss is the sound of the flat six at red line. Nothing I've every driven sounded as good. The other is the novelty of driving an air-cooled car.
I do have a long, long list of things that I will not miss. Top of them is be oil changes. God, I hate oil changes.

So, this thread is not about 'should I or shouldn't I' it's about me putting down in writing my intention to convert my 964 C4 to an all wheel drive electric Porsche.
I'm doing this to protest Porsche naming the Mission-e the Taycan. OMG.
Just joking. I was going to do this regardless.

Like Cortez, I'll burn my ships, this way I can't go back (actually I think he scuttled them and they sunk, not burned).
I'll be putting my recently rebuilt 3.6 up for sale and will use some of those funds to complete this project. I'm hoping to get more than 50 bucks for it.

My goals are to go electric, increase the performance of the car while retaining the all wheel drive of the C4 (maybe not use the same parts) and learn a ton about what it really means to love a car.
I said I was keeping this car forever. This is another way of ensuring that. I doubt that anyone would be interested in non stock 964 C4 that's been converted to electric. That will have 200+ HP with 300+ ft lbs torque. Do 200+ miles of range and not ever need a drop of gas or oil again.

This is my plan. I'm putting my Nomex suit on.
Please let me know what you think.

Thank you.

 

Awesome idea...sell me your motor so i can use it as a test platform for a rebuild. Please.



I've been wanting to do a rebuild but my car is my only car. And so i can't take it off the road...

Good luck w the project. There is a company out in California that seems to do a fantastic job electrifying 914s...i think an electric 964 would be pretty cool. Please post lots along the way...

 

 

 

Correct power unit

 

you will not miss the oil smell! I hate it.

If you car is matching number I suggest to keep the engine.

 

You have room in the front for an electric motor that drives the front wheels while still retaining the regular engine for the rear wheels... Best of both worlds?

 

 

I've reached out to them, EV West and others for consultations. I'll need a lot of advice from those that have gone this route before. The DIY kits out there look compelling but won't get me to my goals.
I'll continue to plan, aim high and hope I hit somewhere near my target.
As Dr Porsche said himself....I looked around for the car I wanted but no one made it. So, as the story goes, I'll make it myself.

 

Cool idea but most will not like the idea of removing the motor from a road worthy, complete air cooled 911. What about selling your current car as is (with the motor in place) and the sourcing a roller without a motor to perform the conversion on? Or buy a 996 and remove/sell the motor and then do the conversion on that?

 

Ikylejohnston1 I've done a lot to personalize the car to be mine. It's not totally so far from stock that I couldn't return it there, but that's a lot of work I'd rather not do again in another car.
For better or worse, I'm attached to this car, to this chassis and it's interior. I've made it mine. I haven't met too many people who think the same way.

To me, I'd rather take out what is holding the car back and improve her than toss the car to the side and start all over. I realize this is going to be a big challenge. As nowata mentioned, there will be 40 something year old parts and components that will need to be evaluated and if possible replaced with something more efficient and reliable and serviceable.

While noodling this last night, I think my biggest problem to tackle will be where to put the batteries. I've got some ideas, but they will need to be thought out carefully.
I'm afraid that it'll take a lot of design work to make it happen. I don't possess all of the skills I think I'll need. Most of them in fact. But I'll learn and what I can't learn I'll partner. Or hire out.

Eyes wide open. It's a brave new world.

 

Buy a 944 and do it to that, lol.

 

 

First we started to lose 964s to track incidents, then to backdating and RWBing, now this! Haha.
Sounds like you are up to the challenge/adventure.

 

For battery placement - you are going to have to determine, basis power usage and range, what are the right batteries and configuration for the awd...and then once you know that, you can come up with size and configuration of the array...because really, you are going to want to cut the chassis and make room for them in the right places...down low and safe from impact.

When i was reading some of the comments above, i was thinking - why not buy a model S and stick a 964 fiberglass body on it...but then...if you did any of that...it wouldn't feel like you made an electric car out of your own car...so keep at it!

Don't shy away from cutting the car. There is a lot you can do to make the right kind of room. And there are plenty of things that will no longer be there...transaxle...gas tank, front diff, etc...you won't need the entire rear wall and the shelf the rear seats sit on...