Handmade Electric Supercar

[Hern]

Hi guys! I couldn't find a thread to post these photos of my dad's latest project. If I started a new thread for an existing thread please point me into the right direction.

Super brief back story about this project. Almost 2 years ago my dad got in a terrible motorcycle accident where he almost lost his left leg. He was forced to retire early. My dad is one of those people who can't just sit and relax. He needs a project to work on constantly. While in the hospital, he told me he was going to make a car again (more to that later, maybe) an electric super car. And he asked me to help him copy a '90 Lamborghini body his buddy had laying in his shop. The rest his is his own design made from scratch, with simple tools and no fancy/expensive equipment out in the open.
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I skipped through a whole bunch of photos but this will give you an idea.
His idea behind this car was to make a very light, yet strong chassis so he could get more mileage per charge. Initially we wanted to make a full carbon fiber body but we didn't have the funds for it. Fiberglass had to do. As far as the engine goes (don't quote me on this because i'm not sure) It's made for small buses or trucks, which he modified the gearing so in theory it would work on a lighter car, offer better MPG, and have up to 900hp. Pretty wild. Honestly, this project goes way beyond me and when I look it up close I can't comprehend it. There are thousands of small pieces in this car, all which he made by hand.
The car is still a work in progess hopefully it will be ready by the end of the year.

[Matthew Strongin]

Please, please, please keep this thread up to date with progress. That is awesome!

[BShow]

I'm with matt... please keep updating your thread here. Looks like a really awesome project.

Are you able to completely fabricate a car from scratch and drive it legally in the US or is it a "track only" car?

[David Tollefson]

Sweet! Looking forward to the progress.

[Hern]

I'm with matt... please keep updating your thread here. Looks like a really awesome project.

Are you able to completely fabricate a car from scratch and drive it legally in the US or is it a "track only" car?

I think in California you can make a car from scratch that is street legal as long as it's safe to drive, have proof of the manufacturing process and standard features a production car would have like lights, blinkers, mirrors, seat belt, etc. Also it has to pass smog, but since it's an electric car I don't think it'll need it.

[sk_tle]

Why did he based his car on a lambo diablo design ? Practicability ? I don't have any idea about CA laws but it could be assimilated as counterfeiting in some parts of the world.

[seankanary]

Very very cool! Did you guys take molds off the lambo? Or, did you do the foam sculpting/wet layup?

[BShow]

I didnt mean to start a registration argument and I'm sorry for the slight derail, I was just curious. I think this is a really cool project and love following this kind of project. Whats your father's background that allows him to tackle a project like this? I'm guessing that your background with carbon fiber is one of the reasons that the body work looks so tight.

That tiny engine will put down several hundred Horsepower?! - insane! Can you mate that up to a "normal" transmission? What is the goal for the curb weight and will you sacrifice range for weight?

[Hern]

Why did he based his car on a lambo diablo design ? Practicability ? I don't have any idea about CA laws but it could be assimilated as counterfeiting in some parts of the world.

A friend of his had a spare Lamborghini Diablo body available, like a Lambo replica kit people put on Pontiac Fieros. It was a simple platform to start off, that's why we used that body, we are modifying now so it's more of it's own design. Chassis, suspension, etc they are all unique. if you were to put a '90s Diablo and this car side by side together you'll see that they are very different.

I wouldn't say it's counterfeiting. You see business that make Lamborghini, Ferrari and Porsche replicas out there. Besides, He's only making this car for himself, no plans on starting a business later on.

[Hern]

Very very cool! Did you guys take molds off the lambo? Or, did you do the foam sculpting/wet layup?

We made molds of a replica body kit.
there's a room full of them if anyone is interested in taking a ridiculously ambitious project.
lambomold.jpglambomold2.jpgsupercalmold2.jpgsupercarmolds.jpg

I didn't mean to start a registration argument and I'm sorry for the slight derail, I was just curious. I think this is a really cool project and love following this kind of project. Whats your father's background that allows him to tackle a project like this? I'm guessing that your background with carbon fiber is one of the reasons that the body work looks so tight.

That tiny engine will put down several hundred Horsepower?! - insane! Can you mate that up to a "normal" transmission? What is the goal for the curb weight and will you sacrifice range for weight?

My dad is a mechanic and fabricator, he has been making race cars since the '70s. Mostly off road race cars back in Argentina, where we are originally from. Most recently made a Lambo replica for a friend of his using a Pontiac Fiero chassis and a Corvette engine.
lamboreplica.jpg
He's pretty good at working with fiber glass and composites so I'm not taking any credit for making the body, I only helped out a bit.
As far as technical questions. I don't have any answers. All I know is that the engine is massive compared to the engine on a Nissan Leaf or other electric cars so I'm pretty sure it can produce a lot of power.

[devlin]

Why did he based his car on a lambo diablo design ? Practicability ? I don't have any idea about CA laws but it could be assimilated as counterfeiting in some parts of the world.

There are kit car copies all over the planet. GT-40 anyone?

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[sk_tle]

Well, I know about replicas. They are *NOT" all over the planet. In many countries they can't be registered and some get confiscated when trying to cross a border.

[spopepro]

Very very cool. Is he planning on Pb-H+ or LiPo for batteries? I can't tell from here if that's an AC or DC motor. One engineering challenge is getting the power out of the batteries fast enough to reach those power numbers. Homebrew electric supercars would often use 2-3 controllers in parallel. Of course... this was many years ago, and I haven't kept up in recent times.

[Hern]

Very very cool. Is he planning on Pb-H+ or LiPo for batteries? I can't tell from here if that's an AC or DC motor. One engineering challenge is getting the power out of the batteries fast enough to reach those power numbers. Homebrew electric supercars would often use 2-3 controllers in parallel. Of course... this was many years ago, and I haven't kept up in recent times.

Hey! Sorry it took me so long to get back to your questions. I didnt know the answers. I recently talked to my dad and he said It uses LiPo batteries, 150 of them. It's a DC motor. He's currently working on a 3 speed gear box that will allow the engine to turn around quicker. He's using one controller. He explained to me how it all works and what's is wrong with it right know but I couldn't keep up with the tech talk.
I'm going to visit him next weekend probably and I'll take more photos of the project.

[Hern]

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I visited my dad last weekend and I took a couple photos of the project.

[defspace]

I once made a life size paper mache porpoise for a 5th grade science class project.

Your dad is awesome.

[defspace]

Is this thing up and running yet? More pics!

[Hern]

The project is on hold for now. It's almost there but all the details are hard to do and very expensive.
This is him test driving it without the body.
Miguel Montenegro posted a video to his... - Miguel Montenegro | Facebook