4wd Citroen 2CV

[bernielah]

I recently acquired a 1965 Citroen 2CV and my objective over about 2 years is to put wheel motors in the rear wheels, making a 4wd gas/electric vehicle.
Initial thoughts are to use a pair of Golden Motors Magic Pies, and install in place of the rear brake assembly, relying on regen for rear braking. Run at 48v nominal, but I'm sure it's possible to push more power through them. The gas engine has 28hp, and the car as it is at the moment is about 500kgs.
Before I spend lots of time, energy and money pursuing this objective, can anyone see an obvious reason why it would NOT work.

I have 2 electrified bikes, a tandem and a Smart Pie FS, and was very close to buying a Leaf, but decided to go the cheapskate route, and add to my education in the process.
Thanks for any input.
Bernie.

[dnmun]

i have seen the suspension on one of the variants of the 2CV and i think it has a trailing dedion type suspension with springs on pushrods between front and back to provide support or push against the trailing arm.

you will have to look at the hub where the trailing arm comes down and see how much clearance you have and if the arm can handle the structural loads. there are a lot of motors integral to cast aluminum wheels also on alibaba you might consider.

they are so light and the way the suspension works may limit how the batteries are located.

[Punx0r]

Before I spend lots of time, energy and money pursuing this objective, can anyone see an obvious reason why it would NOT work.

1) Magic pie axle is intended to be supported at both ends - you need a stub axle for a car. The MP axle is nowhere near strong enough to be used a stub axle
2) Even support both ends, the MP axle and bearings are likely to be completely inadequate.
3) Nowhere near enough power. The MP is rated for 1KW continuous, two of them will give you about 3 HP. You probably won't be much in the way of peak out of them because of restricted airflow tucked inside a steel wheel.

I think they are completely unsuited for you application and should look at alternatives, like dnmunn suggests.

[Hillhater]

check the EV car forums, many smart guys have tried,.. but i have not seen anyone successfully use hub motors on a road car.

[gogo]

The increased mass/inertia would likely affect the long-travel suspension drastically unless you mounted them next to the engine where the brake rotor is. The 2CV is just too odd of a duck for it to be an easy task.

[bernielah]

Can't believe it's been 3yrs since I was on here, and after much research and head-scratching, I came to the conclusion that since all the majors are spending billions on electric development, my meager efforts would be nonsensical. Bought a new battery for the bike, and bought a 2014 Volt in Ohio and drove it home. Blown away by the progress !! and looking forward to significantly reducing our fossil fuel use.
Still drive and love my 2CV, and looking forward to the day when a sunburst takes out all the electronics haha.

[amberwolf]

If you're still interested, there are now a number of places (in China) that make hubmotors specifically for cars' single-ended axle application. I think QSmotors (they have a sale thread here on ES) makes some.