I am a 25 year old technical person and working in the automotive industry. I am from Malta. An EU member state.

I bought a Fiat 126 Bis specifically to be converted to electric. I am doing this project as a hobby and costs should stay to the minimum. I do not need a racing car. Malta is very small and I will only need the car for town driving. If I have the same power and torque as I have in my Fiat 126 Bis after 21 years of service, I will be satisfied.

The specs of the Fiat 126 Bis are 650 kgs, 25bhp max power, 50Nm max torque.

I wish to see system suggestions for my project with the minimum expenses possible. However now I will specify what possible components I have in mind.

Batteries - I intend to work with 72V (6 batteries x 12V) lead acid deep cycle that can be found locally. Lithium iron are still very expensive.

Motor - I am still open on the motor type. I want to obtain regenerative braking. This is important on the 126 because it has no power brakes. I had in mind to use either a permanent magnet or a separately excited motor to obtain regeneration but I found lately that the Zapi H2 model can be wired to obtain regen also from a series motor. So I am open on which type of motor to use.
I was first leaned to go for a Mars electric permanent magnet motor ME1003. On paper it is specified as 200A cont 400A peak with similar performance of the LEMCO, but some sources told me that this motor is normally used on lighter vehicles like motorcycles and can be too little for my car.

Controller - I had in mind to use Kelly, but again, many sources told me that reliability can be an issue with these controllers and they are overrated. Now I am more focused on an Alltrax or Zapi H2 for series motor and Sevcon Powerpak or Zapi Sem 3 for separately excited motor. But I will leave it to your suggestions...

I am open for other suggestions as long as the conversion would remain inexpensive.

Thanking you in advance for your support and hope to hear from you soon. Wish you all the best and a prosperous new year.

Best regards,

Eman Cardona

Any luck yet Eman?
I also have a 126 which is available for conversion.

No luck yet!

I am currently trying to find parts locally. From a forklift dealer maybe.

Where are you from? What is your project status?

Naxxar

No Status. Just have a 126 BIS at present