[krazerlasers]

Not sure where you live, but there were a lot of 'compliance cars' in California which were factory EV conversions of their traditional offerings. As an example, the Fiat 500e (2013-2019, it has since been replaced by a ground-up electric version with the same faults as described in the article) is a normal 500 fitted with a Bosch SMG 180/120 motor and associated support components.

The 500e is virtually identical to the ICE version of the car, with a very hacked up looking shifter filler panel with buttons to control the motor and charger jack inside the gas filler door. The main downside with the compliance car life is they are all very short range, generally 50-100 miles. Also now that the program is shut down you don't get the rebate anymore so they are all discontinued (but readily available used).

There is no DRM on the Bosch SMG system, I have an android app and bluetooth adapter that lets you view all of the CAN messages, and many people online have successfully rebuilt their batteries with more modern cells to increase the range.

[nebula8804]

Do you have any links to people rebuilding their batteries? That is pretty amazing if done economically.

[krazerlasers]

The best documented is M. Waddle's project https://mandmwaddle.ca/projects/fiat-500e/

He was able to rescue the existing deep discharged battery in his car, but the steps would be roughly the same to replace a submodule (readily available from totals cars).

There are also people looking into replacing the individual prismatic cells (the 500e is built with 63AHr samsung SDI cells, and there are now 120AHr cells available in the same form factor) but so far the only success story is from an outfit in Europe building custom packs out of banks of cylindrical cells https://www.fiat500owners.com/threads/upgrading-battery-for-...