University of South Carolina students convert vintage MGB into electric car

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

University of South Carolina students convert vintage MGB into electric car

Posted by SharK at 5:41 AM

Roger Dougal's electric 1972 MGB Roadster - Click above for high-res image gallery

Ah, the classic British sportscar. Back in the day when the United Kingdom had a large and meaningful automotive industry, some of the coolest little roadsters rolled out of factories across the pond, and that certainly includes the MGB. More than half a million MGBs were produced between 1962 and 1980 and each one likely comes standard with all kinds of maladies that threaten to take it off the road. As such, there are plenty of nice looking examples available on the used marketplace to choose from.

The same qualities that make the MGB a fun vintage sportscar also make it an attractive electric vehicle platform, not the least of which is the car's light weight and front engine, rear-wheel drive layout. Roger Dougal, a professor at the University of South Carolina, has owned an MGB since 1984 and recently handed the keys over to the University's College of Engineering and Computing to have its gasoline-burning engine yanked in favor of an electric motor.

So far, about $10,000 and 18 months have been spent converting Dougal's MGB into an electric car. Underhood sits an AC motor that sends power to the rear wheels courtesy of a custom driveshaft. We'd guess that there's no actual transmission as it isn't really needed in such a project. Energy storage comes courtesy of a bank of supercapacitors in the trunk, and the team has plans to add a lithium ion battery pack in the near future. Click past the break for more details via the school's press release.

Gallery: Electric 1972 MBG Conversion