IMIEV chassis pictures, with body removed?

[jeffcarroll78s2]

With the used IMIEV prices falling to $6K or less, I've been considering buying another one for a daily driver and making a project car out of my 2012 ES. I'd like to remove the body and build a tube frame car that I can take with me on trips in my toy hauler. I've only been able to find a low res partial pic of the KEI chassis with the body removed? For some reason I can find every other electric car chassis pictures with the body removed. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[siai47]

The I-MiEV is a uni-body car. The chassis is the body. If you wanted to make a dune buggy or something like that out of one, there are two partial subframes. One for the front suspension and one for the rear. You would have to build your tube chassis to attach to the mounting points on the existing I-MiEV components. You would also need a strong mid section to hold the battery pack. The real problem is this---if you want it to ever run again, you need to transfer the entire electrical harness and all of the attached components from lights to air conditioning to have any chance to get it going. You would even need to transfer the air bag components--I guess side curtain airbags in a buggy might be kind of neat.

Make it easy on yourself---Just take an I-MiEV and knock the glass out, remove the hatch and the doors and head to the desert or (with a couple of bags in the bag) go to the golf course :lol: .

If you are really serious, the best bet would be to cut the car at the base of the "A" pillars and "C" pillar. Remove the "B" pillar and construct a tube frame/roll cage tying the front and rear together to keep the car from collapsing. You would pick up extra support at the base of the "B" pillar (where the rear doors mounted) to stiffen the structure. You would need to get a couple of air bag emulators to mimic the missing side curtain airbags. Send us a picture--it really might look good.

 

[Benjamin Nead]

siai47 beat me to the punch with the observations regarding unibody construction and electric harness issues. If you're looking for cutaway illustrations on the i-MiEV, you'll find some fairly good ones in the factory manual, which can be purchased here . . .

http://www.helminc.com/helm/Result....r=&Category=&Keyword=&Module=&selected_media=

I purchased the $150 CD-ROM version of the 2012 manual (second to the last listing on the above link.) It's a collection of PDFs and will open on all computers (we're pretty much Macs in my household,) but a Windows machine allows greater flexibility for hopping around between pages and sections.

 

[PV1]

All the body parts that can be removed are limited to doors, rear hatch, hood, bumpers, front fenders, and side skirts. The closest example I've seen of a stripped i-MiEV is the one linked below with the doors removed:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/f4kh2kfmm18cxkf/image.jpg?dl=0

I agree with the other posts. In order for the stock system to go READY, nearly every electrical component needs to be in place and working, including airbags and even some of the exterior lights. If you're planning off-road, you'll likely find that the front suspension severely limits tire/wheel options. While the i-MiEV can handle dry ground just fine, it does not like mud or sand for the exact same reason it goes so well on snow, skinny tires. While it is preferable to cut through snow and bite the road, you want the vehicle to float on mud and sand, and wide tires are necessary for that.

If you want to go for it anyway, the electric drive system will likely need to be changed out for something aftermarket (plenty of choices for the DIY crowd) to eliminate having so many electronics for an essentially off-road vehicle. At this point, that entire system could be transplanted into another i-MiEV like bennelson's flood damaged raspberry to make that car drivable again (something I've been thinking about).

 

[jeffcarroll78s2]

I currently haul my 2012 MIEV, in my toy hauler, for long trips. My main goal is to keep the vehicle "street legal" but reduce the weight. I love the idea of an electric off road vehicle or ATV, but these things are way too expensive. In some states, the doors can be removed, as long as the mirror is remounted and is useable. I could simply "pin" the doors, and install quick connectors, to use the vehicle either way, for now. Once I obtain another MIEV, it's gonna be tempting to buy some DOM tubing, and start cutting with a plasma cutter. Thanks for all of the great ideas, comments, and help. I'll keep you posted.

Proud IMIEV owner since St Patty's day in 2012. Just turned over 40K miles...