4wd hybrid grand am

Conversion Kits
1

alright, so I recently had the idea to convert my 2003 grand am 2.2 liter automatic to a hybrid in a few years after its payed off and i find a wrecked hybrid malibu. however the malibu system seems to be really inefficient and not really cost effective if i have to buy a whole other salvaged hybrid malibu.

so after a little thought i came up with a different idea.

basically want to move the gas tank to the trunk, put a electric motor with a chain driven differential to a set of CV half shafts and “front” hubs to accept them. get an electric vacuum pump (power brakes) and power steering pump. use the rest of the trunk space for batteries (never use the trunk anyways.)

so from my understanding if this setup works I can use the FWD gas engine to spin the rear wheels causing the regenerative properties of the electric motor attached to the back wheels to charge the batteries (at the slight cost of MPG due to drag.) the if i want to run electric only kill the gas engine then making it RWD. or if i get the gearing right run both and have the 2 systems working together for super performance.

so this all being theory… i know as a mechanic i can bolt together and fabricate all the mounting and mechanical. but i know very little about the electrical systems and what i might be missing or overlooking. so any input would be appreciated.

2

I’ve been thinking about doing something similiar to my 97 Riviera. Ultimately I want to convert it to full electric, but we’re not there yet with the batteries. So I wanted to start with a 9" Transwarp as a power booster at the rear wheels, and when the batteries become good enough/cheap enough I’ll throw a 2nd 9" (or bigger) up front.

We’ve discussed powering the rear wheels of a fwd car before. The stock rear suspension probably can’t handle the power. What I was thinking of was using a corvette rear suspension, or, if it would work, getting a 2nd Riv front suspension/drivetrain and putting it in back. The latter would open the possibility of 4 wheel steering, provide a transmission, and i f I made two of all the adapters and brackets I needed to hook up the electric motor, then I’d have much less work to do when it was time to pull the gas engine and put the front motor in.

So, how about this for a plan? Grand Am front suspension/transmission in back, a small battery buffer in the trunk, and a small diesel generator in the trunk or on a trailer. That would save you from having to fabricate too much stuff, buy too many batteries, and physically connect the front and rear drivetrains.

I’m not a mechanic or an electrical expert though, maybe someone can chime in on the feasibility of my plan?