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Projects by Tom Cheesewright

Stuff I've made/am making

  • Smart Home
    • Smarter Hydroponics
    • Volume Servo
    • Air Quality Monitor
  • DIY EV
    • Project Z300 EV
    • EV GT
    • DIY EV Wiki
    • Podcast
  • Workshop Antics
    • Outdoor Workbench
    • Skip-find Welder

Category: DIY EV

I’ve been interested in electric vehicles for quite some time, both personally and professionally. Working in the tech industry, I was meeting Tesla devotees from their early days. Researching the future of energy for CMS back in 2016 really cemented for me that our energy future was purely electric. And then the foresight project I undertook with Auto Trader on the future car in 2019 led me to a lot of the work that was going on to convert existing petrol-engined vehicles to electric, with open source components.

My personal interest in cars goes back way beyond that. I’m not particularly into speed or racing. But cars are such a big machine that they were always going to fascinate a geek like me. This fascination has been passed to my daughters and particularly my eldest (who hasn’t decided yet if she wants me to name her here). Watching Car Masters: Rust to Riches, and then the tours of the Petersen Museum in California together, she developed a real passion for retro cars. And so, our first DIY EV project was born. Could we together take an existing vehicle, convert it to electric, and give it some of that retro style?

DIY EV

All pictures, no words: update

Can’t believe it has been three months since I posted on here. But that’s what happens when you get sucked into making videos. Continue reading All pictures, no words: update

Tom Cheesewright13 April 202213 April 20224 Comments
DIY EV

Fitting a double-din head unit to the Z3 centre console (part 1)

While it’s cold and dark and I’m waiting for access to the garage I’ve been working on some interior bits, starting with creating space for a double din head unit and hence relocating the heater controls. Continue reading Fitting a double-din head unit to the Z3 centre console (part 1)

Tom Cheesewright16 January 202213 April 2022Leave a comment
DIY EV

Kit kick-off

The time has come to start on the body swap in earnest Continue reading Kit kick-off

Tom Cheesewright12 January 202213 April 20222 Comments
DIY EV

More DIY EV Vids: Rewiring

I’ve been busy on the videos again. Two more videos on the rewiring project over on my YouTube channel now. Continue reading More DIY EV Vids: Rewiring

Tom Cheesewright9 January 202213 April 2022Leave a comment
DIY EV

Rewiring the Z3: Stop blowing stuff up

In this video I highlight the three critical questions I need to answer/problems I need to solve with the rewiring project. Continue reading Rewiring the Z3: Stop blowing stuff up

Tom Cheesewright20 December 202113 April 2022Leave a comment
DIY EV

DVLA Success: Registering your DIY EV

The DVLA has accepted my bid to re-register the Z3 as an electric vehicle. Hoorah! Continue reading DVLA Success: Registering your DIY EV

Tom Cheesewright20 December 202113 April 2022Leave a comment
DIY EV

DIY EV Chat Episode 1: Jamie Jones & the Bugplug

People always ask me the same questions about the DIY EV project. So I figured I would gather answers from other people who have built their own EVs. Continue reading DIY EV Chat Episode 1: Jamie Jones & the Bugplug

Tom Cheesewright16 December 202121 December 2021Leave a comment
DIY EV

Building a new battery box

Continue reading Building a new battery box

Tom Cheesewright12 December 202113 April 2022Leave a comment
DIY EV

The Plan: All the coming upgrades to the Z300 EV

Continue reading The Plan: All the coming upgrades to the Z300 EV

Tom Cheesewright5 December 202113 April 2022Leave a comment
DIY EV

Teardown: Repairing the electric Z3

While what I really want to be doing is getting on with upgrades, instead I had to spend a day (and a bit) stripping the EV down and rebuilding it to sort out a nasty squeak from the coupler. Follow my progress in this latest video episode. Continue reading Teardown: Repairing the electric Z3

Tom Cheesewright22 November 202121 December 2021Leave a comment

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Older posts
In the latest episode of my electric car conversion upgrade, the new battery box is in, finalising the major structural parts of this process. This took a lot of fettling, welding, and tweaking of my design. And a new angle grinder. But now the DIY EV-swapped BMW Z3 has a slimmer, smarter, and more secure battery box up front.

Next up we move on to plumbing and wiring, with only a few more minor brackets to make (charger, radiator, coolant pump). Subscribe to see my finish these upgrades and do a speed test of the new motor: has it been worth all the work?
Upgrading the battery box in my EV-swapped BMW (part 3)
YouTube Video UCKlHPqmX4wh3lHTZRdTzZcg_oMbiFG2p3Ok
It's road trip time again, though sadly not in the DIY EV. I head down to meet up with Paul Compton to pick up the batteries for my next electric car conversion project. And my friends and fellow EV-swappers Jamie, Robert and Stephen join us. We get a tour of Paul's enviable car and bike collection, as well as a serious dose of workshop envy. We strip down a BMW battery pack in record time. And we all take a drive in Paul's upgraded G-Wiz, which proves to be faster than Jamie's BugPlug or my electric Z3.
New batteries! G-Wiz ride! Bonkers workshop tour! It must be a DIY EV ROADTRIP!
YouTube Video UCKlHPqmX4wh3lHTZRdTzZcg_RQsX6E2CdXo
After last episode's failure, I finally got the power steering pump installed on my electric car conversion. OK, it had to be a new power steering pump, and it took me a few tries, but I got there in the end. Plus, I break (and fix) an angle grinder and test some new accessories for my Dremel.

Just the new battery box to fit now and some wiring and plumbing before we take the running EV off the road and swap all the parts over from the development car.
Fitting the power steering pump to my EV-swapped BMW
YouTube Video UCKlHPqmX4wh3lHTZRdTzZcg_2Pmu7--QL7Y
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Recent Posts

  • All pictures, no words: update
  • Fitting a double-din head unit to the Z3 centre console (part 1)
  • Kit kick-off
  • More DIY EV Vids: Rewiring
  • Rewiring the Z3: Stop blowing stuff up

Recent Comments

  • andy powell on All pictures, no words: update
  • andy powell on All pictures, no words: update
  • Tom Cheesewright on All pictures, no words: update
  • andy powell on All pictures, no words: update
  • Tom Cheesewright on Kit kick-off

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