openinverter forum

Hi,

Please forgive me if a similar topic has been raised in the past, but I have searched and can't find it. I am relatively new to this, but I have been watching Damien's videos and have been contemplating a DIY EV for a long time.
I am considering buying a GS450H, using it as a daily driver and gradually converting it over time. Does the following plan sound do-able, or realistic? Are there any major hurdles I am missing?

Convert a stock GS 450H to plug-in hybrid
Upgrade batteries to increase range
Ultimately remove ICE and lock input shaft

Has anyone actually converted a GS450H to full BEV? I am assuming it already has electric PAS and anciliaries will all run via electric power rather than belt driven if it is a hybrid already. Is brake vacuum generated by an electric pump?

Ultimately I like the idea of investing in an electric powertrain in order to transfer it across to another car in the future. A Merc R107 is top of my list at the moment, but having just had my Land Rover in the garage for 6 years, I am keen to do it step-by-step and keeping a vehicle on the road whilst I do it.

Thanks for any advice.

Nik.

Since it's a modern vehicle one of the issues might become software.
I bet the ICE MCU sends magic out to get and keep the car in BEV mode. No experience with this vehicle.

You would have to trick the ICE ECU by feeding it fake values such as engine temp.
It's more for a software challenge than anything else.
I can't recall anyone having done this as yet.
Project Lexi was meant to be just this but it never got completed as far as I know (damn you Covid!).

Nobody on this forum has done it, just a couple of others here saying they also wanted to do it. The big hurdle seems to be that someone needs to reverse-engineer the software. All the other functions are described in other places, but someone needs to bite the bullet on the software to get the thing to behave the way you describe - hopefully it's you that brings the time and skills for the job!