Some great ideas there Mikki, keep em coming
Yes unfortunately the Leaf and Tesla motors need a single speed reduction gearbox, in order to attain motorway speeds. Interestingly both are roughly 8:1
There are exotic motors out there that have the torque at low rpm and high rpm capability that don't need a reduction gearbox at all, but I don't think they have made it into any cars yet.
Before I found out that Leaf and Tesla need 8:1 reduction gear, I thought about just using the D2 rear diff for front and back wheels and splining a motor directly into it. After all it is a bit like a reduction gearbox. If a more torquey motor can be found it could do alright with a 4.111:1 reduction?
Definitely two motors all the way. I don't know how it would work electronically though, do they need to be run from one controller so that traction can be controlled between front and back axles.
Great idea about space under the fuel tank, maybe a whole Leaf unit could fit under there if tilted at an angle?
Wow the Leaf unit is quite heavy with the trans included, that's around 80kg. With the control module its probably over 100kg?
Yeah! I'd rather have a D2 with 60 miles range than a Leaf!