Non Aero Mods - Steps towards a Glorified Golf Cart?

Greetings All,

The other day, my better half was mentioning she would like a small neighborhood vehicle to drive around the quite backroads where we live (in a fairly rural area...3/4 of the roads are paved) We already have a level 2 charger in the garage. I was thinking for the price of a decent golf cart (gas or electric) would run around 3-5K used. For a bit more we could get a second hand leaf. We really wouldn't need the range...10-15 miles would be more than plenty for tooting around.

With that in mind I was thinking, if going low speed 30 miles and under in fairly infrequently traveled roads, we could probably take the doors off, maybe the trunk hatch and create a "golf-carty"/ UTV feel...going a step further - I wonder if it would be difficult to give the car a moderate lift and put bigger wheels on it? Aero and extending range are non-factors for this idea.

Safety wise - yes I realize removing the doors is a huge safety issue if driving on the city streets with light/moderate traffic...however this is a fairly rural area, where golf carts , utvs and neighborhood electrics have been sharing the road for a while.

Any other ideas on converting a leaf to the "Ultimate neighborhood EV"?

Thanks in advance!

Raising the body and fitting larger tires (perhaps Bridgestone DriveGuard run flats or heavy duty off road tires to minimize need for spare) would make it more suitable for rougher roads. Electric motor has plenty of torque to handle larger tires. I would not take doors and hatch off because that would preclude higher speed use. Also, it would be difficult to address all of the error codes and warning chimes if the sensors don't see the doors fully closed. If I still lived on a farm, I would buy an older one and put larger tires on it to use this way. I would also put a big sine wave inverter in it to run power tools or a welder for quick repairs without dragging out a generator.

Car & Driver removed the doors in an attempt to reduce weight once.


The Leaf already has a decent amount of suspension travel. You might not need to bother with lifting it for off-road use.

There is also plenty of room in the wheel wells for larger wheels/tires without modifications. I've had 235/50R17 tires on mine.

kubel put the snow tires/wheels from a Ford Crown Vic on the Leaf (235/55R17), and they worked. Unfortunately, all of his pics seem to be broken now.

Adding larger-diameter tires also has the side-effect of lifting the vehicle an inch or so as well.

Golf1 said:

With that in mind I was thinking, if going low speed 30 miles and under in fairly infrequently traveled roads, we could probably take the doors off, maybe the trunk hatch and create a "golf-carty"/ UTV feel...going a step further - I wonder if it would be difficult to give the car a moderate lift and put bigger wheels on it? Aero and extending range are non-factors for this idea.

Any other ideas on converting a leaf to the "Ultimate neighborhood EV"?

Click to expand...

We use a Jacked up 48 VDC Club Car to travel quietly around our 70 acres of very rural property. It's also used as energy storage for our off-grid system (with a spare set) at the property. I now have off-grid level II solar charging for my Leaf. Hope to eventually use the Leaf for energy storage in addition to the GC - but need a convenient energy extraction system (in the works, V2H ?????).

So.. I've thought a bit about how to modify the old Leaf to use around the property to the fullest extent. Don't believe I can ever make it cross the creek (which the Club Car can with ease), but certainly around the cleared paths and the long gravel entrance road. Will not be anytime soon as I drive the Leaf almost exclusively around our suburban home - much prefered over my 2011 Suburban!

Anyone with good ideas on how to convert the bottom of the heap EV's to off-road/NEVs - please chime in. Not paying auto insurance and registration COULD be a bonus also. Although I'm sure the government in cahoots with Insurance companies will kibosh that also. Golf cart liability is not cheap.

Or get one of these:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKxuuvuQBMA

Buy a Miles zx40