Hi Mooncat, Hmm... "I won't ask about your choice of vehicle". I hope you're not one of those Skoda basher types from the 80's/90's...they don't rust as much as those old MGB's you know
Mine runs a manual box, you can keep the clutch or even go clutchless with a manual, (mine's clutchless, the synchros cope just fine with the extra, very small rotating mass of the motor armature)
Total cost was around £10,000, that was with self building the controller & DC/DC, getting a liquidation battery pack and rebuilding and modifying an old motor. If you want new out of the box components, it would be closer to £16,000 for a similar DC system, two or three grand more for AC. Mind you, when I started in 2008, there were no OEM EV's worth having. A crash damaged Leaf would make an excellent donor for an AC build now and can be had for about £5K.