So You Want to Build an Electric Car

Gather Members,

Here is an informative EV Photo Album web site for Ev Conversion Cars.

There are many key questions to be considered if you want to buildyour own EV conversion car. You will find these concerns covered inthe questions and answers below.

The EV Photo Album includes specs for each car, and email addresses for the mechanics that built these conversions if you have questions you want to ask them. There are several photos of each car conversion project showing the varied parts used, battery storage, speeds, driving range, costs, length of time to build, and more.

Hopefully, this information will help with your plans for building your own EV conversion car.

Good luck with your projects...

Becky Novak - EV Cars Club - http://www.evcars.gather.com

So You Want to Build an Electric Car

• What is the best car to convert?

There is no "best car" to convert. The vehicle of choice depends on what you want it to do. Porsche 914 conversions tend to be quick and have excellent range, but they aren't much good for hauling a couple of kids to school.

Volkswagen Rabbits have room for passengers, but can lack pizzazz. (Not all though, check out Bill Dube's Wabbit)

Mini pickups can handle a lot of battery weight, but tend to be rather heavy.

Donald Henderson's 1993 Toyota Pickup

Basically, what works for me may not work for you.

There are a few general rules.

• Look for something lightweight with plenty of room inside.

• Try to avoid anything over 10 years old, because parts availability starts to drop off. Just because a vehicle is free or inexpensive, doesn't make it an ideal conversion.

• If it was a junky gas car it will be a junky EV too. If you check out the EV Discussion List Photo Album, you will find over 1300 of the most more varied conversions you can imagine.
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• What kind of motor should I use?

The most commonly used motors in EV conversions are series wound DC motors. Most new parts suppliers carry the Advanced DC or Warp lines of motors. (more)

• What kind of batteries do I use?

At the moment there are really only a few choices for EV batteries.

The first is flooded lead acid batteries, such as golf cart and trolling motor type batteries. While these are reasonably priced, they do require periodic water level checks and cleaning. Dollar for dollar they are the least expensive way to power an EV. For high performance EVs however, they are a poor choice, because of the weight, and inability to handle high current loads (over 600 amps) without losing service life. (more) (Valve Regulated Lead Acid) AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat), gel cell batteries, Lithium based batteries- Lithium Ion, nickel-metal, zinc-air, nickel-cadmium batteries.

This link will take you to the MAEAA Links page, where you will find a section called EV Battery Manufacturers.

• Where can I buy the parts?

• Are there any books on how to do a conversion?

• How far can I go on a charge?

• How fast will it go?

• How much will it cost?

• Is there anyway to make it recharge itself while driving?