You will find articles organized by categories, along with recent comments, along the right hand column of the website. If you are just getting started with the idea of converting a gas car to electric be sure to check out Your First Electric Car .
Welcome and enjoy!
-Jerry
Quick Survey · 24 August 05
Thanks for all of the email. Another of the most popular email questions is: “Can I convert my XYZ to Electric?” XYZ being everything from scooter to Suburban.
I’m writing an article on the subject of vehicle choice, trade-offs, considerations, and so on. It would be great to get an idea of what other people are looking for in an EV/Hybrid, so I thought I’d take a quick survey.
You can answer it in a couple of ways.
1. If you are already planning your own EV (or Hybrid) conversion, what kind of vehicle are you considering? And why that vehicle: already own it, like that model, or it matches EV research.
2. You just started thinking about an EV, maybe because there’s a hole in your wallet where gas money used to be, but you have certain driving requirements. What kind of EV/Hybrid characteristics would make you consider the jump?
Completely informal survey. Just click the Comment link right below this entry and tell us what you think. If you don’t want your thoughts published for everyone to see, then click the Contact link on the right side of the page and drop me an email.
Email addresses aren’t required for either. We don’t show them on the site nor do we send out unsolicited email. If you want a response you probably should include an email address. My telepathic skills are mostly telepathetic…
Comment [17]
- Surging fuel prices are spurring electric car plans. The Mitsubishi MIEV uses a colt chassis with lithium-ion batteries and in-wheel motors.
- England EV enthusiast pushing for charge points. Among the other benefits he sees: “Emission-free cars pay no road tax or congestion charge, the vehicle falls in the lowest insurance group and drivers can park for free in certain parts of London.”
- Meet the new EV company, Goin Green, and their new G-wiz
- Check out the side by side hybrid comparison chart over at about.com.
Electric Vacuum Pumps · 23 August 05
After ten years on the internet, hundreds of thousands of visitors, and thousands of emails what do you think the most popular question about the EV conversion is?
Hey, where’d you get the Vacuum Pump?
Well, I’m here to tell ya…
- Gizmag has an article on the Tango Electric Car.
- Citizen journalists report on, Pinched at the pump.
- A Plug-in Hybrid Campaign has been launched in Austin, TX.
- BMW will be showing a hybrid concept car that uses ultra-capacitors, or what they are calling syncaps, instead of batteries.
- More on next year’s hybrid tax cut. Are there any incentives for EV buyers or converters?
- Mitsubishi is working with Tokyo Electric Power Co. on a next-generation electric car that can be recharged from a household electric socket.
- Muscle Hybrids and Hybrid tax breaks
- Alternative vehicles in China
Support Groups · 21 August 05
There’s a lot of information available on the web, but sometimes you just need to interact with people. Here’s a list of EV and Hybrid groups on the web.
- EVList
- EVList (Yahoo)
- EV 4sale
- Toyota Prius
- Honda Hybrid
Batteries · 20 August 05
Batteries can be the hardest item to decide on for a new EV. Do you buy huge, deep cycle batteries for the utmost in range or spry, lightweight “new tech” batteries which cost more but promise snappier performance?
Our first EV started off with twelve Trojan SCS225 deep cycle batteries. Even though I treated them rather badly (a charger failure and a missed watering) they lasted for three years. The next set ended up being a slightly cheaper set of generic deep cycle marine batteries and they barely lasted a year. After that it was back to the SCS225.
For longer battery life a 12v deep cycle isn’t the optimal choice. It is better to go with an 8volt, or better yet 6volt deep cycle battery, which are rated for 300-500 80% discharge cycles.
Here’s a list of FAQs, information, and suppliers.
- Battery Glossary
- Deep Cycle FAQ
- Ultimate Battery FAQ
- Battery User’s Guide
- Battery Info
- Simon’s Battery Info
- Uve’s Battery Page
- Trojan Batteres
- Optima
- Evercel
- NiZn Batteries
- Ultra Capacitors
- Thundersky
- Avestore
- Valence
Comment [4]
Renault 4CV to 4EV Conversion · 19 August 05
Terry Vessels is underway with a rather unique conversion, as you can see from the photo. It’s a 1959 Renault 4CV and looks to be quite the project.
I like his three step approach:
- Get it working.
- Get it working well.
- Customize.
He’s also working on other projects in his spare(?) time.
Good luck Terry!
Comment [1]