Forkenboogie · 4 April 07
Darin and Ivan reached a momentous milestone in their “not an EV” EV conversion: the first test drive of Forkenswift!
Granted they had batteries laying all over the floor of the car (think of all the engine space!) but it was still a most impressive first run, especially considering the great comments they got from onlookers. The photo on the right is a pretty common occurance when you have an EV: folks always want to take a look at the electronics just to make sure you aren’t pulling their leg. That’s also when you need a cue card of answers to the following:
- you did this?
- how far/fast can it go?
- how much did it cost?
- what about winter?
- yeah, but I heard {insert some EV rumor}
- I should do this!
Darin says that “officially” they are still in the battery rack fabrication stage of the project, but the welder has been delayed, the weather turned nice…what can you do? Darin has additional background with the video on YouTube and it’s always interesting to see what some of the viewers say in the comments.
Congrats, guys!
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I bet that felt good!
I have also had to explain my EV’s quietness while passing people on the side or the road. EV Grin!
Were you not amazed by just how controllable the car is at low speeds, that was what got me. you can choose between a 1/4 and 1/2 a mile an hour, easily!
You bet it felt good! I bypassed EV Grin and went straight to EV Chuckling.
Our low-speed controllability is soured just a little by a very sensitive pedal at the low end (and a weak rear motor mount). The drivetrain will “lurch” into action unless the pedal is depressed ve-r-r-r-y slowly from a stop.
Still Lots of work & fine tuning left to do.
hi how much did it cost for u to convert your car? how fast does it go? do you think diesel engines could be converted? please tell me all you know thanks in advance
Hi Andrew – well the conversion isn’t finished, so I can’t definitively answer your question, but we’ve spent roughly $900 US in total.
It’s only a 48v car meant for sub/urban driving – the top speed will likely be around 35 mph, and acceleration will be leisurely.
No reason why you couldn’t convert a diesel car.
If you want to read in great detail the process we took to get where we are at this point, visit forkenswift.com and follow the various links there.
Hope that helps – Darin
I think a diesel car is a particularly good place to start from. The suspension is usually stiffer for the heavier diesel engine so it’ll handle the battery weight better than a petrol (gasoline) car.