Shaun's Electric Car · 6 September 05
Shaun Williams converted a 2000 Toyota Echo into a battery powered electric car (hey, the steering is on the wrong side!) and documented the whole process on his web site.
Shaun lives in Brisbane, Australia. He started the conversion in May of 2004 and was on the road (after some serious paperwork) in April of ‘05.
On his conversion site, Shaun covers the why, who, how, and myths of EVs and of course the conversion itself. I especially like the format of his parts table which shows the prices and suppliers. (note: prices are AUS $)
There are a few interesting items in the conversion that I’ll have to ask Shaun about. Number one is the battery watering system, which I really wanted on our last EV. He bought it from a company called Aquapro.
You’ll notice that he retained the air conditioning AND installed an alternator. I may end up following his lead, at least with the alternator. Our DC-DC convertor seemed to behave inconsistently, letting the system battery run down over time. That or there was a phantom load on the system that hid each time I pulled out the ammeter.
Great job on the conversion, Shaun. And best of luck with the instrumentation!
