7 3/8 x 9 1/4 T echnical / Build Your Own Electric Vehicle / Leitman / 373-2 / Chapter 1
C h a p t e r 1 : W hy E l e c t r i c Ve h i c l e s A r e S t i l l R i g h t f o r To d ay ! Porsche 911 chassis, electric cars can provide respectable performance. They are fun to drive, virtually silent, and they coast very easily when you let off the accelerator pedal (www.worldclassexotics.com/Electriccaronv.htm). In other words, you can convert an old Porsche 911 to go over 100 mph with a 50-mile range using lead-acid batteries alone! With lithium ion technology you can get the car to go 180–200 miles and the cost is still less than some brand new SUVs on the market. In an effort to move the market toward the electric car, some people are trying other alternatives, including: • Driving hydrogen/fuel cell cars • Converting hybrid cars to either grid-connected or plug-in hybrids • Buying hybrid-electric cars in droves • Purchasing low-speed electric vehicles, such as the GEM car • Driving the last remaining car company–built electric cars, such as the EV1 or the Toyota RAV4 EV or the TH!NK City (manufactured with Ford Motor Company) Sooner or later, we will get to an electric car by the car companies. Whether it happens in my lifetime is not the question. My point is that you can get an electric vehicle today. You can also take any vehicle you want and convert it to an electric vehicle. We can also encourage the fix-it guy down the street to help us with our conversion so that more mechanics across the country are building electric cars.
Convert That Car! Electric vehicles are not difficult to build and they are easy to convert. There are so many reasons to convince you of the need to go electric: • The cost of a gallon of gas • Higher asthma rates • Our need to reduce our reliance on imported oils • The prospect of owning a car that is cost-effective, fun, and longer-lasting than most cars on the road today. Once again: How about the fact that you can convert an electric vehicle today? Right now! And it would cost you less than some new cars on the market. There are so many television shows showing people tricking out their cars, adding better engines, or doing just about anything to make it go fast and be safe. Conversions of an electric vehicle do all that and more. They allow the next generation to have a safer world without relying on foreign sources of oil while giving our kids really clean and cool cars to drive. In very practical terms, the 2001 Porsche and the 1993 Ford Ranger pickup electric vehicle conversions shown in Figures 1-1 and 1-2 (which you’ll learn how to convert in Chapter 11) goes 75 mph, gets 60 miles (or better) on a charge, uses conventional leadacid batteries and off-the-shelf components, and can be put together by almost anyone. Its batteries cost about $2,200 and last about three years, its conversion parts cost about $5,500 to $7,000, and it costs $1.25 to recharge, or “fuel up.” In New York terms, that’s
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