Convert That Car

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.

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

Figure 1-1 A converted electric Porsche.

Figure 1-2 A converted electric Ford Ranger.

less than a token on a subway. Also, the maintenance costs are negligible compared to the oil changes, radiator repairs, and all the other additional maintenance costs of an internal combustion engine version.

In this chapter you’ll learn what an electric vehicle is, and explore the change in consciousness responsible for the upsurge in interest surrounding it. You’ll discover the truths and untruths behind electric vehicle myths. You’ll also learn about the EV’s advantages, and why its benefits—assisted by technological improvements—will continue to increase in the future.

To really appreciate an electric car, it’s best to start with a look at the internal combustion engine vehicle. The difference between the two is a study in contrasts.

Mankind’s continued fascination with the internal combustion engine vehicle is an enigma. The internal combustion engine is a device that inherently tries to destroy itself: numerous explosions drive its pistons up and down to turn a shaft. A shaft rotating at 6,000 revolutions/minute produces 100 explosions every second. These explosions in turn require a massive vessel to contain them—typically a cast-iron cylinder block. Additional systems are necessary:

• A cooling system to keep the temperatures within a safe operating range. • An exhaust system to remove the heated exhaust products safely. • An ignition system to initiate the combustion at the right moment. • A fueling system to introduce the proper mixture of air and gas for combustion. • A lubricating system to reduce wear on high-temperature, rapidly moving parts. • A starting system to get the whole cycle going.

It’s complicated to keep all these systems working together. This complexity means more things can go wrong (more frequent repairs and higher repair costs). Figure 1-3 summarizes the internal combustion engine vehicle systems.

Unfortunately, the internal combustion engine vehicle’s legacy of destruction doesn’t just stop with itself. The internal combustion engine is a variant of the generic combustion process. To light a match, you use oxygen (O2) from the air to burn a carbonbased fuel (wood or cardboard matchstick), generate carbon dioxide (CO2), emit toxic waste gases (you can see the smoke and perhaps smell the sulfur), and leave a solid waste (burnt matchstick). The volume of air around you is far greater than that consumed by the match; air currents soon dissipate the smoke and smell, and you toss the matchstick.

Today’s internal combustion engine is more evolved than ever. However, we still have a carbon-based combustion process that creates heat and pollution. Everything about the internal combustion engine is toxic, and is still one of the least-efficient mechanical devices on the planet. Unlike lighting a single match, the use of hundreds of millions (soon to be billions) of internal combustion engine vehicles threatens to destroy all life on our earth. You’ll read about environmental problems caused by internal combustion engine vehicles in Chapter 2.

While an internal combustion engine has hundreds of moving parts, an electric motor only has one. That’s one of the main reasons why electric cars are so efficient. To make an electric vehicle out of a car, pickup, or van you are driving now, all you need

Figure 1-3 Internal combustion engine systems.

to do is take out the internal combustion engine along with all related ignition, cooling, fueling, and exhaust system parts, and add an electric motor, batteries, and a controller. Hey, it doesn’t get any simpler than this!

Figure 1-4 shows all there is to it: Batteries and a charger are your “fueling” system, an electric motor and controller are your “electrical” system, and the “drive” system