Converting Existing Vehicles

Figure 4-3 Don Moriarty’s custom sports racer electric vehicle.

construction techniques—or at least making haste slowly while you learn them—and is, again, not for everyone.

Electric Vehicles Built from Kits

The best example of building from kits is the Bradley GT II kit car (see Figure 4-5), of which there are several versions around. This combination of 96-volt electrics on a Volkswagen chassis with a lightweight body delivers impressive performance along with a snazzy, classic body-style, but you’re going to have to part with a substantial amount of cash and labor before you make it happen. A kit-built EV can be a highly rewarding and satisfying showpiece project for those who have the experience, enthusiasm, and persistence to pull it off, but (for the third and final time) it’s not for everyone.

Converting Existing Vehicles

Conversion is the best alternative because it costs less than either buying ready-made or building from scratch, takes only a little more time than buying ready-made, and is technically within everyone’s reach (certainly with the help of a local mechanic, and absolutely with the help of an EV conversion shop).

Conversion is also easiest from the labor standpoint. You buy the existing internal combustion vehicle chassis you like (certain chassis types are easier and better to convert than others), put an electric motor in your chassis, and save a bundle. It’s really quite simple; Chapter 10 covers the steps in detail.

To do a smart EV conversion, the first step is to buy a clean, straight, used, internal combustion vehicle chassis. A used model is also to your advantage (as you’ll read in Chapter 5) because its already-broken-in parts are smooth and the friction losses are

Figure 4-4 Doran three-wheeler electric vehicle.

minimized. A vehicle from a salvage yard or a vehicle with a bad engine may not be the best choice because you do not know if the transmission, brakes, or other components and systems are satisfactory. Once you select the vehicle, then you add well-priced electrical parts or a whole kit from vendors you trust, and do as much of the simple labor as possible, while farming out the tough jobs (machining, bracket-making, etc.). Whether you do the work yourself and just subcontract a few jobs, or elect to have