With today’s climbing fuel costs there has never been a better time for you to build an electric car. Electric cars are not only clean and cheap to run, they can travel at normal highway speeds, and have a range between charges of at least 100 miles or more. The range is dependent on the number of batteries you install and the type of terrain you drive in.
We are not talking about a glorified golf cart either, most cars or small trucks can be converted. Plus you will enjoy vastly reduced maintenance costs as your electric motor has few moving parts, and they last for ages. Listed here are my top 3 tips to help you to ensure success.
1. Get your donor vehicle. – This is the car or truck that you are going to convert. Look for something strong but light, as well as something that fits in with your lifestyle. It doesn’t matter if it is diesel or petrol powered, the only thing is that it should be manual transmission, as the conversion process is vastly more complicated with an automatic gearbox. Don’t worry if you can’t drive a manual car as the electric car will not need any gear changing or use of a clutch.
2. Get your motor and batteries. – You will need to get a DC motor, and 16 to 20 deep cycle batteries to provide the power for it. Old DC motors can be picked up very cheaply, in some instanced free. Further good news is you can also pick up suitable but used batteries free, these batteries only need some simple work to bring them back to a like new state. Once you have your vehicle, motor, and batteries, you are ready to complete the conversion.
3. Assemble your vehicle. – It sounds simple, and it often is, all you have to do is remove the conventional engine, leaving the flywheel and gearbox. Then simply connect in your DC motor in the same place as the original engine.
It simply remains to provide a controller to fix the amount of current flowing from the batteries to the motor, which determines how fast you go. The controller is connected to your old accelerator pedal linkage.
In order to charge your batteries between trips, you will need an on-board battery charger. That way you can just plug it into any common AC circuit and get charged up again.
Following these pointers will help you to successfully build an electric car. Not only will you slash your fuel and maintenance costs, you may also get several lucrative tax breaks, depending on where you live. So you will save money, and help save the planet too.
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