Choosing a car

Now that you have a basic idea of what you will need to do a conversion, the next step is choosing a body style and chassis. You may already have a car picked out for this purpose.

Do you want your EV to be a family commuter, utility vehicle, a high performance watt rod?, or a combination of uses?

• For a family commuter with a range of 40 miles or more consider a light compact sedan that has enough room to accomodate 16 to 20 6-volt batteries. Escorts, Hondas, late model Novas, GEOs, Saturns, Rabbits, Neons, etc. are popular choices. 6-volt batteries are preferred over 12-volt batteries in this application because they have more energy density which is necessary for range. To add pep but sacrificing some range you may consider 8-volt batteries from Trojan or US Battery.

• Pickup trucks are great for utility purposes and are popular for a high school rally project. They have the extra payload capacity to carry the batteries and you can fit them under the bed. 20 6-volt batteries are common configurations. For extra range add 4 more 6-volt batteries for a total of 144 volts.

• High performance EVs are a blast to drive and fun to race at NEDRA events. You want as light a car as possible with the structural integrity to handle the weight of the batteries. Typical configurations are 2+2s or two-seaters such as Toyota MR2s, Honda del Sols, Porshe 911s and 914s, and Mazda RX-7s. 144 volt systems or more using 12-volt deep-cycle batteries are very popular today. These include the Optima Yellow Tops and the Genesis Hawker batteries. You can expect a range of anywhere from 20 to 40 miles. You can increase your range and amp hour capacity by running two or more parallel strings of batteries.

• Be creative and mix and match your own configuration.

Hints on choosing the right chassis

Manual 4 or 5 Speed Transmission
Use a manual transmission instead of an automatic. Automatics are avoided because they are not as efficient. Driving an EV with a gear shift is easier then with a gas car because EVs don't idle so there isn't a problem with stalling. Electric motors are also 98% efficient so you will not need to shift as much. Many city EVers just leave the car in second gear.

Power Brakes
Power brakes are recommended because of the extra weight of the batteries. Vacuum can be restored with an electric vacuum pump available through kit suppliers.

Power Steering
Power steering can be used, but for a simple conversion it's not necessary because an extra motor would be needed to drive the power steering pump. If your vehicle has power steering just cap off the hoses. If power steering is necessary there are ways to rig up a motor to drive the pump.

Air Conditioning
Most conversions don't use AC systems because they add space and place a greater load on the batteries. However, you can still retain the AC by adding a 1 horsepower permanent magnet DC motor to drive the compressor.

Choose a car without rust
Even if a car has light surface rust this could be an indication of something worse under the car. EVs require a sound undercarriage to carry the extra weight of the batteries.

Weight
Typically an EV will add 200 to 500 pounds to the weight of the car. Check the weight rating of your car to make sure the weight of your conversion will be within reason.

For the purpose of this conversion we'll be using a 1986 Ford Escort. The car will be used as a commuter vehicle and family car. It will have a 96 volt system using 16 US Battery brand 6-volt batteries. This conversion was done in the early 90's when 96-volts was a popular conversion at the time.

The next step is Budgeting the project

Electric Auto Assoc. Promoting the Use of EVs since 1967

EV List Photo Album
Check out EVs from members of the EV Discussion List

EV Rental
Rent an EV on your next trip to LA

EV World
The premeire EV news site

Electric Vehicle Association of the Americas
Advancing EV technology and infrastructure