Car Profiles

The DIY Electric Car

I was asked recently whether a regular person build their own DIY electric car at an affordable cost using parts that are readily available and easy to find? The answer is yes

Honestly, I don’t know why everyone isn’t building a DIY electric car of their own. I suppose people assume that if it were really so simple, everyone would be doing it. driving for 4 cents per mile instead of $4.00 per mile is a no-brainer. Who wouldn’t do that if given the choice? Everyone would gladly say goodbye to tune ups, oil changes and the gas pump forever if the could. Therefore, many conclude that converting a car to electric power must be difficult, highly complicated and beyond the ability of most people. I only know that it is relatively simple to complete and its a really fun project to do.

So, begin your DIY Electric car project with a vehicle that is appropriate for converting and a good set of instructions.

For the car, use something with enough room to mount your electric motor and batteries inside but that is still relatively light and small. Use a manual transmission vehicle too. Automatics make the project a lot harder to complete. Don’t worry if you can’t or don’t want to drive a stick. Once your conversion is complete you won’t have to shift. It’s pretty amazing how inexpensively you can pick up a used car with engine damage that is in otherwise excellent condition. Just check for issues in the undercarriage, breaks, transmission etc before you buy it.

Do yourself a favor. If you take long trips or do a lot of freeway driving, don’t convert your primary vehicle. Its not a good idea because although a DIY car conversion will travel at speeds approaching 60 MPH and has a range of about 200 miles on a single charge, its just not something you want to be driving across country. One other thing once you do finish your conversion make sure you practice getting used to the responsiveness. These things are amazingly quick off the line and you have to get used to the touch of the controller (the electric vehicle version of the gas pedal).

Step-by-step illustrated plans that walk you through the entire project are very important. Most importantly though, a proper guide book also includes priceless information on places to locate all your parts very very cheap-and in some cases even free. The right instruction guide will save you a ton of money on this project. As an example you can easily spend more than $6000 on a conversion kit before you even purchase a single battery or the vehicle, you can complete the entire car for $500 including batteries by investing $50 up front for a good set of plans. For more information on DIY electric cars and recommendations for a great set of plans, see the related articles at our site.

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