Low-Cost Electric Conversion

[fairyheli2]

wow! a pickup looks like the perfect vehicle to convert. by the looks of thing he is using a standard manual transmission, good idea!

[ilililhy1]

Everybody is off on the battery thing,forget that path,go more for Generating the Electric while the wheels are turning,less dependence on batterys,more on Generation.

[tayl0r011]

What batteries did you use?

[assignearth]

Thanks for your comment! The technology does have a long way to go, but it is really cool that people are working to develop lower-cost alternatives. Thanks again!

[hipofalcon]

Excellent work! I wish that battery development would be placed ahead of finding more oil. We will always need oil, but a lot less of it if more vehicles were electric. Eventually, my ESCORTEV will have lithium batteries, but for now, they are way too expensive. The lead-acid batteries work, but are too heavy and don't have a long life-cycle. The biggest problem with electric vehicles is the batteries - everything else is easy. Thanks for posting this, and good luck with future projects. Ken.

[caden0316]

25 miles out of 11 battery's that only go 45mph?? plus you have to wait for it to charge. that's not even worth it. there's no a/c, no heat, no amenity's at all and it cost 1000 bucks and that was with used parts. I like the idea, but the technology has a long long way to go.

[enticed2zeitgeist]

Hell yea old school yankee engineering! Early usa used to be number 1 for nifty tech!

[DanFrederiksen]

yeah we need lithium batteries to come down in price.

and more suited electric motor and electronics products

then we are golden.

EV is so simple and elegant if done right

[AZPONG]

How do you keep warm during the winter months? Is there a hazard for emergency personnel involved in the event of a serious accident? Are you absolutely positive the batteries wont fly around inside the vehicle if you have a serious accident?

[thekuy00]

2 Dislikes are oil company worker/owner retards.

[arhivus]

This one probably in trouble already((( Do you think jew oil companies will be happy? Anyway- that is a good invention!))) We should to make this cars)

[titanrain1]

2 people like being slaves to big oil.

[woodfit]

Two points,

Try looking at Lithium Polymer batteries (Lipo) and secondly the USA is responsible for consuming 29% of the worlds production of petrol (gasoline) , in the uk an imperial gallon of "gas" (4.5 litres) is approx £6 ie $10 and if the US had to pay this much for fuel there would be more guys like you to further this idea, good on ya mate

[mexicanbuttholegravy]

@woodfit yeah and people in europe make more money than us so they're not really paying more.

[electra4554]

Amps = Torque and voltage = rpm/speed... so if u want to increase your top speed go with 72 volts or more then you got a freeway capable EV... with a 500 amps controler at least !

BTW: li-ion phosphate battery is the way to go; check out winston battery ;)

[paytontech]

@electra4554 A single 72V controller would work fine for reasonably small/light cars. You'd have to go big or go parallel for anything heavier.

[electra4554]

@paytontech what i was saying is, to get more speed, more voltage is needed 72v at least ....its a good start ;) but 144volts (or more) using tundersky batery could bring this project so much more than you expect !

[paytontech]

@electra4554 Yeah, no disagreement. You have to raise the voltage as you say, or raise the current. The latter isn't efficient or easy unless you use 2 motor/drive sets in parallel. You can get some pretty cheap stuff if you can hang out in the 72/48V range.

[fairyheli2]

@electra4554 but lead acids are cheap! personally i like nickel iron batteries, but you just can't get them. until lithium gets safer and cheaper I will continue to use nickel and lead

[assignearth]

Thanks for your input, @paytontech, and thanks for watching!

[paytontech]

If you want to overcome the speed limitations on low voltage conversions (minimum 48V recommended), just go parallel. 2 packs at system voltage feed in parallel to the bus bar which feeds 2 controller/motor combo's in parallel. You get safety and you get to buy cheap low voltage parts (48V & 72V). By paralleling you also negate the efficiency losses due to the I^2 R rule. 100% win except slight complexity which is still orders of magnitude simpler than ICE.

[liljoke2050]

@paytontech WALK THE WALK DON T TALK THE TALK

NERD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! U FUKIN FAG FAG FA FAG FAG FAG AF FUKIIN SON OF A BITH I HATE U I HATE UUUUU DIE DIE DIE DIE DIEEEEEEEEEEE

[paytontech]

@liljoke2050 Somebody's drew the short straw of maturity.

[paytontech]

@liljoke2050 Jackass, look at my vids. That's walking the talk. You're walking your talk too: utter and immeasurable stupidity.

[liljoke2050]

@paytontech dude common. seriously?...... seriuosly dude? i have torrets except instead of vocally i do it by typing

[assignearth]

I think it's probably because the perception is that only a few of us would be willing to pay $3000 to convert our cars, so they don't think there's a real market for it...hopefully this will catch on and be more available in the future.

[daswada9]

@assignearth Well,you gonna pay this kind of cash anyway for gas,or you can convert your car to work in electricity and after one year you can save 3000$ per year

[jackvincent90]

@assignearth it just needs to be cheeper

[TheGrayman1234]

Why aren't conversion places making simple conversions like this. I would pay $3000 to convert my older car in a heartbeat.

[assignearth]

We'll be looking for more stories like this to cover in the future!

[Aislan4414]

Gas to electric car conversion businesses all over the US would be fantastic. It would create jobs and billions of dollars would be saved because we wouldn't be spending it on oil.

[Jacno77]

awesome

[45has2]

Vise Grips on the floor: Priceless.

[assignearth]

Don't know for certain, but like John Root, the renewable energy consultant, says in the report, doesn't it seem like developing lightweight batteries that would hold a longer charge would be a good investment of R&D money? Trying to get an update on this story-wondering if he did successfully convert his wife's car.

[gfhnk]

Can this be done with (4) Deep Cycle Batteries.... and a longer charge...

[DanFrederiksen]

@gfhnk 12V? and what Ah capacity? you can do some with 48V but it'll probably be a low speed vehicle. although in principle it can be fast with 48V as well. but they would have to be quite big batteries.

[gfhnk]

@DanFrederiksen hmmm, i didnt know it needed 48V of power!thats alot, iwas thinking a constant 14.8 V or so.

[DanFrederiksen]

@gfhnk in pricinple that's still possible. but the battery would need high current capability. a typical car might need a minimum of 20kW to move practically. at 15V that's over 1000A. no standard products available for that type of operation. you probably want to string together at least 6 12V batteries in series for 72V. then you can use a used alltrax controller or such from ebay. it will still be relatively low speed but it will work.

check evalbum. com for typical choices

[gfhnk]

@DanFrederiksen Thank you very much sir! I look forward to getting my own that can do 45MPH or so, Thats plenty for me. I Looked at the US Batteries 12V Deep Cycle, I think Ill try The Kinetic HC 2400 If its cheaper, If not whatever cheaper is best. I'll Be using The same Setup As that Geo Metro MAde by Teh student, And teacher as a project, Witch is An Awesome Idea by the way! wish My College wanted to do that.

[assignearth]

I will ask our producers if we have an update on this story, and let you know! Thanks for your comment!

[ericalb77]

Quite nice!!

how's the conversion business going now?

[85bmw528eguy]

Good job. I wish I had access to supplies for cheap.

[MsSSnow]

Count me in! where do u live ?

[SubaruXT6]

the other thing i dont like is the vehicle will be quiet.

i have all my cars Loud love the sound of an engine grrring down the road.

[Aislan4414]

@SubaruXT6 I watched on Pimp my Ride where they put a little sound box in the car and it could make the car sound like a corvette, ferrari, or muscle car. The car was actually a Yugo. It was really convincing till you actually looked at the car ;]

[beancube2010]

We need more commercially available packages for majority existing cars in this country for average machine shops to achieve this kind of good job well done!

[AClRCLEOFLlGHT]

In truth, converting a car from gas to electricity can cost up to $20,000. No joke. The average gas prices combined with the average weekly mileage comes to around $60-$80 a week. So by converting a car $10,000 - $20,000, and saving $80 a week on gas, raising your electric bill $20 - $30 a month... you'd actually start saving money after about 300 months... yea, thats what I thought!

Reality is a bitch!

[ChasAllan]

@AClRCLEOFLlGHT You don't know what your talking about... Anyone can convert to electric, doing the work themselves for $4-6,000.00. With the motors and controllers they have out you can drive highway speeds with no problem. The average person only drives 18-30 miles aday well within the range of any of these cars. As far as charging goes I charge mine off my solar panels and it raises my electric bill $0 a month. So reality isn't really a bitch!!

[ChasAllan]

@AClRCLEOFLlGHT You don't know what your talking about. Anyone can convert to electric doing the work themselves for $4-6,000. With the motors and controllers they have today you can drive highway speeds with no problem. Thw average person drives 18-30 miles aday. I charge mine with solar panels and it raises my electric bill $0 a month. So reality isn't such a bitch after all...

[AClRCLEOFLlGHT]

@ChasAllan : I love being told I don't know what I'm talking about by people who fill the rest of the conversation with lies to make it look like they know what they're talking about.

The fact you think you can replace all the mechanical and electrical aspects of a vehicle for $4,000 is proof enough that you probably don't even have this electric car that you're telling me about. Solar panel charging? Did that fit into your $4,000 budget? HAHA

[ChasAllan]

@AClRCLEOFLlGHT Take a look at my videos if you want proof of my electric car. As far as the solar panels they are suppling most of the electricity in my home anyway so it is a win, win situation!! No lie's in my statements. The problem with any new technology that you don't look at is the "Greed Factor". By doing the work yourself you save more than half the cost of a conversion....

[resisthexcept]

@AClRCLEOFLlGHT I did youre math. lets say it is $10,000 which I expect it would be if I bought a later model and I sold parts I wont need. I drive 6000 miles a year at 20mpg at $3 a gallon thats $900 a year. Most books I've read say areound 2 cents a mile for electric wich would cost me $120 a year but lets say 20 a month so $240. lets make it $300 just for fun. that saves me $600 a year. But what if I was planning on buying a car and spending $10000 anyway. the story would be done.

[resisthexcept]

@resisthexcept But were going to see how long it would take to reach $0 in the total investment. I figured 16 years and 8 months. But if I bought a gas car and kept it for 16 years and 8 months and I continued to drive 6000 miles a year at $3 a gallon(which we know wont happen) and lets say i got 30mpg. I would be in the hole $10,000. and lets say both cars are worth $1,000 after 16 years and 8 months.

[resisthexcept]

@resisthexcept I will be up 1000 with an electric or down 19000 with the gas. thats not including maintainence which the electric car should be fine with around 100,000 miles but the gas car could be a couple hundred every year not including tires and other obvious stuff that both cars will still require.

[resisthexcept]

@resisthexcept but 12000 miles a year is average. so a quick example. 720 in savings per year at $10000. after 13.8 years it will pay for itself vs 12,000 miles at 30 mpg at $3 a gallon is $1200 for 13.8 years $16560 in the hole and say they would still be $1000 cars because once they get that old its all about the same. up $1000 or down $25560? with165600 miles you will have maintanence on both cars and they will probably equal out with Electric: new batteries or Gas: new engine.

[fizzguts]

@resisthexcept Except the lead acid traction batteries will be slag around 15000miles EV's don't burn gas EV's burn batteries

[TheMarlonsmith]

can you give me a link to his shop so i can get my shit converted lol

[beancube2010]

How about a hauled truck with battery stacking module. The truck can be on one wheel maintaining balance with the heavy car in front or on two wheel with cable connection to share load or to back up main battery on the car. The truck can be designed to have enough for luggage. You can stack more batteries for longer trips. You can also use solar rod on parabolic mirror focusing sunlight to recharge the stacked battery as well on the hauled truck.

[starmanskye]

WoW, GREAT recycled parts/budget project! Outstanding. Shows what some basic ingenuity, practical common-sense and initiative can do. Way to GO!

[heliocarbunclo]

realy nice we need more people like this guy

[NigelLoller]

how many kw is the motor?

[sharon102645]

U got it going on man! Super

[apache4541]

Good news you will get new Nanotech battery A123 systems more powerful than Lithium-ion Powered ! The Nanotech battery quick charged in 5 mins get full , you will get about 450 miles range

[Liv2xplore]

@apache4541 I keep seeing you talk about these, but I don't see anything out there yet. Please back this up with a link or something. I think we'd all like to see these vaporware batteries.

[allawayjared]

I'm going to try to make one of these. Only I am going to use a warp 9 so my top speed should be higher.

[raunet]

5 stars for you .

Patrice , french , in California .

[rainmanp7]

rainmanp7 aka cryogenics

you did a awsome jub = ever thaught of DC step up transformers ?

[cyberhun]

Ok if you live in the flatlands. Try climbing a hill with it and see how far you get.

[qualqui]

Wow, no more gasoline, oil change, antifreeze,etc.BRING ON the electric Car! So what if the top speed is 48mph, transportation to help one's lot in life is the main essential! *****

[atlanteanproductions]

That is just cool!! Congrats Bud. Yvette (MW)