ChargeCar 2005 Honda Civic Conversion

This is the first test drive of ChargeCar's 2005 Honda Civic which we converted to be a fully electric car.

ChargeCar is a project within the CREATE Lab at Carnegie Mellon University. Our goal with the Honda Civic is to develop a recipe (kit of parts and procedure) that can be used by mechanics to complete a gas-to-electric conversion. We hope to make the effective electric car accessible to everyone, using quality parts and a used vehicle chassis.

As you can see, our conversion is quite functional! We are working to develop even more efficient technology and to lower the cost of converting.

Please visit us at http://www.chargecar.org/ and read our blog at http://www.chargecar.org/blog/main for updates!

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• CMU
• Carnegie Mellon University
• ChargeCar
• CREATE LAB
• EV
• electric
• vehicle
• car
• honda
• civic
• conversion

[ciaheadmechanic0809]

@OrganicTexas The car does have regenerative braking. The heater will really drain the batteries quickly, but it is included - use sparingly.

A Prius makes a fine PHEV, but the upfront costs can be high. Another group researching electric cars at CMU has a plug-in Prius and it apparently is a great vehicle. There are kits available.

Our mission with ChargeCar is to create an affordable conversion kit that can be applied by local garages to an inexpensive used car frame.

[OrganicTexas]

@ciaheadmechanic0809 Oh cool. I definitely drive less than 50 miles a day- I live less than 5 miles from work. Does this setup use regen braking? Does it have Air Conditioning? If I could ever swing it, I'd like to buy a used Prius and make it a complete PHEV for communicating. The idea of no oil changes, no dirty idling in traffic and no more gas stations is extremely appealing!

[ciaheadmechanic0809]

@OrganicTexas Apart from the used Civic frame, total cost of the components added =~$15K. Component cost will go down ~$2K and installation ~=$2.5K. We are lobbying to get $7.5K in government money for new electric cars applied to conversions. So, total cost of the conversion = ~$12K? Compare to a new car.

The car can go 50 miles between charging which takes 4-6 hours.

This is designed for urban commuting, really think about how far you drive between 120V outlets. Probably <50 miles daily.

[ciaheadmechanic0809]

@jak31379 The cars that can be easily converted generally have lighter frames and reasonable space for batteries. We are working with Baum Blvd. Automotive very closely, so they will hopefully be able to offer the kit we are designing within a year from now. 80 mph is attainable with our setup, but 150 mpc is will be extremely expensive. Our conversion can do 50 at full-depth of discharge, the 12V systems still work, we basically have a DC-DC adapter charging the small lead-acid constantly.

[OrganicTexas]

That's it?! Need more... How much? How far? How long to charge?

[jak31379]

I live in Bellevue PA a Borough sung between Pittsburgh and Ross TWP and was wondering what would be the best car for electric conversion and also what shops would convert it to electric. I would like to be able to get 80 mph with at least 150 mpc (miles per charge) i would like to know if this is possible with a car with power windows, ac/heater, am/fm/satulite/cd, all on an Automatic.