Why would anyone want to convert their gasoline driven car to run on electricity? There are many reasons but the main one would be to save cost. Back in 2008, gasoline prices were at a historical high and many car owners were having trouble trying to keep up. Many simply could not afford and had to abandon their vehicle at home and use the public transportation. A cheaper option to commute is with an electric vehicle (EV). Unfortunately, without economy of scale, a new EV is still expensive. The next best option is to retrofit our conventional car to run on electricity.
Technical wise, a DIY electric car is quite simple. All we have to do is replace the internal combustion engine with a DC electric motor. To generate power, the motor is connected directly to the transmission unit. When gasoline is not used, “wet” components such as radiator, fuel pump, fuel lines etc are redundant therefore to be removed as well. To power the motor, we will use deep cycle batteries. A normal EV would require up to 15 units of batteries connected in series.
How far can an electric car go? On a full charge, the homemade EV can travel up to 150 miles before you have to recharge. The actual mileage is depend on the net weight of the car, battery charging state, driving condition and also power rating of the motor. To extend the mileage, you can either use a lighter donor car or fit in more batteries.
A home DIY electric car conversion can be challenging if you are not familiar with the inner workings of an automobile. To save time, you can assign a professional mechanic to do the retrofitting for you. This will incur some capital investment but it will be money well spent.
