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budget ?

971 views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  desiv 
#1 ·
hi everyone.this is a great site.my name is jason and live in san diego cali.im just getting into thinking about converting a car.i got interested in the ev due to WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR.i saw it like a year or so ago and was amazed.i pulled it back out and thought how can i do it.well i found this forum and havent been sleeping much since then(i dont sleep that much anyways).some of you might shake your head at me cause i also have a 1951 chevy car w/ a v8 in it.im into olc custom cars,but i want something to take my kid and wife in to school,work and do little odd short drives.ive done a lot of the work on my 51 chevy.i have a chance to get a donor pretty cheap.i would like to keep my budget under $5000.i would like to get 40-50 miles if possible and at least do 65mph so if i want to take my son to the zoo or beach.are there any kits that might help.or am i gonna have to fork up more money.thanks for any input.

jason
 
#2 ·
I'd check around www.evalbum.com as well. There's a lot of real world info on range.

I'm still building mine but from what I can tell, that's tight.
If you're not counting the cost of the donor car, you're talking parts and batteries.
If you were talking 25-35 mile range, I'd say it's possible depending on the donor car, small car. You could probably do that with a $1000 or so pack of batteries, leaving $4000 for the conversion. Again, no experience. I've been looking at the kits and the statements from people on evalbum for similar cars, in my case, a VW Beetle.
I'm shooting for something similar, but with a 25 or so mile range and 25-35MPH average speed, 40+ max is all I need.
You can do better in range with more batteries, but that brings up your cost. Also, the cars that are a better choice for more batteries are generally heavier and require a few more batteries for that.

I would think the range is probably doable, especially if you (or a friend) can machine your own parts and piece it together.
The 65MPH is doable, but not combined with the 40-50, or even 30 probably at that price. At a low end price, you'll probably get some range and some speed, but not both for any amount of time.

Also, it can depend on your neighborhood. Hills can dramatically affect range.

Might want to take your son to the zoo in the Chevy. :)

Again, take this all with a few pounds of salt, as I haven't finished my conversion yet.

Good luck,

desiv
 
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