Hi,
Been lurking here for a long time. Posted actively for awhile too, but as yet have not built a car.
Has any regular weekend home mechanic started from scratch and built a highway-capable, street legal, practical EV?
In looking for a donor car, I see nothing I really like except an Ariel Atom (joke. Well, sort of). I want something small because I want to use ACIM and Lithium, and the only way I could hope to afford to build it is if it's small. Figure a 2-seater like an roadster or an Atom but not nearly so grand. Porsche 914-ish.
I have all these friends who build hot rods. Big blocks, nitrous, superchargers and all that. Nearly every one of them takes an old car, tears it completely apart down to the frame, gets the paint off, removes rust, yadda yadda. Then they make frame modifications and put it back together the way they want it. It takes awhile, but it's a hobby for them. I've helped and watched.
I like fast, but not even remotely interested in taking it to the drag strip. I'm thinking fast as in keeps up with traffic, maybe pass the slow guys.
I see people on this forum trying to wedge batteries in any old place they can get them, and beefing up the suspension and all sorts of things, and it seems as though that would be almost as hard as building a chassis from scratch and putting a kit car body on it. Or ALA WrightSpeed X1, forego the body altogether. Maybe a removable shell for winter and/or rain?
So getting back to the point. How much harder would it really be to start from scratch? You could build the frame to hold the batteries, just a huge bed of them under the whole car. Sit up higher, so a fat old fart like me can get out of it without grunting and straining. Take hot rod suspensions for a heavier car than would typically be that size, so you support the car and actually have a payload capacity.
Obviously, hot rod parts can get way out of control for price. But some of it isn't that much more than you would spend on a stock part. I've thumbed through the magazines at my buddies' houses, and done some research on-line. If you're careful about what you use, it's not that bad for the things I would actually get. They make super strong suspension parts that are light weight, they have frame members that are designed to hold a big block and get it down the track without frame twist.
I have a whole garage full of tools. I have a welder, a gantry crane, grinders, mechanic's tools, etc. Don't have body tools yet but that could happen. I have experience with fiberglass and am considering a mill and lathe after I get through a basic course at the community college. I have built things before, but never a car.
Any input?
Thanks.
Been lurking here for a long time. Posted actively for awhile too, but as yet have not built a car.
Has any regular weekend home mechanic started from scratch and built a highway-capable, street legal, practical EV?
In looking for a donor car, I see nothing I really like except an Ariel Atom (joke. Well, sort of). I want something small because I want to use ACIM and Lithium, and the only way I could hope to afford to build it is if it's small. Figure a 2-seater like an roadster or an Atom but not nearly so grand. Porsche 914-ish.
I have all these friends who build hot rods. Big blocks, nitrous, superchargers and all that. Nearly every one of them takes an old car, tears it completely apart down to the frame, gets the paint off, removes rust, yadda yadda. Then they make frame modifications and put it back together the way they want it. It takes awhile, but it's a hobby for them. I've helped and watched.
I like fast, but not even remotely interested in taking it to the drag strip. I'm thinking fast as in keeps up with traffic, maybe pass the slow guys.
I see people on this forum trying to wedge batteries in any old place they can get them, and beefing up the suspension and all sorts of things, and it seems as though that would be almost as hard as building a chassis from scratch and putting a kit car body on it. Or ALA WrightSpeed X1, forego the body altogether. Maybe a removable shell for winter and/or rain?
So getting back to the point. How much harder would it really be to start from scratch? You could build the frame to hold the batteries, just a huge bed of them under the whole car. Sit up higher, so a fat old fart like me can get out of it without grunting and straining. Take hot rod suspensions for a heavier car than would typically be that size, so you support the car and actually have a payload capacity.
Obviously, hot rod parts can get way out of control for price. But some of it isn't that much more than you would spend on a stock part. I've thumbed through the magazines at my buddies' houses, and done some research on-line. If you're careful about what you use, it's not that bad for the things I would actually get. They make super strong suspension parts that are light weight, they have frame members that are designed to hold a big block and get it down the track without frame twist.
I have a whole garage full of tools. I have a welder, a gantry crane, grinders, mechanic's tools, etc. Don't have body tools yet but that could happen. I have experience with fiberglass and am considering a mill and lathe after I get through a basic course at the community college. I have built things before, but never a car.
Any input?
Thanks.