[Bongo]

I've been interested in electric vehicles ever since i got my first (gas) car at 15. I'm 17 now, and even more interested than ever. For the past week i have been trying to figure out a way for me to convert a car myself, mainly for the experience. I used to have my eyes set on the Tango by CommuterCars, but i just cant wait for two years.

I'm studing to become a mechanical engineer (senior year of highschool.), so i am somewhat proficient in my mechanical skills. my shortfall is money. I have no idea where i would even start to get the 8-12 thousand i would need to build a system that would meet my needs.

I hope to be a regular contributor to the board, and meet some pretty awesome people.

[pandaran]

You should be able to get away with less than that as long as you don't mind keeping your gas car on hand for longer trips. I was hoping to replace mine entirely at first, but I think it'll probably be a few more years before prices on the fancier (lithium and stuff) batteries come down enough for my cheap self.

[KiwiEV]

Gidday Bongo! Welcome aboard mate!

Depending on how fast & far you want to go, you could easily get yourself an EV converted for under $6000 US. Even less if you can get your hands on second hand bits & pieces. Being in the USA/Canada helps too with cutting down on freighting goods. You'll have no worries getting that EV grin with that budget!

[Greenflight]

Hey Bongo, I'm 16 and I'm on my second conversion. Check out my blog- URL is in my sig. It's definitely something a teenager can do! I paid for my first conversion by lifeguarding part-time for over a year. My second car is being financed by a summer job. Just do it a little bit at a time- it WILL be a long-term project.

A reasonable expectation for price is about $6000 depending on what kind of bells and whistles you include.

A couple books you should look into are "Convert It" by Michael Brown and "Build Your Own Electric Vehicle" by Bob Brant. These should give you a pretty good knowledge base to start with.

Good luck!

[Bongo]

Originally Posted by Greenflight

Hey Bongo, I'm 16 and I'm on my second conversion. Check out my blog- URL is in my sig. It's definitely something a teenager can do! I paid for my first conversion by lifeguarding part-time for over a year. My second car is being financed by a summer job. Just do it a little bit at a time- it WILL be a long-term project.

A reasonable expectation for price is about $6000 depending on what kind of bells and whistles you include.

A couple books you should look into are "Convert It" by Michael Brown and "Build Your Own Electric Vehicle" by Bob Brant. These should give you a pretty good knowledge base to start with.

Good luck!

Now that is inspiration. How long did your first car take to get parts and putting it together?

[Mr. Sharkey]

Welcome to the forum. Don't overlook the possibility of your first EV being purchased already converted. You'll want to be careful to not buy someone else's headache, but used EV's don't have much of a market, and sometimes you can find one at a good price that the owner has gotten tired of, or is not capable of repairing themselves.

I purchased my (factory converted) EV for $1,900. It had a brand-new $600 K&N charger, and ran and drove alright. I put some time into fixing small niggling things that it needed and drove it two years before it even needed new batteries. Then I took tax credits and deductions in excess of the purchase price!!! (Yes, this was an exceptional find!).

Once I got into the car, I spent much time and some additional $$$ to pimp it out, add race-prep suspension, add to the instrumentation, put in a thumpin' stereo, etc.

Can't promise you'll find such a god deal, but a halfway decent used conversion could launch you into EVism quickly, and provide you with parts and experience without a huge cash outlay. After you get the hang of it and have more disposable cash, then you can start on your second conversion from scratch, incorporating the things you've learned from the first vehicle.

Stick around, the best is yet to come.

[Greenflight]

Originally Posted by Bongo

Now that is inspiration. How long did your first car take to get parts and putting it together?

My first car took about 9 months. I started it when I was 15, and I finished it a few months after I turned 16. It was a really awesome project. It is something you have to be committed to- you have to do a lot of planning and research, and it is a lot of work. It's well worth it though. There's nothing like driving around in an EV!