[henson2491]

I am working on a project invoilving a fully electric two-seat car that can be built in a well-equipped home garage. Actually my approach is to farm out a lot of the structural work (tube bending, welding, suspension, etc.) but I have most all of the requirements and resources in place. I am shopping for grants or angels... It is an exciting idea!!!

Anyone else thinking along these lines? This approach has some advantages (and disadvantages) when compared to production vehicles or conversions. A big advantage: lightweight composite construction. Another advantage: bypass all the DOT add-ons to keep things simple!

 

[gottdi]

We all think on these lines but practical issues usually get in the way. We are also not the best ones to ask about grants or angles. Never seen the later around here. Never seen the former either. Vague talk about building is not going to get you very far either. We listen when things actually start coming together. We are DIY and not factory. Most here that actually sell stuff usually don't sell enough to sponsor or grant someone. We are happy to help and give advise. Be wary because everyone here has advise and not all is real good. We love to speculate too. It usually gets us no where fast and hackles up in a hurry. So with that many here have built very successful electric conversions and will be more than glad to help.

Pete

Welcome


http://greenev.zapto.org/electricvw

 

[DawidvC]

Have a look at what toddshotrod and woodsmith is doing - there is a lot to learn for anyone willing to read through their build threads.

http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php/inhaler-electric-race-rod-project-31592.html

http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php/want-build-trike-47221.html

 

[henson2491]

Comments are appreciated. I am not thinking factory, I am thinking DIY folks using my prototype as a guide. A factory approach has too many complex issues and way too much financing is needed! Building one car at a time might not be as big a deal as Nissan or GM, but it is progress. There is a lot of this type of activity in the aviation field. There are many thousands of homebuilt aircraft flying every day, and most of them reflect the creativity and ideas of their builders.

The T-bucket body on a "hot-rod" style chassis sounds interesting and is one approach I considered. My thinking was an electric Cobra. Available space for the battery array would be an issue there. I went with the composite structure because I like the concept. It is essentially a steel tube (sand-rail) structure with urethane foam fillers and an epoxy/fiberglass skin. The open structure allows for flexibility in locating the batteries. Weight distribution is another challenge!

 

[gottdi]

Well how about this:

http://www.ohler.com/ev/spyder/
http://www.ohler.com/ev/spyder/history.html

 

[gottdi]

Like I said in the beginning we are DIY and we SHARE our information with each other to further the cause and to allow others to NOT make the same mistakes and so they can build a nice electric conversion for themselves. What do you have to SHARE?

Pete

 

[henson2491]

The spyder was interesting and paralled my original thoughts but it has some of the issues I discussed. I found that the batteries available with today's technology would probably need to be close to 50% of the total vehicle weight. The spyder was at 45%, and the total weight of 2600 pounds is one of the drawbacks to a conversion. With a 37KW AC motor pushing that many pounds you need a multispeed transmission. That adds more weight and more complexity.

I am trying to find out if anyone has built a car with a total weight of around 1600 pounds with a 12/1 ratio reduction gearbox in front of a 37KW AC motor. With 26 inch diameter tires it should top out for short bursts at 75 - 80 MPH, but I am wondering if it would still have adequate acceleration from a stand-still.