[GRLUG] OFF TOPIC Electric Car

[Collin Kidder]

First get together $15,000. That's partially a joke... But you really 
probably should count on at least $5,000. It really depends on what 
you'd like to do and how comfortable you'd be with building your own 
circuits, frames, supports, etc. The more experience you have with 
mechanical and electrical construction the less you'd need to buy and 
the cheaper it could be.

I suppose that, if you had a good idea of what you were doing, you could 
at least create a hybrid style drive for a couple thousand. It'll still 
be upwards of 15k if you want a fully electric car.

The problem is that a fully electric car should have at the very least a 
100HP motor. That alone could set you back $4,500. Add on top of that 
batteries. Even if you use car batteries you could be looking at $50 - 
$100 a battery. If you get 15 of them at an average $75/pc it's $1125. 
Then you need motor control hardware. It can add up really quick.

Now, a hybrid could get by with something less. A high RPM 40HP motor 
could work. This would run $1,500 or so. You'll still need a bunch of 
batteries but maybe not as many. So let's say $700 for batteries. You're 
still, then, looking at $2,200 just for those two things.

You can of course go cheaper by buying used. Right now presses are being 
scrapped for their dead weight price. You could buy a press for maybe 
$400  - $1000, take the motor, and scrap the rest to make most of your 
money back.

Matt Hofmann wrote:
> I'm interested in converting a car. Where do we start?
>
> On Wed, Nov 19, 2008 at 10:56 AM, Casey DuBois <casey at grlug.org> wrote:
>   
>> I have dreamed of taking a car with a blown engine and building an
>> electric car for a couple years.
>> While talking with MM it seems that others share my dream.
>> Who else in the GRLUG has interest or expertise to add?
>> Does anyone know of any local groups that may be into electric cars?
>>
>> Casey DuBois
>> 616-808-6942
>> casey at grlug.org
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