I am sure that if you are like me you at least dreamed about such an animal sitting in your garage. It does however, seem like those “things”, electric powered vehicles, are about the ugliest, smallest, most inconvenient, looking car a guy or gal could be caught in. To say that, all electric cars, are in this category though, would also be an inaccurate statement. Certainly, electric car manufacturers, have a thought on this, and could change the looks of their electric powered vehicles to something that we could all be proud to own. I am sure they will in the next few years.

Then there is the price to consider on these new cars. For most of us, they are priced way out of our range. The $35,000 to $50,000 ones are just to much, especially in these times. There are a few coming down below that now, around $15,000.

If that price is still out of range for you and you still want to join the electric car club, you could consider your very own homemade electric car. You would need some time, you would need some knowledge or expertise, you would need some type of shop with basic tools, but most of all, as with anything worth getting, you would need some desire, and as always, you would need some of the green stuff (money) to go green, however much less than a new electric car. We call these the 5 “you would need some’s” to end up with your home built electric car.

Lets start with “you would need some” time. First you will need to decide which car or pickup you want to convert to electric. By the way, out here in Kansas we call a pickup, a pickup, not a pickup truck. A pickup by my definition is a small less than 1 ton rated vehicle for light hauling purposes. A truck is used for hauling heavy payloads that require more suspension and capacity. I hope that is not confusing for you. Anyway, all electric cars have a certain amount of weight to carry in the batteries and electric motor, and other components. The more batteries equals more distance between charges. That is why small pickups work the best for, electric conversions. If you shop around, you can find a small, used pickup with a “bad” engine and replace the engine with the electric motor. This will definitely save you lots of money.

Have you ever heard this before? “We can have that engine out in 1 hour”. I have heard it, but never said it. Because, it just never seems to work that way. 4 hours later the engine is hanging from the shop hoist dripping oil, antifreeze, and greasy dirt. Yep, it is out though.

Now, you have to find and mount an electric car motor to the drive train of the vehicle. Next, we have to come up with the electric parts, where to get them and how to install them correctly. Also, how to install and wire the batteries into the electric system so that they are working properly. Also, where to locate and buy batteries, new or used. How heavy the wire needs to be from battery to working component and many other parts that need hooked up and mounted in and on your homemade electric car.

For me to say this do it yourself project will take a certain amount of hours, would not be fair. I will say this though. With proper guidance and educating yourself, you and a friend with average mechanical skills working for 2 weekends and doing some phone calling and chasing electric car parts during the week, would most likely be driving up and down the neighborhood streets, in your very own home built electric car, in a couple of weeks.

I am writing about all of this so that you will know the truth, about our friend “how much time” involved to do electric conversions as best as I can tell you, from my own experiences of doing things myself. I want to encourage you to look at the possibility of you doing this for yourself and your family. In the future you may be one of these guys or gals joining the electric car club. Who knows this could even turn into your very own business, if you find that you enjoy doing this type of work. Doing a project, like a homemade electric car or pickup, could be a very rewarding and fulfilling experience for you.

Look for part 2 in this series of 5 articles, titled, you will need some, written to help you decide if building your own homemade electric car would be a benefit to you or your family.

The author of this article has a passion to help people become educated and aware of methods and products that have or do work to improve someones use of energy. Ron feels that alternative energy must be more seriously considered and applied to our everyday lifestyles and living. He feels that education and just to let people know, that there is another way to turn the wheels of society, and get things done.

http://www.allaboutalternatives.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ron_Schepmann

The electric motor picks its power from the car’s batteries. It operates in the same way as the generator except that it provides movement instead of power for the car.

The type of motor you use in electric car will affect the price. The reason is, there are many kinds of motors depending on the preferences of the buyer. There are motors that provide high torque, others that provide high acceleration; others consume a lot of power and others that are just of superiorly long lasting quality. So depending on the choice of the buyer the electric car will be fitted with one kind of motor or the other.

One common electric car motor is the WarP Series DC motors. This type provides greater torque. It is by far the most common motor found in electric cars, especially mid priced ones.

Next comes the Advanced DC Series wound motor. It is mostly in black color and also quite common with mid sized electric cars.

Most of the motors you will find in large electric cars are the Permanent Magnet DC electric motors and they are considered the best quality. They are therefore expensive. The biggest advantage with them is, they are able to provide the motive power for large vehicles.

Phase AC induction motors are common type found in small electric cars. They have smaller motive power but very economical in battery power utilization.

For more information about an automobile conversion, please visit gas2electric.net to learn all about converting your car to electric.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jim_Crow