In these times of concern for the Earth's overall health people are seeking a variety of methods to help reduce, or even eliminate, dependence on fossil fuels and as a result decrease the amount of pollution released into the atmosphere.
One rather unique method of helping to reduce the poisonous emissions is to convert their gasoline powered engines, which generate a great deal of carbon monoxide into the atmosphere, into electric engines which release almost no toxins whatsoever into the air we breathe. These electric car conversions generally cost between $5,000 and $10,000 depending on the car and the quality of the parts used in the conversion process. There is a wide array of electric car conversion kits available on the market with even more in production and in the initial planning stages, which may result in significant decreased in this cost while maintaining a reasonable level of quality and reliability. Virtually all electric car conversion kits have two elements in common regardless of their cost: a DC controller and a DC motor. Surprisingly, most of the controllers and motors used in these electric car conversions come from the forklift industry. Another common factor is that most conversion kits rely on manual transmission engines rather than standard engines.
Another choice that must be made when deciding to convert a gas powered engine to an electric motor is what the level of voltage output should be. Most electric cars operate between 96 and 192 volts. The voltage output determines how many batteries will be required and also what type of motor will be necessary. At the moment there are essentially three types of batteries available for electric car conversions: golf cart batteries, high-performance sealed batteries, and marine deep-cycle lead-acid batteries. One major advantage of the latter type of battery is that they are very cost effective and can be purchased nearly anywhere including most Walmarts. The electrolyte for these batteries is usually either gelled, absorbed glass mat (AGM), or flooded. The flooded electrolyte battery is the cheapest on the market; however it also has a tendency to leak power.
There are about 17 steps in the conversion process, all of which can be performed by someone with a reasonable degree of engine knowledge and are frequently carried out in backyards around the country. The starting point is, obviously, removing the gas system, engine, exhaust system, clutch, and sometimes the radiator. The biggest issue in completing an electric car conversion is often the wiring as this is the biggest and most complicated task of the procedure. However, once the conversion is accomplished, there are no external differences between a gas powered engine driven car and an electric car conversion except for re-fueling and engine noise. While gas powered engines contribute to both emission and noise pollution, electric cars do not. Just imagine a time could be coming when you return home from work and plug your newly converted electric car into your solar or wind generated electric system and don't have to worry about paying high gas prices or paying for electricity power because you are completely self-sufficient in this regard!
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