.
Parting thoughts…

Naysayers are quick to scoff at medium-speed electric vehicles as “useless”, arguing that they’re too slow and don’t go far enough on a charge (OK, they say that part about almost all EV’s).  What these people fail to understand is that their vehicle needs are not the same as everyone else’s vehicle needs.

Tens of thousands of people in North America and elsewhere have already bought and are using low- and medium-speed electric vehicles for local driving, from actual golf carts, to NEV’s (neighbourhood electric vehicles), to faster cars such as the classic Citicar/Commutacar, to the newer Zap Xebra.

And now they’re building their own, on the cheap!

Feel motivated?  Well then, here’s what we learned about budget EVs from the 3 amigos, both in general and specifically:

In general…

Be realistic

Understand that you probably can’t build a highway capable EV with a 40+ mile range on the cheap.  (But if you’ve done it, drop us a line!)  Each of these cars tops out around 45 mph, and a more realistic “working” top speed is probably low to mid 30′s.  Steep hills are to be avoided.

No experience required

- two of the builders had zero experience with electric vehicles
- one had little experience working on cars in general
- all you need to know you can learn on the Web

Reuse & recycle

Read the build threads for these vehicles and you’ll discover lots of creative low-cost recycling ideas.  “Repurposed” parts in the ForkenSwift, for example, include bits from a dead inkjet printer, old tricycle, dead 12v cooler, old bed frame, used welding cable and more.

Patience is a virtue

The challenge of buying used parts and scouring eBay for killer deals is that it will probably take some time to find the things you’ll need.  If you’re an impulsive type prone to temper tantrums when you can’t get something you want RIGHT NOW, a budget EV project is probably not for you.

Let no parts go to waste

Just because you’ve decided the internal combustion engine is useless for your purposes, doesn’t mean it’s actually worthless.  In the case of both Metro projects, slightly more money was recovered by selling good parts (fuel tanks, radiators, working engines) than the cars originally cost!  As well, hundreds of dollars were recovered by selling the forklift chassis after stripping the electric parts.

More specifically …

Go light

By definition, a medium speed budget EV is not going to need to carry a lot of batteries or generate a lot of power.  Which means you should try to find a lightweight host car to keep the overall power to weight ratio manageable.

Forklifts and golf carts and used parts, oh my

The biggest fleets of EV’s in the world are found in warehouses and on golf courses.  The companies that sell/service/repair these vehicles are potentially a good source of affordable used parts, particularly if you take an entire old unit off their hands.

The 72 volt threshold

The lower your system voltage, the lower your component and battery costs.  That said, a 48 volt 400 amp subcompact car is just barely workable in what most people would consider normal driving, and only on flat roads.  A 72 volt setup is more realistic, and as it turns out, motor controllers that can handle 72 volts seem to be just below a threshold where the price goes up significantly.

A 48-72 volt battery pack (assuming lead-acid) also keeps you closer to the weight limit that a smaller host vehicle can carry without exceeding its gross vehicle weight limit (affecting suspension & braking ability).

Used batteries

Second hand batteries can be a viable option, which is good because along with the motor and motor controller, the battery pack is one of the 3 costliest parts of an electric conversion.  Depending on your range needs, it is possible to find used ones that may meet your minimum range goals.  Two of the three cheap EV’s featured in this series are running on batteries from other EV’s owners which were either upgraded, or replaced once they no longer met their minimum range needs.

Connect with experts & people with experience

Electric Vehicle Discussion List – evdl.org
EValbum – evalbum.com
EcoModder Fossil Fuel Free forum – ecomodder.com/forum/fossil-fuel-free.html
DIY Electric Car forum – diyelectriccar.com

Well – what are you waiting for?

]]> http://ecomodder.com/blog/dirt-cheap-diy-electric-cars-part-5/feed/ 3 http://ecomodder.com/blog/dirt-cheap-diy-electric-cars-part-4/ http://ecomodder.com/blog/dirt-cheap-diy-electric-cars-part-4/#comments Wed, 10 Dec 2008 17:39:34 +0000 Benjamin Jones http://ecomodder.com/blog/?p=747

Electric cars don’t have to be prohibitively expensive.  In fact, they can be surprisingly affordable for a resourceful tinkerer.  In Part 4 of this 5 part series, Paul Holmes answers ten questions posed to him about his $2200, 1971 Volkswagen Beetle electric conversion, and the lessons learned from the experience.

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1) How much did it cost?

The total cost was $2200. The batteries were $1500, and everything else was about $700. I could have gotten a good deal on some used Deep Cycle batteries, but my wife applied for a Sears Card, so we got six Platinum Die Hard Deep Cycle AGM batteries.

2) How far can it go on a charge?

I estimate that it will go 20 miles at 25 mph (totally dead battery pack). The maximum I have driven it was about 12 miles in a day, and it still had plenty left.

3) How fast can it go?

The top speed is about 50 mph. The fastest I’ve gone is 45 mph. The front of the car shakes if I go over 35 mph (the Super Beetle Shimmies – still working out some bugs). I typically cruise at 30 mph. No one gets angry at me, and it keeps the current draw from the battery pack down to about 70 amps.

4) Why did you do this?

My wife and I rented the movie “Who Killed the Electric Car” a while back. Around the same time, I watched “An Inconvenient Truth”. I converted my bike to electric and began using it as my commuting vehicle to various substitute teaching jobs. As I would sit in traffic behind cars, it would make me choke sometimes. I started to see all those cars as stink bomb factories. They were everywhere, everyday. I noticed that it smelled really nice for about an hour after it would rain, and then the stink would slowly take over once again. I imagined what it would be like if all the cars were electric. Sitting at lights in total silence. No stink being emitted. It could smell beautiful and fresh every day, assuming we could generate the electricity in a clean way. Well, I wanted to be the change that I wanted to see in the world. I decided to attempt a cheap conversion, even though I had no idea how.

5) Where did you get the idea/motivation?

I knew a cheap conversion could be done after reading Dr. Larry Tillman’s conversion blog (part one, part 2, EV Album). Then I saw some videos of the ForkenSwift. $680? Heck! I could afford that! Also, after riding an electric bike around for a while, I just had to drive in an electric car. Also, gas was $4.00/gallon.

6) What do you typically use the car for?

I use it to drive to school every day, each time I get groceries, every time I go somewhere that is not freeway driving.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96Wlm4CXnWs

7) What’s the coolest response you’ve had to the car?

I incorporated it into a math lesson for algebra students. We went outside to the parking lot and when I turned the car on, they thought it was very funny that it made no sound other than a click of the contactor. Only when I started to back up did they really believe me that it was on. They started taking out their cell phones and snapping pictures. When I pulled back into the parking spot, the crowd of students parted and then enclosed the car in a circle once I was back where I started. Everyone was offering congratulations and asking how they could do it too.

8 ) What is something unexpected you learned/discovered from your project.

I didn’t really think it would work once it was done. Except for a few minor things, everything worked exactly as I hoped it would. It was EASIER than I thought it would be.

9) What was the hardest part of the project?

The hardest part was connecting the motor to the transmission. Specifically, making the spacers for the adapter plates was very difficult. They had to be exactly the same length, and they needed a hole drilled down their center, which was hard.

10) Any advice for anyone else considering doing something like this?

You don’t need to know anything about cars to convert a car to electric! I knew NOTHING about cars!!! I’m not demonstrating false humility here – I knew NOTHING!!! If you keep it simple, it can be a fairly straightforward and cheap process. Also, get a professional to mate the motor and transmission. It will be like $500, but it’s really, really annoying making those spacers! Pay the dang money.

Thanks, Paul!

Links to more info about Paul’s car:

• Read the project’s build thread in the EcoModder forum
• Vehicle specs at DIYelectriccar
• More vids on YouTube showing this electric car

Next in this series:

> Part 5 – Parting thoughts

Electric cars don’t have to be prohibitively expensive.  In fact, they can be surprisingly affordable for a resourceful tinkerer.  In Part 3 of this 5 part series, Darin Cosgrove answers ten questions posed to him about his $955, 1992 Geo Metro electric conversion, and the lessons learned from the experience.

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1) Tell us about the build cost.

First, can I just say that even though I’m usually the “mouth” of Project ForkenSwift, it was actually a two person build: my friend Ivan and I split the cost and the work.

The cost:  Well, we had it on the road for under $700 Canadian pesos.  But since then we’ve upgraded the motor controller (more power!), and bought a “new” set of used batteries (better performance, more range), and a few other bits and pieces.  So now we’re at $955.

The TOTAL cash outlay was closer to $2100, but we got a lot of that back by selling a bunch of stuff:  $400 for left over car parts that were in good shape – engine, radiator and gas tank; we got $364 in scrap metal prices for the stripped forklift, and sold the main drive motor to another EV builder.

We also had a couple of generous donations or deeply discounted prices on used parts from other EV enthusiasts.

See the car’s full cost breakdown here: Project ForkenSwift EV conversion costs.

2) How far can it go on a charge?

With the latest pack of “new to us” batteries, the farthest I’ve gone on a single charge was 44 km (27 miles).  But that was under ideal conditions: warm weather, fresh off the charger, good traffic conditions.

If you draw things out over the course of a few days or a week with multiple short trips, with more stop & go, I’d say 25-30 km (17 miles) is more typical before it starts to get tired.

In the winter, take maybe 40% off that distance, mostly because the battery pack isn’t insulated and lead acid batteries hate being cold.

3) How fast does it go?

It’ll hit 50 km/h (30 mph) in normal driving just fine, but it doesn’t get there particularly quickly.  On a fresh charge it takes about 21 seconds to hit that speed.  My 7 year old nephew could out sprint the car in a drag race for a good 5 car lengths!  So we stay on the side roads.

75 km/h (47 mph) is the absolute fastest I’ve had going.  It could actually go faster than that, but at that speed it’s accelerating so slowly that I’d need something like the Bonneville salt flats to get the distance required to max it out!

More performance information: How fast?  How far?  How much?

4) Why did you build it?

Because Ivan built a new garage/workshop, and he put a beer fridge in it, so we needed a project! Both of us had seen some electric conversions on the web and basically thought they were cool and unique.  We’re both basically gearheads – we’ve worked on cars a fair amount, but neither of us knew the first thing about EV’s.  So we started reading, crunched some numbers and agreed to go for it, figuring it probably wouldn’t cost much more than about $2k.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBQWXyxSTyU

5) Where did you get the idea/motivation?

Specifically from two other EVs: I read about a Yugo converted to electric for $800, good for 35 mph and 13 miles range.  That guy is a resourceful builder!  He even made his own charger. He’s since blown up the first motor and put a bit more money into it, but it’s still impressive.

The other car that proved a low-tech, medium speed EV can be practical for some drivers is the classic Citicar / Comutacar.  They sold over 1000 of them in the 70′s and 80′s.  Funky electric doorstops.

6) What do you typically use the car for?

I use it mostly when the weather is crummy and I don’t feel like riding my bicycle.  I call it “the electric umbrella”.  I’ll use it in nice weather too if I’m feeling particularly lazy.  And sometimes it gets used to haul larger stuff that I can’t carry on my bike.

Since finishing the EV, my gas car pretty much sits for weeks at a time between trips.  It’s become a highway-only vehicle – I hardly ever use it for local driving any more.

7) What’s the coolest response you’ve had to your car?

The mailman LOVES the car.  He watched me tinkering on it in the driveway quite a bit and saw the project progress from beginning to end, and always stopped to talk to me about how it was coming along.

Ivan’s house is on a different mail route, and even HIS mailman had the same response.  The guy even brought his kids over one day after work so they could see it.

We’ve had more than a couple of people contact us online, out of the blue, and ask if they can come see the car – including CBC national news.

Canadians (only) can watch this CBC News item

8 ) Tell us something unexpected you learned/discovered from your project.

Two things: First, I had no idea it would be so much fun to drive.  Who knew going this slow could be such a blast?  I love how quiet it is – and there’s something almost sneaky about driving somewhere not burning any gas.  Google “EV Grin” and you’ll find out what I’m talking about.

Second, I was totally blown away by how generous people were when they found out about the project.  When they saw we were seriously doing this, they wanted to help!  The “EV community” – online and in real life – is pretty amazing in its willingness to offer professional level advice, answer questions, loan tools, donate parts… you name it.

Even the guys at the local lift truck shop where we bought the forklift were great.  When I brought over the car to show them – all cleaned up for an EV car show – the manager was so blown away, he made us a standing offer to sell batteries at cost if we ever decide to go for a brand new pack.  (Probably won’t!)

9) What was the hardest part?

Technically, the hardest part was deciding how to mate our oddball motor to the transmission, and lining it up perfectly.  (The motor has an internally splined female shaft – normally you’d use a male shaft for this kind of thing.)  So we had a machinist fabricate a custom coupler and drill all the holes in the various parts so they lined up 100%.  Then he gave us a discount because he liked what we were doing.

10) Any advice for anyone else considering doing something like this?

General advice: It’s not hard to build an affordable medium speed EV.  As long as you understand what you’re going to end up with and have realistic expectations – obviously this kind of vehicle doesn’t work for everyone.  As your “minimum goals” for performance (speed/acceleration) and range go up, it gets harder and harder to find inexpensive or used parts that will do the job.

Specific advice: start by surfing the EV Album to see what other people have built to get an idea of what you want to do.  That’s an incredibe resource.  If you get stuck on specifics, the EV Discussion List (EVDL) is the grand-daddy of electric car discussion groups where you can talk to real experts and get help.  Also check out the plucky upstart: DIY Electric Car forum.  And of course, if there’s an actual EV group in your area, go check it out.

Thanks, Darin!

Links to more info about Project ForkenSwift:

• Web site: Project ForkenSwift: electric car conversion on a beer budget
• Follow the project’s extensive build thread in the EcoModder forum
• EV Album entry: Darin’s 1992 Geo Metro ForkenSwift
• More YouTube videos showing this electric car

Next in this series:

> Paul Holmes’ $2200, 1971 VW Beetle

Electric cars don’t have to be prohibitively expensive.  In fact, they can be surprisingly affordable for a resourceful tinkerer.  In Part 2 of this 5 part series, Ben Nelson answers ten questions posed to him about his $1200, 1995 Geo Metro electric conversion, and the lessons he learned from the experience.

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1) Tell us about the build cost

I put about $1200 into the project all together, and that includes buying the car in the first place. I spent $500 to get the car, but then got back $550 in parts that I sold off of it. That means I got the “glider” for free.

Other parts were mostly purchased used. Some were salvaged, and a few were donated. I bought my motor for $50 out of a guy’s garage.

I paid almost $400 for a bunch of work by a local machinist. It was all worth it, as I had NO experience or the right tools for that. But if I had been able to do that work myself, the whole project would have only been around 800 bucks.

Considering that many EV conversion kits start at around $6000, I think I did pretty well. I saw a guy a few weeks back doing a very nice high-end truck conversion. His battery CHARGER cost more than my ENTIRE PROJECT!

The battery pack could be the most expensive part of a
cheap EV. Two of the three EV’s in this series (including
this one) are running on used batteries.

2) How far can it go on a charge?

The farthest I have gone is 20 miles. My batteries are slightly used, but purchased at “core-charge” cost. I only have 6, 12V, 100AH batteries, so it’s a pretty small pack in electric car terms. But considering most my trips are only about 10 miles, it’s more than enough.

3) How fast does it go?

Fast enough to get a speeding ticket! The car can get up to 45 mph. Typical driving is around 35 mph. Acceleration is good from 0-30 and pretty slow from 35-45.

4) Why did you build it?

I wanted to have a vehicle that was cheap to run. I also just wanted something much more efficient on short trips. Short trips are the absolute worst for internal combustion engine efficiency.

The more I learn about oil production, and its true cost, the less I want to use any of it, period. My car runs on renewable electricity, not power made from coal or oil.

5) Where did you get the idea/motivation?

I don’t think I ever would have even attempted something like this without at least a little electric vehicle experience under my belt. Last year, I converted a motorcycle to electric. That gave me the confidence to try an automobile.

Each of the cheap EV’s in the trio is driven by a used
forklift motor.  Ben disassembled and cleaned his,
having never worked on an electric motor before.

6) What do you typically use the car for?

The car gets used a lot for all those little errands that always add up: quick trips to the grocery store, to get take-out food, to go to the post office. We also used the car a few times for pickup up and dropping off my wife at her carpool. Take-out pizza seems to be a theme in how I used electric vehicles.  I also used it for hauling wood for my annual bonfire in October.

7) What’s the coolest response you’ve had to your car?

I did get a good one a while back: I showed it to the husband of my wife’s co-worker. After a brief tour, he said “A knucklehead like you can build something like this? Why can’t Detroit?” I just had to ask him right back, “I don’t know, why can’t they?”

On another occasion, I was riding back from some out of town work with a guy, and was getting dropped off at a parking lot, where I had driven the Electro-Metro to meet him in the morning. I had made it there first, so he hadn’t seen the car drive yet. During the day, we chit-chatted about what I had done converting a car to electric. When we finally made it back to my car, I told him I would show him the car in action. I was planning on just driving a loop or two around the parking lot. The instant I had the car in reverse, and started backing out of the parking space, he burst out in uncontrollable laughter! I really don’t think he was expecting how quiet it was, the fact that it could move without an engine, or that I had built the thing!

Another time, my high-school-school aged younger brother and his three friends showed up un-announced at my house. They came to see the “cool electric car”. I was excited to know they thought of my Metro that way. Unfortunately, they were there to see my 1977 Citicar! None the less, since the Metro is a four-seater, I was able to take all three of the friends for a ride around the neighborhood. Try fitting 4 people in a Citicar!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntwje4ZiFsg

8 ) Tell us something unexpected you learned/discovered from your project.

I guess a big thing is that I didn’t realize how many new people I would meet, and become friends with. I had no idea how many people were quietly working on similar projects in their backyards and garages. A group of us have an informal club going now, working on each other’s electric vehicle projects. We have even talked about building a group project, maybe auctioning it off for charity. There’s lots of amazing people out there, doing incredible work, and it’s not the sort of thing you hear about on the nightly news.

9) What was the hardest part?

The hardest part of this project was forging ahead at times where it seemed like I hit a dead-end. A part didn’t work. I didn’t know how to do something. I didn’t have the right tool.

There have been too many things in my life I haven’t completed. I wasn’t going to let this be one of them. I seriously did pull the engine out with LITERALLY a clothes line. I negotiated an unbeatable deal on a second transmission at the junk yard when I found the original wasn’t going to be usable. I tore down and rebuilt a forklift motor, even though I had never done anything like that before.

When we learn new things and work on projects like this, we really aren’t building machines, we are building ourselves. When we get together with friends, we forge bonds of friendship as much as we weld steel.

10) Any advice for anyone else considering doing something like this?

You are crazy! But that’s ok. Just decide to do it. Make the choice, then throw your heart into it. Make new friends. Go to the library. Learn all you can. Get support. Find other people who are interested in it. Join the Electric Auto Association. Brag about it. Revel in success and learn from setbacks. Take pride in something you can do yourself, even if it’s rusty, even if it only goes 25 mph.

99% of all the advice I get on my project comes from people who have never done anything similar to it. The other 1% – they’re my new friends – comrades in greasy hands, busted knuckles, and EV grins.

Thanks, Ben!

Here are some links to more info about Ben’s Electro Metro and his other EV projects:

• The detailed Electro-Metro build thread in the EcoModder forum
  
• Quite a few YouTube videos documenting the conversion
• Its EV Album entry: Ben Nelson’s 1996 Geo Metro
• Here’s his DIY electric motorcycle (and here, and here), plus the classic electric CitiCar he picked up this fall to restore
• He’s also working with another EV builder on a video series about the electric conversion of a Dodge Neon.  He posts updates on his blog site

Next in this series:

> Darin Cosgrove’s / Ivan Limburg’s $955, 1993 Geo Metro “ForkenSwift”

So you want a 100% electric car for commuting or running errands in your town or small city.

Maybe you’ve dreamt of whipsering down the road in a clean, quiet Tesla roadster … and then you woke up screaming at the thought of the $109,000 U.S. price tag.

In that case,  may we present the other end of the EV spectrum: a trio of street legal electric cars converted from gasoline to battery power for an average price of $1450 each.  (No, that’s not a typo.)

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We have written previously about Project ForkenSwift, the electric Geo Metro made from forklift and golf cart parts for the princely sum of $672 (its build cost has since crept up to  $955 – details in part 3).  At that time, it might have been easy to dismiss that low-cost grocery getter as an unrealistic one-off, assembled by obsessively cost-conscious builders.

But since then, two more affordable, electric runabouts (their motors also sourced from used forklifts) have hit the streets.  Which lends proof to the idea that electric drive does not have to be prohibitively expensive for the motivated tinkerer (note that we specifically didn’t say “experienced” or “skilled” tinkerer).

To be clear, nobody is pretending for a moment that these cars can go even remotely as fast or as far as a Tesla.  But compare on “cost per range” or “cost per MPH”, and they’ve got the roadster beat!

(Tesla image: Tinou Bao)

OK, OK, so the average motorist won’t be lusting after these cars for their range & performance specs (or their looks, for that matter).   They probably wouldn’t even meet the current daily needs of the motoring majority.  But that doesn’t mean “medium speed”, relatively short-range EV’s can’t be practical for some drivers.   Used in the context they were designed for, the owners of these cars each report that they are useful and fun vehicles.

In this 5 part series, we’ll find out how they did it, what lessons they learned along the way, and what advice they have for others thinking about inexpensive EV conversions.

Next, the three EV amigos:

Part 2: Ben Nelson’s 1995 Geo Metro “Electro-Metro”

Total build cost, including car: $ 1200.00
72 volts / 400 amps
Wisconsin, USA

Part 3 – Darin Cosgrove’s 1992 Geo Metro “Project ForkenSwift”

Total build cost, including car: $ 955
48 volts / 400 amps
Brockville, Ontario, Canada

Part 4 – Paul Holmes’ 1973 VW Beetle

Lacey, Washington, USA
72 volts / 300 amps
Total build cost, including car: $ 2100

Part 5 – Parting thoughts

—

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Based on all the buzz that Tesla has created, you’d be tempted to think they were the only electric car manufacturer out there. However, they’ve really taken it to a new level today, releasing some pictures of the long talked about 4-door sports car, the Model S.

The Roadster has become the ubiquitous electric sports car, partially because it has built off of the Lotus Elise’s reputation as a superior driving machine. However, this next car will be an all Tesla design, though it has high expectations from Tesla’s own developing reputation (transmission issues aside).

The car should go on sale in 2010 with a starting price tag of $60,000. If that seems a little too rich for your blood (definitely is for me!), compare it to the Roadster at $109,000. However, even if we can’t buy the car, Tesla’s efforts are definitely driving the production and performance of lithium ion batteries for use in electric cars, so we can all be happy.

One more teaser of the rear:

Source: Road&Track

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Image: benteen

There are some electric conversions that are just too interesting to pass up. We’ve talked about a 16 year old who built his own electric truck and the EcoModder co-founder’s $672 electric car, but we’ve yet to look at a car like this one. It’s not the car in the picture (the original story did not come with any images), but it’s the same model of kit car, the Bradley GT.

For decades (the pictured GT is a ’71) the Bradley GT has been one of the standbys of kit car builders. Not only is it light and cheap, but it looks pretty good. It was no doubt this combination that led Lucas Laborde to choose the Bradley GT II as the basis for his electric car. It was purchased off of Ebay with a few thousand miles on the original VW engine, but all of that was promptly stripped out to make way for an all electric drivetrain.

The specs on the car are a little sketchy, but here’s what the original article has to say about the range and top speed:

The car uses the Bradley’s original transmission, a manual four-speed, but the clutch is no longer needed to change gears. The car has a top speed of about 45 mph – plenty fast for in-town commuting and lots of low-end torque.

The motor doesn’t make any sound, but Laborde inadvertently makes the rear tires chirp when he steps on the accelerator a little too hard while backing the car out of his father’s shop.

“It has a lot of power,” he says sheepishly.

These aren’t overly impressive, but considering the low cost of the conversion (the electric parts only cost an additional $5,700) and the low weight of the donor vehicle, they seem fitting. Of course, the most important thing is that the car fits Laborde’s needs and will be yet another rolling advertisement for electric cars.

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Image: jurvetson

The internet is abuzz with news of new electric cars that all seem to be coming out in 2010. It seems like every day we hear more about the Chevy Volt “extended range electric vehicle,” but not so much about what’s available right now. If you’ve got an itchy trigger finger and a hefty wallet, there are a few options for you right now.

Who Sells the Electric Cars?

1. Zap

Model: Xebra

Price: $11,700

Top Speed / Range: 40 mph / 25 miles

Everyone was a little skeptical of Zap after Wired went and exposed a lot of shady doings over there. I won’t say that I’m any less skeptical now, but a forum member took the plunge and actually bought a Zap Xebra. His reports are interesting, and he seems to like the car, even though the government might not be so fond of it. Zap’s three-wheeled electric “cars” fall into that gray area where they’ve tried to register them as motorcycles to bypass safety regulations, but the government is starting to say “hold on, that’s no motorcycle!” Definitely check your local laws on these vehicles before taking the plunge.

2. Commuter Cars

Model: Tango

Price: $108,000

Top Speed / Range: 150 mph / 200 miles (with Lithium Ion batteries)

The Tango T600 is the like the Tesla Roadster’s slightly odd cousin. At first you think “oh, that’s weird,” until you realize that you’ve fallen in love and are getting married. That kind of what my experience looking at this car was. At first I wondered if someone had chopped a Smart ForTwo in half in order to be ironic about how small it was, then I realized this little sucker is extremely light, compact, and can do 0-60 in a very respectable 4 seconds. It’s certainly not cheap, but it’s the ultimate pocket racer if you really want to surprise the competition.

3. Dynasty Electric Car Corp.

Model: IT SEDAN

Price: $19,000

Top Speed / Range: 24 mph / 30 miles

The IT sedan is what’s known as a neighborhood electric vehicle (NEV), meaning that it is speed regulated to about 25 mph, even though it might be able to go faster. In some places, these are illegal because of the low top speeds, so if you’re looking into one you should check out local laws. There are however, good for putzing around town, if you live in that kind of area.

4. GEM

Model: e2

Price: $6,795

Top Speed / Range: 25 mph / 35 miles

Most people, myself included, are shocked to hear that Chrysler owns an electric car company, but once you scratch the surface, it becomes obvious that GEM’s NEVs are more like glorified golf carts than anything that could be morphed into a production electric car. Now, this isn’t an insult to NEVs, but you can tell by the fact that GEM’s vehicles cost thousands less than electric cars from companies like Dynasty’s that they’re not meant to be much more. If you’re looking to cruise around your country club estate in eco-style, this NEV might be for you.

5. TWIKE

Model: TWIKE

Price: $35,000

Top Speed / Range: 53 mph / 100 miles

The TWIKE, as a human-electric hybrid is sort of in a class of its own. It can run entirely on electric power, but using pedals inside the vehicle, both the driver and the passenger can pedal to help charge the battery and extend the range. I got to see one of these this year at HybridFest, and even though it looks pretty cool, I’d be scared to take it out anywhere where I would be nearing the max speed. 40 mph, maybe. But not 50 mph. Also, a starting price of $35k makes it a bit cost prohibitive, even though it’s very well made.

6. REVA

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sFTosNNOpc

Model: Standard

Price: $16,000

Top Speed / Range: 45 mph / 70 miles

The REVA, or the G-Wiz, as it’s known in the UK is the much mocked and sometimes loved electric car from India. Watch Top Gear for more humourous commentary.

7. Myers

Model: NmG

Price: $35,000

Top Speed / Range: 75 mph / 30 miles

The NmG stands for “no more gas,” and it’s another one of those vehicles I had the pleasure of seeing at hybrid fest. It’s a small and incredibly aerodynamic vehicle, but it only seats the driver and can’t take on much cargo. However, the aerodynamics allow the NmG to reach decently high speeds and it seems like a reasonably fun ride for less than the $100k price tags on the Tango or Telsa Roadster.

8. ZENN

Model: ZENN NEV

Price: $12,000

Top Speed / Range: 25 mph / 35 miles

ZENN is Canada’s own NEV maker, but recently they’ve battled the government over the basic legality of NEVs on Canada’s roads. ZENN, like other NEV makers, produces electric cars that aren’t meant to do much more than run around on local streets. However, unlike GEM’s cars, they are a bit more substantial, but also a little cheaper than Dynasty’s cars.

9. Venturi

Model: Fetish

Price: $435,000

Top Speed / Range: 100 mph / 155 miles

The Fetish is a French electric supercar for people with, well, an electric car fetish. You’ll pay out the nose, and it’s not exactly the fatest electric car out there, but if you like the style and the Frenchness and all that, it may be the car for you.

10. Tesla

Model: Roadster

Price: $108,000

Top Speed / Range: 125 mph / 225 miles

Didn’t think we’d forget the Roadster, did you? The Roadster may be expensive, but it’s becoming the Prius of the electric car world. I won’t bore you with details, because you probably know them all, but suffice it to say it’s fast, cool, and pure electric. #1 on my list.

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The last time we talking about the iMiev, we were announcing the target sale price of $38,000. Now however, Mitsubishi is telling us that the will be sold for just $27,500. This is quite a price cut, but not without its caveats.

Firstly, Mitsubishi will only be releasing this car in Japan at first (though it is also testing in both Britain and the US right now). Secondly, Mitsubishi will only be producing 2,000 units of the electric car in the first year. In 2010 production will double to 4,000, with 2011 being the first year that the car hits a “full” production run.

Low-volume, but an interesting foray into fully electric cars on a much quicker timeline than we’re seeing from other manufacturers.

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It seems our favorite media darling, the Chevy Volt, will have  bit of competition when it comes time for it’s eventual release in 2010. Though we’re not sure if it will make it to the US (like the Smart Car EV), we do know that Mitsubishi’s iMiev will make it to market a year earlier than the Volt and be priced lower.

The iMiev, which we start hearing about earlier in the year, has already been slated by Mitsubishi for commercial sale in Japan in 2009, a full year before the Volt is intended to hit US shores. There are also unconfirmed rumors that the iMiev may also make it to the US after a run of a few years in Japan. However, what’s really interesting about the iMiev right now is that Mitsubishi has just released a price figure of what $37,496 US, which is about $2,500less than we often hear talked about as the price point for the Chevy Volt.

Despite the similarities in pricing and release date, the two cars are very different beasts. The iMiev is based on a current Kei-car produced by Mitsubishi for Japan, and has a 47kW electric motor powered by a 330-volt lithium ion battery pack. The car will have a top speed of 80 mph and an all electric range of about 100 miles. Charging will take place via a normal power outlet and should take about 14 hours to completely charge the battery, though there is all a 220V charge option, which only takes 7 hours.

On the other hand, the Volt will feature a sportier 120kW motor and 100+ mph top speed, but will only have an electric range of 20 or 40 miles (depending on the speculation and model selection), after which is will switch over to your standard dinosaur burning engine like in most cars these days. Chevy claims that most people never drive over 40 miles in a day, but I’m sure these Volts will be burning enough fossil fuels that calling them “electric cars” will leave a bitter taste in some peoples’ mouths. I think series hybrid or plug-in hybrid is much more appropriate.

While you’re getting hyped up for the iMiev, check out this test drive video from Popular Mechanics:

httpv://youtube.com/watch?v=JkwQqU-DnRI

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I thought there was no better image to break the news of a new movie from the creators of “Who Killed the Electric Car?” than one of GM’s iconic EV1 dressed up as a crime scene. Besides being a great film, “Who Killed the Electric Car?” gave GM and other automakers a bad rap for killing off their EV projects. The good news for GM is that they’ve cleaned up their act with the highly anticipated Chevy Volt.

That’s also good news for the filmmaker,  Chris Paine, who is now working on a film called “Revenge of the Electric Car.” If it were me, I would’ve called it something like “The Electric Car Strike Back” or “Return of the Electric Car,” but then I couldn’t hold a video camera still for the life of me.

Anyway, regardless of the name, the movie promises to be interesting and I’m excited to see what Chris thinks of all the new electric options coming to market soon (including those that already have). For those of you that haven’t seen the first movie yet, I’ve embedded part one (on youtube) below. You can follow along through the whole movie if you have the time. Enjoy!

httpv://youtube.com/watch?v=9vD33UMAtBY

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Image: osbornb

What do you get when you cross a Geo Metro with an electric forklift, a golf cart, and a bunch of used batteries? You get the “ForkenSwift” (see web site), a ridiculously inexpensive, home-built, street-legal electric car.

This battery powered grocery getter was built by Darin Cosgrove and Ivan Limburg, of Brockville, Ontario. The friends were looking for a project to do in Limburg’s new workshop, and set their sights on building an EV after reading about a couple of DIY electric car conversions on the web.

Since neither of them had tackled anything quite like this before, they were wary of breaking the bank on what amounted to a rolling science project with a questionable outcome. So they bought all their parts & supplies second hand, and scrounged a few for free. They even recovered some of their costs by selling left over parts as they went along…

• They sold the Geo’s engine and its recently replaced gas tank through an online ad – you don’t need either of those in an EV!

• Most of the electric parts came from an old, used forklift they bought for $500. After removing its four DC motors and control module, they got most of their money back by selling the 16,000 lb chassis to a metal recycler, and one of the extra motors to another EV builder.

They caught a big break when it came time to get the car’s lead acid batteries.

“We met another EV owner who liked what we were doing, so he gave us a bunch of used batteries he had just replaced in his own EV,” says Cosgrove.

But the second hand lead has a downside: they probably could have doubled the distance the car could go on a charge if they had bought new.

The Metro’s small 48 volt battery pack is a major clue as to how they were able to keep costs so low: Cosgrove and Limburg built the car with ridiculously modest specs. With just eight 6 volt batteries and a motor controller from a golf cart, it’s an understatement to say the electric Metro doesn’t go very fast or very far.

But they say it does just fine as a neighbourhood runabout on the quiet streets of their small city. And by aiming low, they were able to avoid the pricier components and extra batteries needed for a more powerful, highway capable EV.

Their forklift motor driven Metro passed inspection and went on the road a few months ago. Since then it has gone more than 650 kilometers (400 miles) without using a drop of gas… or oil (hey – it was a 16 year old Geo engine after all).

Cosgrove reports a top speed of 65 km/h (40 mph), a range of 15 to 25 km (9 to 15 miles) on a charge, and says it costs about 3 cents per km (4.8 cents per mile) to run on renewably sourced, clean electricity. (For comparison, Limburg figures his gasoline powered compact pickup truck costs 12 cents per km to drive.)

While it’s fair to say the electric Metro’s performance won’t cause any worry over at Tesla Motors, you can also be sure its builders aren’t losing much sleep about car payments either.

More information about the $672 electric Metro:

• Visit their web site: www.forkenswift.com – electric car conversion on a beer budget
• Read the detailed conversion journal and see more photos at EcoModder forum
• Get all the technical specs from the car’s EV Album entry
• See it on YouTube: motor test #1 and #2; first electric test drive; “it’s legal & on the road!” … See all ForkenSwift videos
  
• Related: It’s a Trend!  3 Dirt Cheap DIY Electric Cars at EcoModder