DIY 'E-rides' and 'E-walls'
 

Jehu Garcia and Michael Bream of EV West, grease monkeys or a lithium monkeys? Auto enthusiasts transforming guzzlers to fully-electric cruisers and making self-sustaining e-walls. They acquire lithium laptop batteries, Tesla modules, second-hand e-motors and installs them in vintage rides. They don't belch carbureted-black smoke at startup, no rumbles or burbles or gear-shift stumbles; they quickly and quietly surge down the boulevard and still kicks dust offroad. Cost of lithium-ion batteries are rapidly dropping and they represent 1/3 of building EVs. Lowered costs attracting the next-gen gearheads. Their most important tool, a soldering iron? EV West - Electric Vehicle Parts, Components, EVSE Charging Stations, Electric Car Conversion Kits

https://video.vice.com/en_us/video/m...59487b3243424c

Michael Bream is, I believe, one of those people that sort of bounced off Jack Rickard. He's apparently hard to get along with. Michael's Youtube channel is
EV West. The videos range from 2 to 5 years old. The last video from 2015 is a conversion of a Fiat 500 Jolly. It's a very well done conversion that bolts to the stock transaxle mounts. I think they use Zelectic kits: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=zelectric

His co-host Eric Hutchison is a jerk that blows up clutches and laughs about it.

Jesu Garcia seems like a good guy. His 23-window bus is legendary (wish I still had mine). I like his work a lot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m04CXhoQ2jU

That Vice link freaks out NoScript with it's cross-site scripting.

If your carburetor vehicle belched black smoke any time it's clearly not running right.
Just because you have fuel injection doesn't mean you won't smoke. I see riced out Honda civics around here that have soot covered bumpers and belch black smoke as they are driven because the teenagers who failed math class driving them think that more fuel equals more power. So they modify them to dump fuel into the engine like crazy while they are driving.

That has a DIY aspect, but doesn't speak to the subject of the thread. This isn't The Lounge, ya know.

EVTV haven't put up an episode in a month, but their last one shows how they can convert a complete Tesla battery pack into a 'powerwall' with what they call the simplest possible electrical circuit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zO11Q237nA

Wow, over 2hr long video and the man doesn't get out of the chair?

I need to retire so I can watch videos like this. Also need to further my electronics knowledge so I can make cool things like this when I "retire".

Like I'm going to watch a 2 hour long video to obtain the same amount of information that I could get in 15 minutes or so by reading?

Regardless of visible smoke, any EV conversion (that gets completed and logs some miles) is much cleaner than that donor car as a gasser. Here's just the latest proof.
Electric cars emit less carbon than average U.S. new car, everywhere in the world
Yup, Jack's 2 hr episodes are painful to the point that I've never been able to stomach a single one in its entirety. I'd pay for access to the edited-down 5 minutes of meat.

You should see him try to get in and out of his Model S. You don't need to retire, just become unemployable (like me). You want something shorter?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-PaSSTA2YE
I watch so much, the opening drone shot and music makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

Scrub the time-line, watch at 1.25 or 1.5x, or do like I do — lay on a heating pad while you listen. Or, if you only have 15 minutes to read, each episode has an entry in his blog at EVTV Motor Verks - Custom Electric Car Conversion Instructional Videos.

The most popular episode, on EVCCON four years ago, has 97,310 views and is 29 minutes long. The episode on stuffing a Quaiffe differential in a Tesla drivetrain ran 3 hours. He has declared victory in promotion of mainstreaming EVs and will focus on selling Tesla OEM components for retro-mobiles and DIY powerwalls.

Which is precisely on-topic for this thread.

I'd hire you, but I doubt you would be enthusiastic about the pay. Scratch that, I doubt the government would be enthusiastic about your pay. I just heard something about the government raising the minimum amount 2 parties can enter contract for labor.

Would be great if it were simply edited. That said, I listen to 5hr Hardcore History podcasts in chunks. I could listen to a portion of an episode at 1.25x speed each night. Perhaps he should make his videos available in podcast format for convenience too.

So many other things competing for my attention. Lately I've enjoyed listening to Sam Harris and The Rubin Report. While I don't agree with much of their political position, I do enjoy a rational and civil discussion. I'll throw in Ben Shaperio occasionally to balance things out.

...there I go again, getting off into the weeds. OK, finally watched the video.

He mentions the glaring problem with batteries; that they are merely a "fuel" tank. People have a problem with buying a vehicle with a 2 gallon equivalent fuel tank for $10,000.

EVs make sense for most short around town trips, but are impractical for the longer ones. This is not likely to change within the next 10 years, which is why most cars are likely to have the ability to burn petrol in the next decade or 2.

My truck belches black smoke when it starts, but it lives in Salem, which doesn't have a pollution problem. I've also got a '76 Buick Riviera that never gets driven. It's the only carbureted vehicle I own. None of the others produce any visible emissions except steam (the #1 emission of petrol vehicles) on a cold day.