For a while, I have been attending some informal electric vehicle "build-days".
Those have been hosted by
Tom G. at his recycling business. In his line of work, he comes across a lot of great items. Plus, he's a great scrounger and attends many auctions and other sources of unusual items.
A while back, he mentioned that he had an AC motor, controller, and enough batteries to build an electric motorcycle. He was thinking a motorcycle specifically because of the size of the motor - not quite big enough for a car.
The last time I was over there, I mentioned to the guys the idea of building the AC Cycle, and videotaping the build, and making an internet film of it. Something like Orange County Choppers - Electric Edition. Get everything lined up and build an extreme electric motorcycle in 48 hours.
Somebody else suggested spending more time on it, but documenting it, and making more of a "how-To" video. Similar to what I am doing with Tom's Neon EV conversion.
Another person suggested building the cycle, auctioning it, and giving the proceeds to charity. That might help us get some donations, sponsorships, or publicity.
I have already built an electric motorcycle, and am currently advising another guy who is doing one. Another of our EV members is a big rider and has a nephew who runs a cycle shop.
Whatever we do, I want to help promote EV's as both cool AND practical transportation. If I can figure out a way to maybe sell a video about it, or drive traffic to a web page and get a little ad revenue from it, that would be great.
What do YOU think we should do?
Keep in mind, I don't think anything would happen on this project until at least spring, but it's on my mind, and it's got some great potential.
-Ben!