EV conversion on the news in northwest Missouri

[XmodAlloy]

Hello everyone!
I figured I would share this, not that informative, but nevertheless, intriguing.

High school senior finds way to get nearly 200 mpg in vehicle - KCTV 5

As you may or may not know, I am the Donovan Matthew Gibson who did this conversion with my father.

If anyone would like specs on it, give me a buzz!

-Don

[MetroMPG]

Congrats on the coverage, Don!

As for your car's specs - do you have an EV Album entry yet? You could post a link to it in your sig.

Now that it's complete, Gibson is surprised Detroit automakers are not making smaller electric cars like his.

What about the upcoming Chevy Spark electric?

Darin

[Daox]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Congrats on the coverage, Don!

What about the upcoming Chevy Spark electric?

Darin

Ditto on the congrats and a successful conversion!

There is also the Mitsubishi i-MiEV that is currently for sale as well as the Smart ForTwo EV. The Honda Fit EV is currently being leased in a few states, and a few others I'm sure I'm forgetting. They are out there, they just aren't cheap.

[ecomodded]

I wonder if they are not cheap because of production costs or is it just a inflated price ?
I would think that electric motors are much cheaper to manufacture then gas motors and the battery packs have got to much cheaper then you or I would pay for it.

[XmodAlloy]

Honestly, I never said that I was surprised that there were few small electric cars offered by the large automakers. That was some talking point which he put on to make the story a little more... Vivacious? Something to make it sound a little more scathing to the auto makers.
I do not currently have an EVAlbum page up, I should put one up soon though.

I am actually hoping to try my hand at a second EV conversion, this time taking video of the entire conversion and posting it onto Youtube for the education of others.

Thanks for the input and support!

-Don

[MetroMPG]

Don - I hear you. The reporters have their agenda for sure.

Which makes me wonder: how much did gas prices influence your decision to do the conversion? That was part of the story.

I was once interviewed about the ForkenSwift for the national news, and the reporter's angle was all about gas prices. I told him: fuel prices had nothing to do with it - we did it simply because it seemed like a really interesting automotive project & and we had the space to work in my buddy's newly built garage, with a well stocked beer fridge.

But that wasn't what he wanted to hear, or what got to air.

[XmodAlloy]

Yeah, that's quite understandable.
For me, it was mostly to see if I could do it. I still want to try my hand at some far more complicated project sometime down the line here soon, like a useful solar car. Range of 100 miles in sunlight, self recharge time of two hours. Something like that.

Now, if only I can get some funding... <.<

-Don