Electric Vehicle Conversion - Selecting a "Donor" Vehicle
Electric Vehicle Conversion - Selecting a "Donor" Vehicle
In my own conversion, I didn't want to spend a lot of money on the donor vehicle but at the same time I didn't want to put shiny new EV components into a boring little sedan or scrap heap. The vehicle I ended up choosing was a Mazda MX3 Precidia with a blown head gasket. It's a sporty little hatchback that I picked up for a few hundred dollars.
When selecting your donor vehicle make sure that it meets the following criteria:
A working manual transmission. A seized engine is fine but the transmission needs to be in good shape as it will be needed for the electric motor. An automatic transmission is too complicated and inefficient to work with and is beyond the scope of most how to EV books and tutorials.
A solid body and frame. It doesn't make a lot of sense to spend time, effort and money to convert a rusty piece of junk. Some minor body imperfections can be repaired but if the frame of the car is biodegrading don't waste your time on it.
A suitable GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating) Make sure it can handle the weight of the batteries. Lead-acid batteries weigh around 60 lbs each and although that may not sound like much, when wired together in a "pack" they can exceed hundreds of pounds. My own conversion used a 96 volt (eight 12 volt batteries wired in series) battery pack which weighed almost 500 lbs!
Readily available parts. A rare vehicle can make a really cool donor but if parts are hard to find they'll usually be quite expensive. Alternately, a popular vehicle like the Chevy S10 pick-up (a common choice for EV enthusiasts) is easy to find inexpensive parts for and even has ready made conversion kits from EV suppliers.
Selecting the donor vehicle can be one of the more enjoyable aspects of electric vehicle conversions. Online classified ads are a great source of used vehicles that you can purchase locally. If you don't want to do a lot of custom work on your conversion, visit some popular online EV suppliers and see what ready-made kits are available and select your donor car accordingly. However, if you're like me and like to tinker, try a custom conversion. It may be a little more involved but very rewarding indeed!
For more information on electric vehicle conversions including tips, suppliers and how to info, visit: http://www.squidoo.com/how-to-convert-your-gas-vehicle-to-electric