Who Killed the Electric Car?

Not me!

After watching the movie, and being exposed, for the very first time, to the radical idea of converting a conventional car to an electric car, my girlfriend and I were inspired to give it a try.

So after researching a bit about how this might be done, I've found that there has been a LOT of electric conversions done by average people.

Check out this site http://www.austinev.org/evalbum/. These are regular cars (and other interesting vehicles built or converted to EVs (electric vehicles). I wanted one!

So when building and electric car, the first thing to consider is what you want out of it. Do you just want something to get you around town, something to haul the kids in.

Well, I've got two cars already, if you've seen my photos, you've seen the 88 BMW. I also have a 2002 Ford Explorer, which I drive as little as possible because it costs soooo much to fuel it, and also because as I become more and more environmentally conscious, I feel more and more guilty about driving it. But I'm really hesitant to get rid of it because there are times when it comes in really handy.

So my choice was convert one of my existing vehicles or start with a new one. Well, the Explorer is out, the vehicle is too heavy and would require too much power to move. The BMW is my baby and I really don't want to go down the road of converting it only to screw it up and be left with something undrivable.

For the same reasons that the Explorer was out, one of the considerations in building an EV is the weight of the car. Another thing to consider when you have as little knowledge or experience about EVs as I do, is learning from the experience of others.

With all those considerations, and the one most important consideration of all, style, I settled on the Porsche 914. It's light, it's been done before, and it looks damn good!

So without further ado, let me introduce you to my future EV.

YES! That is green! Ravena Green to be exact, a perfectly fitting color for a future "green" machine.

The project will most likely not kick off until spring time. Until then I've got to do a lot of reading and start collecting the parts and equipment necessary for the conversion.

Once the conversion begins I'll be documenting it step by step to let everyone who might be interested know how it's going.

Until then, I've got a pretty new fun toy to drive around