so my 2000 Jetta is starting to shit the bed mechanically at almost 100k, i was thinking about converting it to an all electric with new parts. Just gutting the whole thing to get the weight as low as possible and only keep the necessities or replace parts with lightweight counterparts.

I realize this isn't common or an easy/quick task so i thought i would ask some of you more in the know if someone in the area might be interested/knowledgeable about this type of project.

i'm definitely a car noob so don't flame, i'm not trying to save money this way (obviously). i just want to stop the dependency on oil and gas and have a practically brand new car on the inside. i havent researched this recently but i think i saw something like 10k-15k (basically the same as buying a new cheap car) should be able to do what i want.

4/8/2008 7:35:46 PM

I can handle this one. Get me three golf carts and 60 new batteries.

4/8/2008 7:46:02 PM

lol i was thinking a respectable AC Motor (or 2? idk ) with regen brakes and whatever battery system is currently the best for weight/price purposes

4/8/2008 8:29:19 PM

NCSU does have an electric car. it used to sit on centennial when i was still in school. it was fiberglass body and shit if i remember right. defenitely was not any more of a daily driver than a golfcart/good bycicle is

there was a good bodiesel convesrion guy, ? Morgan, one of his rides made it to unc app no problem might want to check the alternatives

[Edited on April 8, 2008 at 10:38 PM. Reason : .]

4/8/2008 10:35:59 PM

I've driven a few electric cars. Nice and peppy for the first 20 minutes, out of juice in a hour of normal driving. Don't waste your time dude. The parts alone will run thousands of dollars, and you'll have to fab up battery holders EVERYWHERE...under seats, in the front, in the trunk. Even if you strip it out the final product will be heavy as shit.

Just part out that piece of shit VW and learn your lesson never to buy another one. You'll help a fellow VW sucker not get raped by dealers, and you'll have some money in your pocket.

Interestingly, the electric cars I drove were very noisy. Those low drag tires make plenty of racket for some reason. There used to be an electric fiero(that's redundantly ) on centennial campus.

[Edited on April 8, 2008 at 10:48 PM. Reason : .]

4/8/2008 10:48:15 PM

my high school auto tech class had 2 electric cars..well a ranger and a shit box chevy compact. they used to have a competition up here in raleigh every year and i drove the ranger in the autocross portion for two sessions. decently peppy car but top speed was low and the long range comp never went more than like 2hrs when ppl were trying to go as long as possible.

not really feasible for a driver. truck had manual brakes and the driveshaft spun the power steering pump, real fun for small parking lot autox . the whole underbed area was 8?V batteries so it was far from light. it would spin the tires off the hit tho, 1st or 2nd gear. oh yea and batteries weigh a shit


oh yea one of the teams at the comp did have a 100+ mph fiero


[Edited on April 8, 2008 at 11:01 PM. Reason : .]

4/8/2008 11:00:38 PM

Quote :

"there was a good bodiesel convesrion guy, ? Morgan, one of his rides made it to unc app no problem might want to check the alternatives "

morgan is buddies with my boss

4/8/2008 11:07:19 PM

i meant veggie oil conversion, not biodiesel since most diesels will run biodiesel with no mods.. my bad i think yall on the same page

4/8/2008 11:15:14 PM

Good luck finding room for the 20+ batteries needed for this conversion.

Unless you want to pay a ridiculous amount for exotic batteries, you are stuck with deep-cycle lead-acids, which weigh a ton and don't really hold that much charge.

4/8/2008 11:33:11 PM

Quote :

"i just want to stop the dependency on oil and gas"

oh LAFF... just because you have an electric car you think it's not oil dependent? i'd suggest you type a few keywords into google before you get all uppity.

Quote :

"i'm definitely a car noob so don't flame"

i saw this and quit reading. the only way this is getting done is you taking years of toture. by then, new ones will be just as cheap. or, find someone experienced an pay them.

4/9/2008 12:11:52 AM

Quote :

" just because you have an electric car you think it's not oil dependent?"

yeah, it's not like we have warehouses full of people making minimum wage churning away on pedal-powered generators to charge those batteries for you.

if you want to do it for environmental reasons, just get a 3cyl Geo Metro and call it a day (or a small motorcycle).

[Edited on April 9, 2008 at 1:32 AM. Reason : asfda]

4/9/2008 1:31:09 AM

Quote :

"yeah, it's not like we have warehouses full of people making minimum wage churning away on pedal-powered generators to charge those batteries for you. "

I think theduke just solved our "unemployment" problem! Sweat shop labor for energy!

4/9/2008 7:49:51 AM

I'm FOR IT!!

4/9/2008 10:13:31 AM

Quote :

"i just want to stop the dependency on oil and gas"

^^
^^^reading is essential, guys

he didn't say "environmental reasons". probably wants to stick it to" them there AAiraabs"

even though i still think this project is impractical and is more trouble then it's worth, electricity in US does NOT for the most part come from diesel generators. So while electric cars are arguably not any better for environment then gas by the time emissions from coal plants and battery disposal issues come in, they ARE one of the ways to become less oil-dependant as a country

but then again, so is a Geo Metro

4/9/2008 12:58:34 PM

http://www.triumphspitfire.com/goodwin.html

my high school did this one

if those nimrods can do it, so can you

4/9/2008 1:07:28 PM

i want to convert a honda del sol, if anyone wants to do this as a project holla

7/4/2008 7:08:23 PM