bemoreeco

MetaEfficient has an excellent blog post illustrating and describing how you can convert your car to an electric vehicle. It’s written for an American audience, but there’s no reason why much of the advice cannot be applied to car owners in the vehicle.

It appears to be a simple enough process, but it requires several thousand pounds in start-up capital, which might dissuade the more risk-adverse car owners.

“Basically, electric conversion involves removing the entire internal combustion engine from a vehicle, installing an electric motor in its place, and also adding a large bank of batteries. A conversion will cost you about $6000 in parts, and about $1000-$3000 for batteries and installation. But, for this up-front  expense, you’ll get a zero-emissions vehicle that costs only a few cents per mile to run. Your electric car will also be more reliable and require much less maintenance that a conventional one. Remember that gas-powered cars cost the owner about $1800 per year on average for fuel costs alone, and there is the addition expense of engine maintenance and oil changes.”

Is this a realistic option? There are three major problems with this conversion. The first is the capital, it requires good faith that an electric vehicle is cheaper in the long-term than an internal combustion engine. Second, batteries cost between $1000 – $3000, and need to be replaced every 3 – 4 years. This eliminates much of the fuel savings. Finally, the car has a range of 60 – 80 miles, yet needs 8 – 12 hours to fully charge. This significantly restricts the use of the vehicle.

Our verdict? At the moment it’s best for owners of extremely light-weight, short-journey, keen-greens only. More likely, the same people who are already cycling these distances to work anyhow.