Ran across this while I was researching doing something quite similar. Not sure if this should be Tech or General Chat, but since this is such a nice technical achievement I decided to post it here.

http://www.davesevs.com/squirrel/squirrel.htm

and

http://www.evalbum.com/1001

One of the best (most professional) home conversions I have seen to date.

Definitely looks clean. Im a little dissapointed in his claimed range, but it might just be his driving style and the fact he only used 100Ah batteries. I also question his claim he has $20000 in materials in the project.

If I ever find a donor vehilcle and a decent priced motor I'll be onto my EV Fiero. A grant would be nice too . Still wondering if I can get any kind of incentive for my electric riding mower.

30 miles wouldn't even get me to work, quite an expensive useless vehicle from my perspective.

Current battery technology still holds EV's back. If you want highway speeds, then you lose range. You can certainly spend more on batteries to extend the range, but then the cost goes up even higher. This is one of the major reasons why EV's can't currently completely replace the gas guzzlers out there.

With regards to conversion cost, some people are just more honest than others. I think he was being straight up on what he spent on this project. Only a little more than 60% of his expenses went directly to the EV components themselves, but if you're going to try one of these conversions yourself then you had best know the whole story. Too often, the EV conversions end up like the kit car industry with half finished projects because people run out of money.

http://www.davesevs.com/squ...uff%20you%20need.htm

http://www.davesevs.com/squirrel/Cost%20Table.htm

http://www.davesevs.com/squirrel/cost%20graph.jpg

Kind of puts in perspective why the Saturn Sky electric is going to end up going for about 50k. Of course, if you've got that kind of money, maybe you'd like to dump it on this.... (capable of 120 mph, but still only a 50 Mile range)

http://www.austinev.org/evt...mllist&fromfromid=17

I still like the Fiero conversion better & think the guy did one heck of a job on this build. Just giving credit where credit is due & thought others might like some links to such sites.

Enough for my rant on EVs. As much as I'm interested in the technology, I'm not getting rid of my SBC Fiero for one of these - yet

30 - 40 miles is quite good for lead conversions. Yes totally not practical for many folks but more than enough for others. ( 14 miles round trip for me to work, the store, and back home). You can get better range by going to different chemistries but that comes with a huge cost increase. (few grand vs 20k to 30k starting)

As for overall cost of conversion by the time you get the motor and other parts your looking at 10k to 20k starting... I have been piecing mine together from used ev parts as I fined them over the last 2 years and still paid over 2k for the motor and controller alone. (that was a real steal)

Well got to get back to the rail repair on mine

Later,
Peter

------------------
Electric Fiero conversion in progress.
http://www.austinev.org/evalbum/778

The batteries he used are less than half the capacity of available units out there. Golf cart batteries range from 225-350 Ah. GC batteries are typically 6 or 8 volts, but there are 12 ones out there. It would weigh more, and might be a little larger, but could give the car a practical range.

As for costs, it does not cost 20,000 dollars to convert a car, especially not a Fiero. Not even if you bought all brand new top dollar parts. Ive been up to the "go" point on an electric Fiero a couple of times, and I was looking at a quarter of that cost. Ive reviewed a couple of other conversions and they are on the same track. There really isnt that much you need as far as materials for an electric conversion.

1: Batteries
2: Motor
3: Controller
4: Adapter plate
5: Vaccum pump
6: Heater
7: Wiring
8: Pedal assembly
9: Steel and fasteners for battery trays

Everything from 4 down is sub $250. There are expensive adapter plates, but only if you're a moron. Not everyone can make an adapter plate themselves, but any machine shop could take care of it. The adapter plate for my electric lawnmower conversion only cost $90, and that was far more complicated, as my motor did not have a bearing on the shaft end, so there had to be a gusset welded on, shaft machined for the bearing, bearing fitted into the palate, and the motor had a raised lip that had to be machined into the plate, and the coils on the rotor stood taller than the end of the motor so that had to be machiend out too. With a 9"ADC all you really need is a plate with holes in it for the motor and the transmission. Id expect it to be less than my $90, but I put it up higher for the heck of it. EDIT- though I completely forgot the adapting of the motor to a flywheel, that might make it closer to $150-200.

There can be more if you go into upgrading the suspension and brakes. I paid about $400 for my 12" brake setup on my 88, and you should probably at least replace the springs.

[This message has been edited by 86GT3.4DOHC (edited 06-10-2008).]

I am willing to bet that whole package with 2 passengers weighed 4200lbs.