GM Inside News Forum - View Single Post - Chrysler aims to have electric cars in three to five years

rig.jockey · 07-16-2008, 02:10 AM

You know, I always find it sad that automakers and the media make it seem like some incredibly difficult challenge to make an electric car.

People have been converting their gasoline cars to electric vehicles for over a decade. You can even find the instructions and parts list right on the internet lol.

http://www.jerryrig.com/convert/

http://www.evalbum.com/build

Here's one project that's been going on for some time now getting highschool students to convert cars into electric vehicles. It has a decent video on the site.

http://www.evchallenge.org/

And if you're lazy like me, you can even buy conversion kits where almost everything you need gets delivered to your door, like this one for a Chevy S10

http://canev.com/KitsComp/index.html

This is a link to a highschool that is on their 3rd EV conversion. The page has all the specs on the parts they've used and the range / speed the cars are putting out. ie '96 Ford Ranger - Top speed 75mph. Range 75miles @ 35mph.

http://www.evchallenge.org/05-06/200...escription.htm

From what I've read on these vehicles, it takes people anywhere from a year to as little as a weekend depending on one's knowledge, skill and time available. Now this is what gets me... if someone who isn't mechanically inclined can find all the information and instructions they need off the internet and pull off a safe working conversion in one year... and if an experienced mechanic can do the swap in a weekend... well why in the hell would it take a massive automotive company 3 to 5 years to put these things on the road ?

I don't see why they can't send a converted car to the dealerships as the first generation, then produce a vehicle that is only designed to be an electric vehicle down the road. With all their computers and specialized manufacturing equipment, an automotive company should be able to make a much better conversion to an EV than a bunch of highschool kids. If not they should close the doors now and hang their heads in shame.

07-16-2008, 02:10 AM	#9 (permalink)
rig.jockey 2.5L Iron Duke Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 19	Re: Chrysler aims to have electric cars in three to five years You know, I always find it sad that automakers and the media make it seem like some incredibly difficult challenge to make an electric car. People have been converting their gasoline cars to electric vehicles for over a decade. You can even find the instructions and parts list right on the internet lol. http://www.jerryrig.com/convert/ http://www.evalbum.com/build Here's one project that's been going on for some time now getting highschool students to convert cars into electric vehicles. It has a decent video on the site. http://www.evchallenge.org/ And if you're lazy like me, you can even buy conversion kits where almost everything you need gets delivered to your door, like this one for a Chevy S10 http://canev.com/KitsComp/index.html This is a link to a highschool that is on their 3rd EV conversion. The page has all the specs on the parts they've used and the range / speed the cars are putting out. ie '96 Ford Ranger - Top speed 75mph. Range 75miles @ 35mph. http://www.evchallenge.org/05-06/200...escription.htm From what I've read on these vehicles, it takes people anywhere from a year to as little as a weekend depending on one's knowledge, skill and time available. Now this is what gets me... if someone who isn't mechanically inclined can find all the information and instructions they need off the internet and pull off a safe working conversion in one year... and if an experienced mechanic can do the swap in a weekend... well why in the hell would it take a massive automotive company 3 to 5 years to put these things on the road ? I don't see why they can't send a converted car to the dealerships as the first generation, then produce a vehicle that is only designed to be an electric vehicle down the road. With all their computers and specialized manufacturing equipment, an automotive company should be able to make a much better conversion to an EV than a bunch of highschool kids. If not they should close the doors now and hang their heads in shame.