Electric cars have become once again one of the most popular modes of transport after a gap of nearly a decade, because their carbon emission levels are quite low, cause less pollution and are eco-friendly.

Many owners of gasoline-powered cars prefer to convert their cars into electric vehicles on their own at home rather than going in for a new electric car as conversion costs are significantly low. Electric car conversions are generally regarded as Do It Yourself (DIY) jobs.

However, converting a car to electricity-driven one is somewhat difficult, but not altogether impossible. One should equip himself with proper knowledge so that the chances of errors are minimized and conversion costs will be kept low and will ensure a hassle-free conversion. In other words, a comprehensive manual or a guide makes the task of conversion much easier.

The Electric Vehicle Conversion Handbook written by Mark Warner is very useful guide for those interested in converting their cars into electric vehicles. The systematic approach to car conversion elucidated in the handbook is what makes the handbook very useful.

In the opening chapters, Warner explains about electric cars and their advantages and disadvantages. The book does not highlight about the drawbacks of electric cars but rather focuses enthusiastically more about the immense benefits that electric cars can offer.

After the preamble, Mark Warner proceeds to help the reader in taking appropriate decisions regarding converting a car into an electric vehicle. He does this by raising a number of pertinent questions and presenting various scenarios so that making a right decision becomes easier.

After that, the author moves on to enlighten how one should choose a chassis, or a car for conversion. On the face of it, though it might appear a simple and straightforward job, in practice, it is not so, as several aspects need to be considered.

The handbook explains in lucid style various aspects that require careful evaluation before a vehicle is selected for conversion. Warner then discusses about the various parts needed for conversion and the functions of each component. This portion is the most important part of the handbook.

For example, everyone knows that an electric car requires an electric motor but how do you choose the right one. The same thing applies to other parts, such as the controller, the charger and obviously, the batteries.

The author narrates in The Electric Vehicle Conversion Handbook the theoretical aspect of each part, why they are required, what are their functions and different types of each one of them. For example, when we talk of batteries, he discusses merits and demerits of lead acid batteries vis-a-vis lithium batteries.

This facilitates proper understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of each component so that one will be better placed to take a conscious decision regarding conversion of his existing vehicle to an electric car.

Finally, the Mark Warner illustrates nine different vehicle conversion jobs. These projects consist of an extensive range of vehicles, like a bicycle, a motor cycle, a truck, a van and also a few sports cars. More than anything else, these illustrations are fine examples to explain that any job can be completed successfully with careful planning.

The hand book, however, does not provide any step by step instructions for converting a car as it would be very difficult to explain about large variety of cars and numerous components in each type. On the other hand, the handbook educates all those looking for converting their cars into electric cars on various factors involved in the vehicle conversion process and how to make a well-informed decision.

On the whole, the handbook is a very valuable guide to all those considering conversion of their present vehicle to electric car on their own. Click on the button on the right to get a copy of Mark Warner’s book from Amazom.com/.

Last month, I finally got my hands on Seth Leitman’s Build Your Own Electric Vehicle book from Amazon.com/. Here’s an interesting fact that I didn’t know about Leitman, he holds a degree in engineering and has worked on the Lunar Rover project. I guess he must be a technical genius.

I have always like Do It Yourself (DIY) electric cars and that’s the primary reason I created this blog. Therefore, Leitman’s book is really a great source of information, which will be of immense help if you are interested in learning about electric vehicle conversion.

Build Your Own Electric Vehicle Book – What’s Inside?

In this slightly over 300 pages book, Seth Leitman has provided information much beyond what can be imagined from the title of the book. Not only the book lists the process of converting conventional car to electric vehicle, it also provides a lot of information related to EVs.

To begin with, Leitman investigates the suitability of electric vehicles as far as environment friendliness is concerned. This is followed by a brief description of the history of evolution of the electric vehicles from mid 1800’s to the present time.

He has also provided an excellent review of the all the vehicle produced during recent times, till 1993, which is a unique feature of the book. His review also includes the future plan of the manufacturers.

One chapter was specially written to guide the prospective buyers with all the choices available in the market – be it absolutely ready to go car from a manufacturer or a Do It Yourself (DIY) enthusiast about the conversion process.

According to the author, buying a used EV may be a wise option, especially if you are looking for some cost savings. It is true that these used cars are difficult to get, especially if you are located in someplace outside the big cites on the coast. But if you are successful in spotting such a car, rest assured, your DIY electric car conversion project cost will be remarkably low.

As is evident from the title of the book, Leitman has stressed on building your own EV rather than buying a ready one from the manufacturer. To find out which vehicle is best suitable for conversion, he has also compared various vehicles.

According to Leitman, a vehicle with a slow pick up is easiest to convert and accordingly, a truck may be the best vehicle to be converted which will give you the best range, provided you are OK with the slow starting speed and it fulfils your requirements and matches your style.

In Chapter 5, the book has included an exhaustive list of suppliers, manufacturers, converters and EV clubs which is extremely helpful.

But the real content of the book starts form Chapter 6 onwards. Leitman has used all sorts of tools to evaluate the effectiveness of the vehicle that you are considering for conversion. There are formulas and charts that will also help you to choose the size of motor and batteries that will be used for EV conversion.

In the next chapter, he has dealt with all the components of the electric vehicles in details, such as the electric motors, controllers, batteries, and chargers.

Personally, I think these are the chapters that make the book extremely useful if you are keen to start your own electric car retrofitting project from your garage. The Build Your Own Electric Vehicle book deals with all the practical requirement and information, both for existing as well as the future technologies.

So is Seth Leitman’s book a good buy? Well, if you like DIY electric cars, I would highly recommend it. Click on the link below to get your copy from Amazon.com right now.

==> Click here to get Seth Leitman’s book from Amazon.com!

It was a dreadful experience going to the gas station. If you own a large SUV, the experience can be darn right painful.

Will the price of gasoline increase again?

That is for sure, it is only a matter of time.

To cushion the impact of rising fuel prices, many vehicle owners are looking into alternative energy such as electricity. However, a brand new electric car from the dealership is still very expensive. Many people are not ready to make that kind of investment.

A cheaper alternative is to convert their existing vehicle into a pure electric car via a Do It Yourself (DIY) approach. That has lead to the creation of many DIY electric car conversion guides on the web.

One of the most popular EV conversion manual available on the internet is George Christodoulou’s Gas2Electric e-book.

Is the manual any good?

That is the reason I am writing this post, to give you a quick glimpse into the guide.

George Christodoulou is a self-proclaimed environmental activist and DIY car converter. If you didn’t know, you can find his web site at www.gas2electric.net.

The Gas2Electric is basically a step by step guide to convert a conventional gas guzzler to run on only electricity. According to George, by using an EV, you can cut your gasoline bill down to zero.

This is a fact because by using an electric car, the only time you will stop by the gas station is to buy a pack of cigarettes or use the wash room.

Is DIY electric car conversion suitable for everyone?

Sadly, the answer is no.

If you are not good with hand tools or you have no knowledge whatsoever on automobile, doing your own EV conversion project may not be a good idea.

In this case, you can outsource the conversion project to a professional mechanic. The money spent here will save you a lot of time and unnecessary headache.

When you are engaging the service of a professional workshop, the Gas2Electric will come in very handy for you. After you’ve read the e-book, you will have a better understanding on what’s involved in an EV retrofitting process.

With your new found knowledge, you will be able to have a discussion with the mechanic without looking like a dummy. At least you will know when you are being charged for unnecessary parts or work done on your car.

So what’s my verdict on George Christodoulou’s Gas2Electric?

If you are new to the concept of DIY electric vehicle and you want to know how it’s done, go get a copy of the e-book. It’s a good read and you’ll get to expand your car knowledge.

==> Click here to visit Gas2Electric now!

In this article, I thought of doing a quick review on the e-book Gas2Electricity. If you didn’t know, you can find its main web site at www.gas2electricity.com.

I have been doing a lot of research on Do It Yourself (DIY) electric car for more than a year now. I have bought many electric car conversion plans either from the internet or from the book stores.

One of the EV manual I came across on the web is Gas2Electricity. From the web site, the guide was written by 2 professional mechanics, Jarrod and Jerimie.

If you have never bought any information product from the internet before, you may not know this. Jarrod and Jerimie may not be real persons.

A lot of web publishers create fictitious character to promote their product. The reason they do this is to give a human face behind a digital product. I have a feeling this is the case for Gas2Electricity.

However, you have to remember this. When you are buying an e-book, what you want is the “information” inside the manual, not how they market it. Therefore, I wasn’t too concern about this.

There are 2 things I want to highlight in this review. First, it is the EV mileage per charge promised in the web page. Gas2Electricity claims you can get 100 – 200 miles per charge. This is not an impossible figure but you’ll need to have 2 things.

To achieve the mileage claimed, you’ll have to make a very big battery bank and use a very light electric donor car. To build a large battery bank, you may need 30 or more deep cycle batteries!

Carrying so much dead weight on an electric car may not be very feasible. For your information, generally, a Do It Yourself (DIY) electric car has a net driving mileage of about 50 miles only.

The second thing I want to highlight is the cost for the EV conversion. Gas2Electricity claims you can get it done for less than $280. This is outright incorrect!

I doubt this is achievable even if you were to use all old or recycled parts and batteries. That small budget is not even enough to purchase a reasonable electric motor.

If you are planning to build an electric car in your home garage, be prepared to invest upwards of $5000.

So what’s my conclusion on Gas2Electricity?

Personally, I’ll give it a pass. The information that has been claimed on the web site is way off the mark. Nonetheless, if you are looking for some basic knowledge on EV conversion, you may give it a go.

DIY Electric Car Conversion Guide

The best electric vehicle conversion guide I’ve seen so far on the web is Gavin Shoebridge’s Electric Conversion Made Easy. Gavin is from New Zealand and he is known as the EV Guy.

He has personally converted an old Mitsubishi Treadia into a pure electric car. He has also documented the entire conversion process into a step by step instructional video series.

The Electric Conversion Made Easy is Gavin’s EV experience penned down. Everything is based on actual situation with actual EV parts and components. If you want a precise EV retrofitting guide, check out Gavin’s guide.

==> Click here to visit Gavin Shoebrige’s web site!

1) Build Your Own Electric Vehicle by Seth Leitman and Bob Brant

2) Convert It! by Michael Brown

3) Electric Vehicle EV & Conversion: All you need to know about Electric Vehicle & converting to EV. by Dr Y EV

There are a couple more in the list, but these are the few that came highly recommended.

However, there is one electric conversion manual that I have read so far that is pretty good. It’s the Electric Conversion Made Easy by Gavin Shoebridge.

The EV Guy From New Zealand

Now, who’s is Gavin Shoebridge?

Gavin is from New Zealand and he looks like an average Joe. One thing unique about him is he had converted a conventional gasoline driven automobile to an electric vehicle (EV).

A few years back, Gavin was sick and tired of having to pay high gasoline prices to maintain his car. He decided to take action to sever his gasoline addiction by using EV.

Unfortunately, new EV from a dealership is very expensive. The cheapest alternative is to convert a normal car to run purely on electricity.

That’s what Gavin did!

The Mitsubishi Tredia EV

What Gavin did was to purchase a 1987 Mitsubishi Tredia, remove the internal combustion engine (ICE) and put in a DC electric motor.

The process sounds very simple, but it was anything but that.

You see, Gavin is not an automotive engineer and he has never done an EV conversion before. The project was pretty much a trial and error process.

Gavin took almost a year converting the Tredia to EV. But in the end, Gavin managed to complete the project and had the pleasure of enjoying the “EV grin” when he first took his homemade electric car for a spin.

People Start To Notice, Even The TV Channel

After some time, people start to notice Gavin’s EV. Instead of the loud roar of an internal combustion engine, Gavin’s electric car only gives off a soothing “hum”.

A New Zealand local TV station actually did a news segment of his DIY electric car. You can see the news clip above.

Electric Car Design Book

Back in August 2009, Gavin decided to put all his knowledge and experience into a manual. Most of his writings are not really conventional. Many of his ideas are “fly by the pants” because he’s a real DIYer. Creativity is important when you’re working with a limited budget.

What’s different between Gavin’ e-book versus all the EV books from Amazon.com? It’s the videos!

Yes, Gavin e-book comes with 11 High Definition (HD) step-by-step instructional videos on how to get started building your own electric car.

It is pretty cool actually. Seeing what’s involved in converting a normal car into a pure electric vehicle. For more information on Gavin’s Electric Conversion Made Easy e-book, click on the link below.

==> Click here to visit Electric Conversion Made Easy!

Related web pages:
1) Electric Car Conversion Manual

2) Gas 4 Free Review – Is Gas4Free The Real Deal?

In this post, I decided to do a very quick review on Convert It! The following is a list of 14 quick review points of the book.
1) Introducing the electric car – In this chapter, Brown introduces the reader to the concept of electric car as the transportation for the masses going into its history and its future.

2) Facts about electric vehicles – Here, the author debunked some myths about the humble EV. It is expensive? Does it have low driving mileage? The questions are answered in this section.

3) Safety – Even though electric cars are clean and efficiency, you cannot forget about driving safety. Basic driving safety stuff such as seat belt, tire thread, speeding etc are covered in this chapter.

4) What you need to get started – This is the starting point of a DIY electric car conversion project. Some basic things you need to get before you begin are ample work space, the right hand tools, lifting and welding equipment etc.

5) Choosing a chassis – When you are building your own EV, you need to decide on the type of chassis so you can start sourcing for a donor car. In this chapter, Brown goes through the criteria in choosing the ideal donor car.

6) Removing the internal combustion engine (ICE) – This process is like heart surgery. In essence, you are removing the heart of the car (ICE) and replacing it with an electric motor. The proper step to hoist out the engine is covered here.

7) Installing the motor and adapter – How do you install the electric motor on your donor car? In this chapter, the author covers the delicate process of connecting the motor to the existing transmission unit. Here, you will be introduced to the metal adapter plate.

8) Batteries and containment – The next section is the batteries or the power unit of the EV. How many batteries do you need? Where do you store them and how to link them together? All the questions are covered in this chapter.

9) Installing EV components – The is where you will learn the multiple EV components such as the controller, throttle box, volt meter, amp meter, inertia switch, main cut off switch etc.

10) Wiring – Understanding the veins of the electric car system. Readers without any wiring or electrical science experience will find this chapter a bit challenging. Not to worry, Brown did a good job explaining the EV wiring concept.

11) Final hookup and bench testing – You need to test all the system in your DIY electric car before you drive it on the road. There’s a useful check list included.

12) Suspension and tires – When you remove the internal combustion engine, the weight distribution on the car is different. You are also adding a lot of dead weight because of the batteries. To carry all the weight safely, the author delved into the suspension and tires of the electric car.

13) Road testing, driving and paperwork – Now that your EV is built, you have to get it tested by the authority to be certified as road worthy. Brown explains the type of approval and paperwork you have to go through for this to happen.

14) Charging and maintenance – The EV has no need to fuel up. It does have to be charged though. In this chapter, you learn about the science of battery charging, care and maintenance. This chapter is very important; missing it will reduce the life of the deep cycle battery on the electric car.

==> Click here to get your copy of Convert It! from Amazon.com now!

Related web pages:

1) Golf Cart Battery Maintenance Guide To Extend The Life Of Electric Golf Cart Batteries

2) Samuel Watson Premium Electric Car Guide Review

Who Are The Authors?

I did a quick Goolge on the name “Seth Leitman” and I found his personal web site at www.sethleitman.com. From his profile, Leitman is also known as “The Green Living Guy”. He is the Editor for the Green Guru Guides, which is a publication on eco friendly technologies.

Leitman is also a blogger for the Planet Green website and Greenopia.com. He also worked on GEM and TH!NK Neighbor low speed vehicles for New York State.

For some reason, I tried Googling the name “Bob Brant” but I could not find any of his personal information.

The Humble Electric Car

This EV conversion book starts off by explaining why the electric car is still right for today transportation needs. The world is choked by the smog of the internal combustion engines. The EV has a great potential to replace all the gas guzzling automobile in the world.

If you are new to the concept of electric vehicle, the Build Your Own Electric Vehicle book will expose you to the idea of electric motor, batteries, controller etc.

In the book, the authors also delved into some of the electric car myths. These myths are:

The book also covers a good list of advantages and disadvantages of owning a pure plug-in electric car.

DIY Electric Car Conversion Project

As I was reading the manual, I came across the chapter where the authors explained “The Best Electric Car For You”. Here, you will get the information related to starting your own DIY electric car conversion project.

Should you buy a ready-to-run EV? Build your own electric car or get the service from a custom shop? Where to find electric vehicle built kits? You will find all the answers to the question above in this EV manual.

Get Your Calculator Out!

If you are a math geek and you like to prove complex formulas, then you will love Build Your Own Electric Vehicle book. This book has a whole chapter dedicated to EV “Chassis and Design”.

You will get complex formulas relating to weight, acceleration, speed, range, aerodynamics, balance, rolling resistance, horsepower, torque etc. This is a good time to bring out your scientific calculator.

In Conclusion

If you are planning to make your own electric car from your home garage, the Build Your Own Electric Vehicle book will be a good reference guide for you.

However, this book is written to target the intermediate and advance individuals. If you are totally new to the science of electric car, the information in the book may be overkill.

If you are looking of an easy to read EV conversion manual, you can check out Les Oke’s Convert 2 EV guide. The manual is available on the internet and you can download it immediately.

All in all, the Build Your Own Electric Vehicle paperback book by Seth Leitman and Bob Brant is a great EV conversion manual. I’ll give it 8 out of 10 stars.

==> Click here to get your copy of Build Your Own Electric Vehicle from Amazon.com now!

Related web pages:

1) Magniwork Review – Is Magniwork Generator System A Scam?

2) DIY Electric Car Conversion – How Practical Is It