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!

What is the best book to design electric cars? Here’s a couple that I found from Amazon.com

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?

Convert It! by Michael Brown is one of the top electric car conversion manual on Amazon.com. This is one of the books that I bought from my last trip to Borders bookstore. I also bought another EV conversion manual by Seth Leitman and Bob Brant, the Build Your Own Electric Vehicle paperback book. The book title is a little plain though.

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