1) Inexpensive.

An old VW Beetle Bug is generally inexpensive. You can find it everywhere. You can find one at a used car dealership, motor trading sites, government auction sites etc.

If you are lucky enough to find an old Beetle with a busted engine, better still. You can ask the seller for a lower price since you have to spend money to repair the engine. But he does not know you are planning to get rid of it!

2) Simplicity.

Generally, a Bug design is very simple. No complicated electronic components or circuitry to mess with.

3) Rear wheel drive.

If you are looking for an electric donor car, preferably, find one that has a rear wheel drive. Most old VW Beetles are back wheel drive.

4) Ample storage space in front.

This is one of the reasons why I think a Bug is good for EV conversion. It has a large storage space available in front of the car.

If you were to take out the spare tire, you have enough space to store at least 10 units of deep cycle batteries.

5) Ample storage inside the car.

There’s more storage space behind the driver’s seat. Add in more batteries to extend your electric car drive mileage.

6) Readymade electric car conversion kit.

Since a VW Beetle is such a common electric donor car, you can easily find the EV conversion kit for a Bug. This will save you a lot of time converting it to run on electricity.

The biggest advantage is the adapter plate. Since the metal adapter plate is already cut to fit a Beetle, all you have to do is line it up and bolt it on. Easy!

7) Light weight.

Generally, an old VW Bug weight less than 1800 lbs. This is good for an electric car. Less weight means less inertia therefore less power needed to propel the car. Less power required means longer battery life.

8) Easy to remove the engine.

Because of its great engineering, it is relatively easy to remove the internal combustion engine (ICE). All you have to do is open the engine cover, place a hoist over it, loosen a few bolts and it is out.

Some other cars might require a lot more time and effort. It is like pulling out a tooth!

9) Manual transmission.

If you are building an electric car via Do It Yourself (DIY) approach, you need to get a donor car that has a manual transmission. It is quite easy to find an old manual transmission VW Beetle. Saving you time and money.

10) Parts availability.

Since there are so many old Volkswagen Beetles around, sourcing for spare parts would not be a problem. Again, this boils down to cost.

There it is! 10 reasons why I think an old Volkswagen Beetle will be a great donor car for a DIY electric car conversion project.

If you have never converted a gasoline driven car to EV before, be sure to check out Les Oke’s Convert 2 EV e-book. The manual will show you the science behind an electric car conversion project. For more information, read the Convert 2 EV review on this web site.

==> Click here to visit Convert 2 EV 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

What would be the benefits of a homemade Volkswagen VW Beetle Bug electric car? That is a very easy question to answer. Cost saving of course! If you own an gasoline driven automobile, your energy expense bill would have been inflated back in mid 2008.

Remember global crude oil prices was at a dizzying height of $150 per barrel? Stopping by the local gas station to fuel up was an expensive ordeal.

Why select a VW Beetle to be converted to a pure electric vehicle (PEV)? The idea of retrofitting a car to electric vehicle (EV) is to removed the internal combustion engine (ICE) and replace it with a DC electric motor.

When the ICE is removed, all its connecting components like gas tank, fuel lines, exhaust pipe, radiator etc. are redundant and to be removed as well. To generate torque, the electric motor is to be connected directly to the existing transmission unit. Since an old Bug is rear wheel drive, setting up the motor in place is much easier.

Well, the second reason why a VW Beetle is ideal to be an electric donor car is the cost. Old VW Bug us readily available. All you need to do is look into a local car “For Sale” listing.

If you can find a Beetle with a busted engine, that would be so much better. You can always negotiate with the seller for a lower price. Since no one in the right mind would buy a VW Beetle with a faulty engine…except an electric car retrofitter of course.

My guess is, most people would not have the skill or know how to convert an old VW Beetle into an EV at their home garage. In this case, it would be better if you were to send your donor car to a professional mechanic.

To be prudent, you should get some basic knowledge on VW EV Conversion. At least you will know when you are being overcharged.

Why would anyone want an electric VW Beetle Bug? To save money of course. Electric vehicle (EV) has been proven to be cheaper to run compared to a gasoline driven car. It is also much cheaper to maintain.

A conventional car has many associated maintenance cost such as regular oil change, oil filter, air filter, fuel pumps, oil pump etc. With an electric car, there are no such expenses needed.

Currently, the main drawback of an electric car is the high cost. Without economy of scale, EV manufacturers are unable to bring the cost of a new electric car low enough for it is affordable to the masses.

I am sure in due time, the prices will come down but for the time being, we would have to wait.

Many car enthusiasts are opting to convert a gasoline driven car to run purely on electricity through a Do It Yourself (DIY) approach from their home.

One of the main candidate for donor car is the Volkswagen VW Beetle. A Beetle Bug is popular because of its low cost and easily available. If you can find a Bug with a busted engine, it is so much better.

The idea behind VW EV conversion is to remove the internal combustion engine and replace it with an electric motor. Since the engine is jacked out, all the connecting components such as fuel lines, fuel pump, gas tank, radiator etc are redundant and to be removed as well.

The motor is to be bolted directly to the existing transmission unit. Lead acid batteries are used to supply power to the electric motor.

If you are not well versed with car maintenance, you can still enjoy the benefits of owning an electric VW Beetle. All you have to do is outsource the conversion work to a professional mechanic.

What you should do is get some basic information on homemade electric vehicle. At least you will know when you are being billed for unnecessary parts of work done on your car. Check out the VW Beetle electric car conversion guide review for more information.

An old Volkswagen VW Beetle is a great donor car if you are planning a Do It Yourself (DIY) electric vehicle conversion. It is inexpensive and has ample space to store the lead acid batteries.

To save cost, most people will get a busted VW Bug. If its faulty, you can always negotiate with the seller for a lower price.

When you get the donor car, there are a few prepping works that you have to do. The idea of an electric car conversion is to remove the internal combustion engine (ICE) and replace it with a DC electric motor.

To propel the car forward, the motor will be connected directly to the existing transmission unit. When the engine is taken out, all its associated component such a exhaust pipe, fuel pumps, gas tank, radiator etc are removed as well.

Here is the dangerous part. When removing the gas tank and fuel lines, make sure you drain them dry.

Even with a damaged VW Beetle donor car, there might be some gasoline residue in the system. As you know, gasoline is highly flammable and you should put extra precaution when handling the component.

This is important because in the later part of the electric car retrofitting, you my have to do some welding work. Welding sparks and gasoline fume is not a good combination.

Using an electric VW Beetle can save you a lot of money. However, if you are not familiar with car components, it is better for you to outsource the conversion work to a professional mechanic.

To be prudent, you should know some basic information on electric vehicle. At least you will know you are being charged of unnecessary parts or work done on you car.

For information on homemade electric car, check out VW EV conversion guides review.

Some people have been wandering, how much does is cost to convert their old VW Beetle to electric. The video below shows a pastor with his VW electric vehicle. He got his Bug converted to electric with an investment of $6000. The EV runs on 72 Volts of electricity and has a top speed of above 50 mph. Mileage per charge is about 30 miles. I’m sure you can extend the mileage by adding more deep cycle batteries into to the batteries bank.

$6000 investment to convert a gasoline driven VW Beetle to electric seems a bit high to me. The whole retrofitting job can be done at a cheaper cost. But there is some preliminary work you have to do. You will need to source for cheap electric motor at EBay and also source for used or reconditioned batteries. If you are keen to find out how you can save cost in your EV retrofitting, you can check out these electric car conversion guides on the web.

I found the following VW electric conversion video on Youtube. The gentleman converted his 1975 VW Bug to run purely on electricity. He brought up 2 very interesting questions.
1) Where aren’t we all driving electric cars?
2) Where aren’t we driving on sun light via solar power?

It’s an interesting thought. I’m keen to find out what the answer would be. Feel free to comment.

The following is a list of processes required to convert a gasoline driven VW Beetle to run purely on electric. The list came about from my research and reading on electric car conversion guides.

The list is a guideline on the steps required for a DIY electric car retrofitting. Check out the list below.

1) To make the process easier, remove the car transmission and put in on your working place. Start by sliding the coupler onto the series motor and tighten all the screws. It is very important to make sure the electric motor shaft and the transmission center core lined up perfectly.

2) Using a floor jack or engine hoist, lift the motor and transmission setup and slide it into the engine compartment place. Tighten all bolts. Don’t tighten the bolts until you cut it.

3) Start building your battery racks or install preassembled battery racks. You can mount 4 – 6 batteries behind or under back seat of the Beetle and bolt or weld to the car frame.

4) Run the large Ga. cable from back to front of the VW Beetle. The cable can go under the rear seat and between front seats and through the firewall. Make sure one cable is marked with red on both ends for the (+) positive terminal.

5) Install throttle box in the engine compartment. It is easiest to use self-tapping screws and secure it right to the inside of the firewall. Measure the right distance and attach “L” bracket from the throttle box to mount the throttle cable sleeve. Attach cable to throttle box and adjust for proper range of travel.

6) Mount controller, contactor, fuse, and shunt at an appropriate location in the Bug engine compartment. To keep the cable short, it is best to keep all the parts as close together as possible.

7) Mount the amp meter and volt meter in appropriate location preferably on or near the dashboard.

8) Run all the cables from the batteries, controller, electric motor etc. This is a tricky process and you should have an electric car wiring diagram with you.

9) Run the light gauge wire to amp meter and volt meter. The electric vehicle can now be tested. Make sure it is in neutral with parking brake applied or on jack-stands when testing for the first time.

10) Wire main charger to battery pack. You can now start test driving your electric VW Beetle. After test driving the vehicle, plug it in to a power source and recharge.

I am assuming you understand and know all the components required for a VW Beetle Bug electric conversion. If not, you can get a copy of electric car conversion guide here. This list is not comprehensive. If you have any ideas, feel free to comment.

Recently, I have been looking at the statistics of my blog and I found there was a lot of interest on VW Bug electric car. I am not sure why this is so but since the blog readers like the subject of VW Beetle electric car, I will write more blog post about it.

Most of the information that I gathered from my research are from Les and Jane Oke’s e-book Convert 2 EV. I am going to write about how to choose the right VW Bug electric donor car.

Firstly, before you decide what type of Bug you want to get for your electric retrofitting, you have to decide what you want the car to do for you.

Do you want to carry passenger or do you want to carry cargo? If you want to carry cargo, how much cargo do you want to carry?

In this case, you can start to source for VW Bug Pickup for your electric car conversion project.

When you are choosing a VW Beetle electric donor car, find one which is light weight. Reason being, a light weight vehicle will give you more mileage per charge. It is basic science, the lighter the body, the less power you will need to propel the car forward.

The next important point to remember is to choose a donor car with manual transmission. A donor car with an automatic transmission is not really suitable for electric conversion. An automatic transmission would need the internal combustion engine to be running constantly to pump transmission fluid into the transmission.

An electric motor will stop turning when it is at rest therefore making a VW Bug with automatic transmission not suitable.

Most of the information I’ve gather about electric car conversion are common sense. But if you would like to do your own research on electric car, you can check out the review on electric car guides on the web below.

Click Here for Electric Car Conversion Guides Review

Most electric car enthusiasts have already know that a VW Beetle is a great donor car for electric vehicle conversion. Those that do not know much about electric car conversion may not know why a Bug is excellent for an EV retrofitting.

The following are a list of reason why a VW Beetle is a great electric donor car:

1) The Bug is simple.

There is no fancy electronic controllers or fancy circuitries.

2) It is a light weight vehicle.

A quick query on the search engine shows the Beetle has a curb weigh of 2100 lbs. An EV with less weight means less baterry to move it forward.

3) No power steering.

Less strain on the battery.

4) No power brakes.

Again less strain on the battery.

5) Manual transmission.

Great for low revolution DC electric motor and easy process to hook it up to the drive train.

6) Has a custom tow bar.

Very handy for towing purposes just in case the batteries ran flat.

The list is not comprehensive. If you have any thoughts on why a VW Beetle is a great donor electric car, please feel free to comment.