In this blog post, I decided to do a book review on “Build Your Own Electric Vehicle” by Seth Leitman and Bob Brant. This is one of the top selling paperback books on EV conversion in the market. If you were to go the Borders or Barnes and Nobel bookstore, most probably you will find a copy on the “[tag-tec]automotive[/tag-tec]” section.
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