How do you save cost and yet get the most driving mileage out of your homemade electric car? Many Do It Yourself (DIY) electric vehicle enthusiasts utilize Sealed Lead Acid Batteries (SLA) mainly because they are relatively much cheaper than lithium-ion batteries. However, the SLA’s life span is about half that of lithium batteries. Then again, current lithium batteries used on EVs cost an arm and a leg.

Even with lithium-ion batteries, lithium iron phosphate batteries, known as LFP are comparatively stable than the cobalt-based lithium batteries manufactured for a few commercial vehicles. While cobalt-based lithium batteries are more efficient in operation due to ‘higher energy density’, the cycle life of this type of battery is much less than the lithium-ion batteries with phosphate or magnesium compounds as cathodes or even polymers.

Moreover without proper maintenance or supervision, the cobalt-based battery may get overcharged resulting in a fire, a condition called ‘thermal runaway’. On the other hand, lithium batteries with phosphate compound based cathodes have better chemical properties that protect the batteries in case of overcharging.

Most of the lead-based batteries used in electric vehicles do not have any provision for regulating the charge. In such situations, the batteries just get fully charged. However, a proper management during charging will be a good idea since you don’t want to damage the expensive batteries that you’ve invested.

In some of the battery packs, it suffers the risk of being fully, and yet it has not attained the full-charge state. This is not a good thing because it will decrease the plate area in the battery and in turn reduces its charge capacity.

A good battery management system (BMS) is essential for your DIY electric car if you are using deep cycle batteries.

Do you know what is the usual percentage of charge when the battery is in idle condition?

While a number of people are of the view that the idle charge for lithium batteries should be 45%, others do not agree with this percentage. The idle charge of batteries depends upon several factors, such as environment, ambient temperature, quality of battery and others. Many people feel that the charge for lithium battery lasts longer even if it is charged partially.

It is a bit challenging to determine accurately at what percentage of charge for batteries when in idle condition. Nevertheless, you can reasonably conclude that 85% charge for a battery in idle condition is adequate. Thus, if you go on a holiday trip for a couple of days, set your BMS to charge the batteries at this level. When you return, your EV batteries will still have most of its juice.

It is not clear why the ‘lithium substrate’ gets worn out when left idle in almost fully charged condition, especially when it is hot. This characteristic is fairly well recorded for cobalt batteries, it is not certain how much does this apply for phosphate-based lithium batteries.

The batteries would last longer, if you drive short distances and recharges the batteries only partially but doing it frequently. Whenever possible, it is better to charge the batteries during the day, when you haven’t been using your EV for long distance driving which will deplete the batteries to a low level.

In conclusion, as the owner of a homemade electric vehicle, your driving habits and lifestyle will determine how often you should recharge the battery pack. Charging the battery pack every day as a matter of routine is very important to ensure long life for the battery.

With ever increasing prices of gasoline and other petroleum products, using an electric car is much more economical than conventional vehicles with an internal combustion engine power plant. Contrary to what many people believe, charging the battery pack all night just to retain top voltage is not at all necessary.

The best way to preserve batteries is to charge them regularly, ensure that they are not overcharged and utilize a systematically battery management system (BMS).

Your environment friendly homemade electrical vehicle (EV) might have clutch and whether you carry on with it or not, is entirely up to you. However, there are advantages as well as disadvantages to any method that you adopt.

You are going to feel that with the help of a clutch, you can change gears of your EV faster during emergencies or even otherwise; however, setting up the gears can prove to be too complicated for you.

You might feel that without clutches you reduce the weight of your vehicle by 25 pounds, which allows you to install extra batteries without exceeding the vehicle’s permissible weight.

But this might again make you feel that you are taking double the time to shift gears and therefore, take your decision after considering as to whether you want to have your vehicle clutchless or not.

To drive your DIY electric car without clutch, you have to connect your car engine directly to the gearbox. For this purpose, an adaptor made from old clutch plate can prove to be useful. It connects the motor shaft tightly with the gearbox input shaft, thus nullifying the chances of the engine getting disengaged.

Remove entirely the assembled clutch section – the flywheel, peddle, etc. since in modern manual transmission method none of these are used and instead a system called syncro’s is in place between each gear. This system does the work of a clutch for the gears.

When you press or release the gas pedal of your car, these syncro’s create a perfect synergy to match the speed and crunch-free meshing before the gears come into contact, thereby bringing the gears to the correct speed. The fact that electric motor has very little mass as compared to an internal combustion engine; it enables the syncro’s in the gearbox to match the internal speeds quite quickly, thus allowing the proper gears to be selected.

If you want to change gears of your vehicle, first take your foot off the accelerating peddle and then put the leaver into the neutral mode. After this, introduce the gear leaver to your desired gear; however, you should do this gently and slowly and should not exert too much pressure.

Allow the syncro’s to match the gear speed and as the gear falls to the desired place, you can feel the gears meshing. Then starting accelerating and enjoy the ride.

Though, initially, you might find this process a bit complicated; however, with practice you can master it and you are going to find out that changing gear with this system in place, actually takes you a second or two longer than changing with a clutch. The most important thing is that you need to be patient.

Try out this process with some normal ICE cars; however, there you have to concentrate harder, since you need to use the gas pedal efficiently to match the motor speed with the speed of the gearbox.

Since the ICE motor has much more mass than the electric motor, it is tougher for the syncro’s to overcome this hurdle and therefore, cannot match the speeds. Here, the role of the clutch comes into play; since it nullifies the motor mass leaving the syncro’s to deal with clutch plate mass only.

Though an electric motor has lesser mass than ICE motor; however, it has more than the mass of a clutch plate and for this reason you need that extra second to shift gear in a clutchless EV.

Maintaining the electric motor and the deep cycle batteries on your DIY electric car, of course, is necessary for its efficient performance; but if you leave the car exterior uncared for, it does not impress anyone.

When you think of selling your electric vehicle for a change or any other reason, an unkempt exterior look is sure to bring down its resale value tremendously.

In this regard, a well maintained body with paint and glasses in good condition may score even over the overall performance of the EV. First impression lasts, doesn’t it?

Used car sale professionals do first lift up the external look before presenting a car for display. That may be an expensive proposition and is avoidable if you regularly take the very basic cleaning care like giving it a thorough wash with a pressured water hose, without trying too hard to remove dirt stuck to the body, from time to time.

The areas that are not easy to clean are generally those where tar and sand granules have got stuck. These will not clear up without using specific cleansing products available at auto stores. Following the directions for use given with the product is important so that car paint is not damaged in the process.

After this part of the process is over, the car is ready for being polished. A caution here is worth a million!

You must ensure that you pick up a good brand of car polish, albeit a little costlier. Cheaper polishing material works faster; but it is at the cost of your paint!

In fact, cheaper polish products are most certainly likely to contain some abrasive compound rubbing with which is sure to remove the upper paint layer; if used regularly the paint may get worn off with the primer coat showing. This will then need a re-paint.

Once you have completed the polishing job, the electric car surface should glisten; the areas where it doesn’t need to be polished again. Now, if left exposed to weather like this, the shine won’t last for long. This may bring your painstaking effort to a naught.

The remedy lies in applying a protective substance, most commonly carnauba, to the body surface; that’s it!

You will find that the protective layer is impervious to dirt, sand etc. so the shine lasts much longer. Some of the very well known names in car care products are Meguair’s, Turtle, Mothers, Zaino and so many more; these are all good and serve the purpose very well.

Of course, you have the right to choose from these brands depending on your own judgment about the quality of your car looks. One more tip here; always use terry cloth towels or fresh micro fiber for applying polish and giving it a shine.

Old used fabric from domestic waste for the purpose will actually do more damage than saving! You must have noticed that some cars you come across on the road though shining, appear as though coated with cobwebs when seen from some angle; this is the result of polishing with used cloth.

If you consciously find time to carry out the above cleaning process even once every two months, the paint on your homemade electric vehicle will surely not wear out for much longer.

If you are planning to start your own Do It Yourself (DIY) electric car conversion project, you need to head over to the golf course. No, I am not suggesting you play a round of golf there, but rather, head over to the golf carts service station.

Like any admirer of the game of golf; you too are sure to be acquainted with the expensive batteries that are required to power your homemade electric vehicle. However, if you think that you can simply pick up the used batteries, recharge them and use again, you are in for an unpleasant surprise and will find that the job is not that simple.

After you are through with these, the costly replacement of the exhausted and inefficient batteries is going to put a strain on your purse. But everything is not lost and you can take some necessary steps to make the second hand golf cart batteries work more effectively and serve you for a considerable length of time on your EV.

The first and foremost thing to consider is how the old golf cart batteries were maintained which will determine their life span and will eventually help you to not only cut down your expenses on replacement batteries but will also help your DIY electric vehicle runs efficiently. Remember to check the batteries and ensure that there are no leakages.

If you find the batteries are damaged, take necessary steps, which will not will give a longer life span to these but will also provide optimum power to your EV and cater to your entire satisfaction. You should regularly check for any cracks and defects with the batteries as well as the terminals.

After you have setup the batteries on your electric car, you should make the cleaning of the terminals an integral part of your maintenance routine and ensure that these are free of dust, dirt and water to prevent corrosion. However, to avoid any health hazard you must adopt the necessary precautionary measures while performing your maintenance routine.

This is of utmost importance since direct contact with acid batteries can harm your skin. To remain safe, you should always use distilled or de-ionized water for maintenance and cleaning purpose. Do not forget to check the manufacturer’s maintenance instructions of the batteries, which will lead to a longer life span of your batteries and bring down your replacement expenditure.

Acquaint yourself with the tried and tested measures of cleaning your electric vehicle power source, since this will ensure that your batteries work properly and also last longer. Follow the recommended maintenance routine and while performing this, ensure that the vent caps are tightly fitted.

Always use the recommended equipment and tools for maintenance and cleaning. You should also be mindful of the fact that proper charging of the batteries will ensure their optimum performance. You need to exhaust the batteries before charging and should always fully charge these; however, keep a keen eye and ensure that the batteries do not get over charged, since this will harm the batteries.

Last but not the least, filling your batteries with water up to the right level is a very important function that will ensure proper functioning of these over a long period and hence, as soon as the plates get covered stop filling water to your batteries.

If you follow these simple steps and the recommended maintenance schedule, you can ensure extended life span for the batteries on your custom made electric car, thereby reducing the necessity of early replacement of these and the associate cost, too.

An electric car is a plug-in battery powered vehicle. Many people prefer electric cars to gasoline-powered vehicles not only because they are environmentally friendly but also because an analysis of running and maintenance expenses of both types of cars indicates that electric cars are much cheaper and more efficient than gasoline-powered cars.

Sometimes people are faced with a dilemma of whether to convert their present gasoline-run car into an electric car or buy a new electric car or better still, go in for a used electric car. In case the decision is to opt for a used electric car, it is necessary to follow certain steps in order to ensure that one purchases a proper electric car on the best possible terms.

Some of the important factors that you should consider when purchasing used electric cars are:

Determine your needs.

Determine the type of electric vehicle that is most suitable for your needs. Many models of electric cars, such as the Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt are now available in the automobile market.

The Leaf model vehicle is a pure electric vehicle and has a range of around 100 miles, depending upon one’s driving experience and road conditions. The Chevy Volt car is an electric vehicle, equipped with a gas engine as a stand by.

The combination of the two enables a travel up to 300 miles. While the Volt model has most important basic features, the Leaf model is more suitable for travelling.

The purpose of buying a used electric car.

It is important to understand the purpose for which you intend to buy a used electric car. If the plan is to use this vehicle for driving long distances, like going out of the town to the forest or a visit a family located away from the city or town, the battery will get discharged before you realize, resulting in lots of problems for the driver.

Approach a new vehicle dealer.

Quite often new vehicle dealers also sell used cars. It is better to check with them if they have any good used electric cars in stock. If they are not readily available, register with them in the waiting list by paying a little extra charge. It is a very good option and worth considering.

Type of residence.

Some people realize after purchasing an electric car that they do not have proper place to park the vehicle during nights. Electric cars are required to be plugged-in at night. For those living in an apartment, this may not be possible.

Warranty on the EV.

Check about the type of warranty available for the used vehicle. It is necessary to ascertain before buying a used electric car, whether it is out of the certified pre-owned programs and if so, check whether batteries of the used car are covered by a warranty. Batteries of hybrid vehicles usually have a warranty of eight years or 100,000 miles whichever is earlier.

It is very essential to gather every detail about the condition of the battery of the used electric vehicle, particularly if there is any damage to it. For instance, as the battery gets older and the vehicle is used frequently, the life of the battery will accordingly get reduced.

Weather has also an important bearing on the vehicle’s battery. For example, hot weather conditions affect the battery’s life than cold weather.

Buying used electric cars pitfalls.

Electric car technology is still new and the cars are manufactured on large scale. Being ‘first generation’ electric vehicles, they may have some deficiencies. This aspect should be kept in mind before buying a used vehicle, though these problems can be ultimately rectified. That is why warranties are very important, particularly in case of first generation cars.

Hire an electric vehicle.

There are a number of vehicle rental agencies that offer electric cars on rent. It is better to consider renting an electric car for some time and get a feel of it, before investing on a used electric car.

Everyone loves to have a smooth ride in a car and one of the major factors closely related with smooth riding is shock absorbers. But to what extent the shock absorbers can be blamed for undue vehicle jerks, as it depends on the proper functioning of sway bars, bushings, stiffness of the chassis and the quality of the tires may also make the ride miserable.

As you know, a homemade electric car has to carry extra weight of the deep cycle batteries throughout the chassis of the vehicle. When the internal combustion engine of the vehicle has been removed, it is very important to get the total weight balanced correctly. In this sense, the suspension system of the DIY electric car is even more important.

To have a comfortable and smooth ride, suspension settings are very crucial and these settings may vary from vehicle to vehicle depending upon the driving conditions. An experienced driver may be aware of the road condition and would be very cautious while driving and would prefer safe and controlled driving methods, when compared to an inexperienced driver who may be little rash and may ride at high speeds irrespective of the road conditions.

For instance, two cars manufactured by the same company are given to an experienced and less experienced driver then both of them would prefer to make significant tuning suspension damping for smooth riding according to their driving styles. So the key for fine tuning of suspension lies in the hands of the driver who has good control over the car he drives.

The fine tuning of suspension is no guarantee for a smooth ride on your EV as the settings have to be changed from driver to driver frequently and better alternative to this would be to prefer non-adjustable expensive shock absorbers of Bilstein and Koni with lifetime warranties.

If you want to have shock absorbers within your budget, then you should think of Tokico blues, known for good performance at a competitive price. So these shock absorbers are of great choice to an average driver who enjoys smooth rides without breaking the bank.

Now, let us think about a high performance electric car. In this case, an adjustable shock absorber will be very helpful to improve the performance and handling of the EV. The problem is not during acceleration because the electric motor has more than enough torque.

The problem is when your electric car is taking a corner at high speed. The extra weight of the batteries will definitely send your vehicle off the cornering line. So a high quality suspension and shock absorbers are important for a safe ride.

Having high quality shock absorbers to your electric car is no guarantee for a smooth ride as loosen or weak chassis condition may not give the desired smooth ride results. Over a period of time, if the chassis is not repaired in time, it may cause some amount of damage to the absorbers. Make sure the check and maintain the absorbers on a regular basis to prolong its service life.

The best way to have hassle free car riding would be to install chassis braces and good quality sub frame connectors. To fix the cars inflexibility cheap braces would benefit a lot.

For people who love to ride their EV fast can replace the spring with that of sway bars and for a comfortable high speed ride. Sometimes the change of sway bars may not result in the desired result, then you may have to replace stiffer brushings also.

The process of suspension tuning is to choose the best alternative for a given car model. So before opting for changes to the absorbers, it is always advisable to know your expectations and to have a clear idea of what to buy.

For many generation people have driven cars fueled by gasoline and that does not look like it is going to change in the near future. Yet as the demand for oil and it byproducts increase, it also seems clear that we are soon coming to a time when it will be difficult and expensive to acquire gasoline.

So in spite of our reluctance, alternatives to the traditional car need to be found as quickly as possible. High torque electric motors that run on a renewable energy sources seem to be the wave of the future and need to receive serious consideration. Everyone from scientist to car manufacturers to the automobile drivers is paying attention to this option.

The truth is, electric motors have numerous advantages over traditional cars. An electric car can be as much as 500% more efficient than its gasoline powered counterpart and can therefore use far less fuel. Another benefit is that an electric car emits far fewer pollutants into the environment and reduces greenhouse gases.

The environmental benefit will increase as we continue to peruse renewable sources of electricity such as solar, water, and wind. Still another benefit of the electric cars is it is nearly silent, another huge advantage, particularly in cities where noise pollution is an issue.

In addition to this they are both safe and easy to use. If you are good with electrical or mechanical work you may be considering the possibility of building an electric car for yourself. Doing this work for yourself would easily save you thousands and thousands of dollars over buying an electric car from the manufacturer.

One very good option would be to convert your current car into a pure electric vehicle. While this is not possible in every case, it is quite often a good possibility. The first step is make sure you have the skills to take on a homemade electric car project. If you have worked on cars in the past there is a very good chance that you will be capable of doing this work as well.

Even if you generally hire out you auto work you can likely still complete this task with the help of a good electric car conversion guide book. Comfort with the use of the tools you will need is the biggest thing to consider.

In many ways, the design of electric cars is more basic than their gasoline powered counter parts. It is a good idea to familiarize yourself with their design and the way they work before you get started. There are a surprising number of do it yourself books and kits available for this conversion. These books and kits would also tell you what sort of tools you will need to have available.

One important thing that they may not tell you however is that you are probably going to need another strong person handy to help you lift some heavy components. The average carport or garage will be plenty of space to do this project.

DIY Electric Car Conversion Guide

Are you planning to do your own Do It Yourself (DIY) electric car conversion project? If you are, be sure to check out EV conversion guide by Gavin Shoebridge.

Gavin is from New Zealand and is known as the EV Guy in the homemade electric vehicle realm. His guide comes with step by step instructions and High Definition (HD) videos on how to tackle an electric car conversion project. Click on the link below to visit Gavin’s web site right now.

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

Just like anything in life, there are some obvious risk factors associated with working on a Do It Yourself (DIY) electric car. But these can be taken care of by adopting some simple homemade safety measures.

For example the electric shock, which is the most common hazards encountered in pure electric cars, can be easily avoided with a little precaution. A conventional automobile with an internal combustion engine is powered by gasoline therefore safety precaution should be taken to avoid any sparks or fire from the car. The same precaution should be taken with an electric vehicle (EV) which runs on electricity.

Here’s what you should do when working on a homemade electric car. Make sure that no connections from the batteries are left exposed where it may come in contact with your hands or tools. Put protective covers and tag all high voltage cables. Like the circuit breaker boxes, all good quality EV conversions should be installed with relays, fuses, and the connections should be inside a box as a safety measure.

Working With Battery Bank

Here’s a safety precaution you can take when working with the batteries on an EV. Use a small spanner when you are working with batteries in order to avoid accidentally connecting both the terminals. For further safety, you should insulate the handles of the spanner.

All deep cycle batteries for your electric car have two terminals. It has high voltage flowing from one column to the other. To avoid any bridging between both sides by accidental dropping your tools, placed a tall layer of insulation between the two columns of batteries. This simple step would greatly reduce the chances of any short connection.

Any high voltage connection on your EV should be clearly marked and segregated at a safe distance from the other electric systems of the car. Whether, electronic or mechanical, at any moment there can be compartment failure.

A provision for disconnecting the high voltage line when it is not in use is the basic feature of a good circuit design. With a view to implement some safety measure your can opt for an Anderson connector.

The Anderson connectors are designed provide a quick disconnect for power distribution systems. As an additional safety measure, some people use a circuit breaker that has a mechanical cable extending into the passenger compartment. This ensures a faster emergency disconnect.

When the “ignition key” is off, the high voltage should be disconnected. This is achieved by connecting a heavy duty relay to the ignition key.

Another relay is hooked to the accelerator pot box in the engine compartment to disconnect the high voltage whenever the accelerator is released. Thus, in case of emergency, whenever you turn the key off, or release the accelerator, the high voltage system gets disconnected automatically. For additional safety, to put off the relay at the event of any probable collision, you can attach an inertia switch to this circuit.

Above all, it is very important to follow some good work habits while you are working with your electric car conversion project. Everyone working in the electronics department in the army is supposed to work with one hand inside their pockets. This measure prevents the flow of electricity from one hand to the other hand through the chest. They also wear insulating boots as further safety measure.

All electrical equipments have safety disconnections. For further safety, grounding rods are fixed to the equipments. This ensures proper earthling and disconnection of the equipments. The entire emphasis was on the fact that all equipments are properly disconnected and good and safe working habits are followed.

DIY Electric Car Conversion Guide

Are you planning to convert a conventional automobile into a homemade electric vehicle? If you are, it is best you read up on the science of electric car conversion.

Before you begin your electric vehicle conversion project, check out the Convert2EV ebook by Les and Jane Oke. The Okes live a green lifestyle in Canada and one way of keeping their carbon footprint small is by using pure electric car. The Convert2EV manual was written based on their experience of retrofitting old gas guzzler into electric vehicle.

==> Click here to visit Convert2EV now!

Many people would like to know if electric cars are truly more inexpensive to run than standard gas powered cars. At a quick glance, the obviously glaring answer would be a huge YES!

The ability to drive much further on a dollar’s worth of electricity versus a dollar’s worth of gas is what we are looking at when we consider having greater efficiency.

Of course, there can always be exceptions to this standard rule; however, it is common that a homemade electric car has about thirty percent more efficiency than a standard gasoline powered vehicle.

Still, there are things to think about when computing the differences between the option of gasoline powered and electric powered forms of transportation. DIY electric cars use deep cycle lead-acid batteries, which can typically require replacement with a brand new battery pack approximately every three or so years, under normal operating conditions. The cost of doing so is approximately around $2500, give and take depending on the model of battery you use.

A cost as great as this, is certainly something which must be taken into consideration when making a decision. Dependent upon on the exact type of lead-acid battery you have, you may also need to purchase one or two gallons of distilled water every three or so months, in order to top up your batteries. Although it’s not a huge expense, consider you could possibly distill it yourself if absolutely necessary.

Taking that into consideration, let’s now look at the operating expenditures of an electric car: The first task is to work out how much it is going to cost in electricity charges each year to drive your car a distance of 10,000 miles. It is typical by conversion that you might expect to drive four miles per unit, referred to as a kilowatt hour, of electricity.

The cost of a unit of electricity may be around fifteen cents (US), which would make the electric car really cost around 3.75 cents per mile to drive. At a rate of 10,000 miles per year, that would work out to about $375 worth of electricity per year.

The possible generation of electricity is a whole other story, to be left for another conversation, but should be kept it in mind as an alternative to eliminate this cost.

Next, we will add to the cost, the calculation of a new replacement pack of batteries. Remember, this is a cost of approximately $2500 every three years or roughly $833 per each year.

Don’t forget that there are other fees too, such as insurance, road tax (as applicable), new tires and standard wear and tear. Add all that together and you could be looking somewhere around $1700 in expenses. (In this calculation, I have not accounted for devaluation of the vehicle since electric cars hold their value extremely well).

The United States Department of Labor has stated that by comparison, the average gasoline powered car costs approximately $2,227 per year, just in gasoline and motor oil expenses. Gasoline powered cars cost an additional $2,355 in other common vehicle-related costs, such as fluid replacements, exhaust repairs, and the like. That is a total sum of $4582 US to drive a standard gasoline powered vehicle.

Do note that these prices are based on gas being at a cost of or below $2.20 US per gallon. Even in the case of excluding tax breaks and the refunds available to many electric car drivers, and perks such as carpool lane access, free parking and free public charging, the average the electric car is a great deal cheaper to own and drive than the gasoline powered option.

Remember, the more the price of fuel and oil rises (which is very likely by the way), the less expensive when compared will be the cost of a pure electric car.

DIY Electric Car Conversion Guide

Are you planning to convert a conventional automobile into a homemade electric vehicle? If you are, it is best you read up on the science of electric car conversion.

Before you begin your electric vehicle conversion project, check out the Convert2EV ebook by Les and Jane Oke. The Okes live a green lifestyle in Canada and one way of keeping their carbon footprint small is by using pure electric car. The Convert2EV manual was written based on their experience of retrofitting old gas guzzler into electric vehicle.

==> Click here to visit Convert2EV now!

Do you know how to improve the effective driving mileage of a DIY electric car? Generally, a homemade electric car has a driving mileage of approximately 50 miles before it has to be recharged. That is not a lot, isn’t it?

Effectively, you can only use your DIY electric vehicle (EV) and drive to places about 25 miles radius from where you are. The balance 25 miles are needed for you to drive back home…well, unless your desired destination allows you to plug in and recharge the batteries overnight.

Battery power efficiency is a major concern for pure EV owners and keeping in mind a few steps is worth considering. Irrespective of the kind or make of vehicle that you have converted, there exist a handful of measures which if adopted can easily help to enhance the usage of battery more efficiently.

Essentially, these measures are neither too costly nor too difficult to comprehend or implement and in no way involves any replacement of new super efficient deep cycle batteries or other equally complicated energy efficient electric motor.

In fact one such solution is as basic as getting to lower the effect of both friction and load within the vehicle. This is because higher the value of either the friction or the weight, greater will be the discharge rate from your battery bank.

Firstly, let us consider the aspect of weight and how it can affect the consumption of power in an electric car. A reduction in weight need not involve any cutting torch or drilling measures on the body of the vehicle. Basically, two types of weights are given due consideration here, they are the sprung weight and the un-sprung type of weight.

In case of sprung weight, it refers to the weight that is borne by the suspension of the vehicle and encompasses the different parts of the EV such as the body of the vehicle, the chassis, the interiors of the vehicle as well as the electric motor and the central body.

Although getting to reduce weights in such sprung weight parts are rather challenging, these are not impossible. Doing a proper scrutiny of the “pack rat” kit that practically cartloads a whole range of things one would need in a vehicle and removing many of the unwanted stuff that one can well avoid carrying often helps in minimizing vehicular weight.

The second measure that helps to extend the driving mileage of your DIY electric car is that of maintaining a well-cleaned and efficient vehicle. It makes sense to ensure the rules of through clean-up of the various vehicular parts such as chassis, undercarriage, the electric motor etc.

Using a pressure washer to wash your car at regular intervals is a good way to reduce the weight gathered by filth and grime. But remember, do not get your battery bank, controller or the electric motor wet!

The tendency of the vehicle to pile on tar, dust and mud particles adds to the weight of the overall vehicle and the only way to cut this down is by regular cleaning. Although the weight reductions observed in sprung weight do help in economizing the battery usage, saving power is found to be much greater in the un-sprung version.

Let us now take a look at the various parts included in the un-sprung weight of your electric vehicle. These include the axle weigh, the wheel weight and the fitted tires. Power discharge from your batteries gets relatively higher with larger-sized tires that are wider in type. In fact it is in this area that even a minimal weight reduction can make a marked difference in your mileage.

By using light weight customized wheels rather than the factory outlet variants, many electric vehicle owners have found to be at a greater advantage on battery efficiency.

DIY Electric Car Conversion Manual

If you are looking for a good Do It Yourself (DIY) electric car conversion book, check out Gavin Shoebridge’s Electric Conversion Made Easy guide.

Gavin is from New Zealand and he has converted his old 1987 Mitsubishi Treadia into a pure electric car in his garage.

Gavin is also well known in the homemade electric car realm. This is because of all the videos he took when he was converting his Tredia to EV.

==> Click here to read more about Electric Conversion Made Easy!