Citroen, the French car manufacturing company is also producing pure plug-in electric car. It has converted it cool and compact C1 model into an EV. Turning the C1 into an electric vehicle is a brilliant idea. As the first four-seat battery-powered car, it’s usable on an everyday basis, with a decent range and performance for driving round town. Check out the video of Citroen C1 electric car cruising on the London street.

Here’s some specification on the C1 electric car:
1) Price: £16,850
2) Engine: 30kW electric motor
3)Transmission: Single-speed, front-wheel drive
4) Power: 40bhp
5) 0-62mph: 14 seconds
6) Top speed: 60mph
7) Range: 75 miles
8) Equipment: Electric windows, side airbags, folding rear seats
9) On sale: Now

Here’s some interesting news on the electric car scene. The automotive giant Daimler from Germany is buying the struggling Tesla Motors. The purchase was for 10% of Tesla shares and the deal was worth more than $50 million. It seems even electric vehicle manufacturers can’t get away from the traditional automobile players. What’s next, would any car company buy a DIY electric car conversion workshop?

Here’s are some information on the internet about the Daimler-Tesla deal.

1) Daimler buys a stake in Tesla – This morning, Mercedes’ parent company announced that it has bought a slice of California’s up and coming electric car company, Tesla Motors Inc…

2) Daimler Buys 10% Stake in Tesla Motors – In May this year, the German heavyweight automaker Daimler purchased a 10% stake in the Silicon Valley-based Tesla Motors…

3) Daimler Takes 10% Stake in Tesla; Strategic Partnership to Collaborate on Future Models – Daimler AG has acquired an equity stake of nearly 10% in Tesla Motors Inc. The two companies have already been working closely to integrate Tesla’s lithium-ion battery packs and charging electronics into the first 1,000 units of Daimler’s electric smart car…

4) Strategic partnership between Tesla Motors and Daimler – When economic times get tough companies have to re-consider their market position. It can also be an opportunity to explore new methods and new technologies…

5) Trying to find the upside to Tesla-Daimler deal – Not everyone think the big Daimler-Tesla deal announced last week is a win-win. In fact, Jay Yarow over at Business Insider is trying to figure our how either side benefits from Daimler’s estimated $50+ million investment in Tesla…

Volkswagen Beetle Electric Car Conversion

Most people are intrigued with the idea of driving a pure electric car. Many are not sure on the handling and performance of an electric vehicle. For the time being, buying a new electric car from the manufacturer is still quite expensive. Without economy of scale, the price of brand new EV is beyond the reach of many car owners. The best alternative is to convert a gasoline driven car to run on electric power. Many electric car enthusiasts are are doing a Do It Yourself (DIY) electric car conversion from their home garage.

One of the most popular donor car for a homemade EV conversion project is an old Volkswagen VW Beetle. Old VW Bugs are generally inexpensive and can be obtained easily. To save cost, try to get a Beetle that is busted beyond repair. With a faulty Beetle, you can always negotiate a lower price from the buyer.

The idea of converting a VW Bug to electric is quite simple. The work involve the removal of the internal combustion engine (ICE) and replacing it with a DC electric motor. Since the engine is take out, all its associated components such as gas tank, fuel lines, fuel pumps, exhaust pipe and radiator are redundant and to be removed as well. To generate force, the electric motor is connected directly to the existing transmission unit.

Driving a Beetle electric car can save you a lot of money. However, if you are not familiar with automotive parts, it is not recommended to do your own EV conversion. In this case, it would be better if you were to outsource the conversion work to a professional mechanic. If you are interested to convert your own Bug, check out the VW Beetle electric car conversion guides.

EV Conversion with reconditioned battery

If you are planning to start your own Do It Yourself (DIY) electric car conversion project at home, it is always wise to have a budget. You want to know how much money you need to get all the parts required.

Apart from the electric motor, the other major cost of the overall project is the batteries. An average homemade electric vehicle will require 10 to 15 units of deep cycle batteries. If you were to buy all new battery, the cost will be very high it that will defeat the purpose of a DIY electric car.

To save cost, you can reuse dead batteries. How to you recondition a dead battery? There are many ways to do so. Part of the reasons why the battery is dead is because it has lost all the electric charge. There is a process where you can recharge the battery but you have to run through a few steps to check the condition of the battery.

An electric car does offer a lot of benefits compared to a gasoline driven vehicle. If you have the budget, you can buy a brand new one from the dealership. Unfortunately, without economy of scale, a new EV is still relatively expensive and many people are not ready to make the investment. The best alternative right now to retrofit our existing car to run on electricity.

DIY Electric Car Conversion Project in New Zealand

The following is a Youtube video of a chap by the name Gavin Shoebridge. He’s a DIY electric car retrofitter from New Zealand. You can see from the video, he bought a faulty 1987 Mitsubishi Treadia donor car for $180 back in March 2007.

Bringing Back Dead Battery to Life for Electric Car

There is one key thing that differentiates an electric car from a gasoline driven car…it is the power plant. An electric vehicle (EV) uses an electric motor to generate torque to propel the car forward. To supply the electricity needed from the electric motor, a series of deep cycle batteries are used. An average electric car would need about 15 – 20 batteries. On a full charge the EV can cover up to 100 miles. However, after some time, the mileage will become less. This is because the batteries are loosing its charge. Why do batteries loose its charge and become weak after some time? I’ve decided to dig deeper into the issue.

Most electric car conversion kit guides on the web will show you where and how to find cheap batteries for your electric car. Some of the guides such as Convert 2 EV will even show you how to recondition a dead battery. Most batteries are made up of plates inside, that when left in an undercharged state become sulfated. That means that they develop a layer of sulfate crystals on the surface of the plates. With a layer of sulfate, there is less surface contact between the plate and the distilled water. This in effect will reduce the electron movement in the battery. When the plates are fully covered by crystallized sulfate, no electron will pass through therefore killing the battery.

There are ways to bring a dead battery to life. It involves either dismantling the whole battery and manual clearing the plates or by using “Sonic Vibration”. I will write more on how we can recondition a battery for electric car in my next blog post. In the mean time, if you would like to know where and how you can find cheap deep cycle batteries or recondition a dead battery back to life for electric car, you can get your copy of Convert 2 EV manual here.

Does Electricity 4 Gas Work for Electric Car Conversion?

Some people may be wandering if Peter Millward’s Electricity 4 Gas works for electric car conversion project? Before I answer that question, there are a few things we have to understand about the process of owning an electric vehicle (EV). There are a few ways you can get your hands on an EV. If you have the money to spend, you can buy a new electric car from the manufacturers. If you are cash strapped, your other option is to convert your existing gasoline driven car to electric.

There are 2 ways how you can retrofit your car to electric. You can either send it to a professional mechanic or you can Do It Yourself (DIY). If you are sending it to a mechanic, you will still have to invest money but not as much as buying a new EV. The cheapest method would be to convert your car to electric on your own at home. However, not everyone has the skill and know how to remove an internal combustion engine and replace it with an electric motor. There are a lot of planning and machining work to be done. Since most of the parts are not available off the shelves, so you have to custom made them. The best option to own an electric car is to outsource the conversion process.

If you are the group of people who are going to outsource the EV work, then Electricity 4 Gas would be very useful. The information in the manual is very preliminary and basic. It does not cover any technical detail info. Nonetheless, after reading the e-book, you will know how an EV works and what are the key components. These knowledge are important so you will have an intelligent conversion with the mechanic. The knowledge will also help you to be more prudent and at least you will know when you are being charged for unnecessary parts or work done on your car.

Electric Car Build From Home Garage

It is possible to have an electric car build from our home garage? To do so, it is pretty much depend on you. To convert a gasoline driven car to electric at home is not a simple process. It will involve a lot of preliminary planning and you have to commit some time to get it done.

Many people like to idea of using an electric vehicle to commute. For the time being, a new car from electric car manufacturers is still relatively expensive. It is understandable some would want to convert their car to run purely on electric on their own. Most would star by reading electric car conversion guides. There is some prerequisite to start a Do It Yourself (DIY) electric car build from home. Firstly, you must have well versed knowledge on automotive engineering.

EV conversion is like doing heart operation to your vehicle. You are literally taking out the heart of the car which is the internal combustion engine and replacing it with an electric motor. It is no simple task. Further more, the process of connecting the electric motor to the transmission is very tricky. To join the 2 components together, you can either custom made the joining plate or purchase an expensive ready made one. The message here is…you have to know your stuff before you start building your own electric car. Not knowing what you’re doing will lead to frustration and time wasting. At the end of the day, you won’t have your EV, worst still, you won’t be able to drive your gas guzzler either.

If you really want an electric car build from home, it is a good idea to start with some electric vehicle knowledge. You can get review of electric car conversion guides here.