The biggest myth is the “perpetual motion machine.” http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/business/high-voltage-hot-rods-cruising-into-electric-vehic/nTqcf/ [image] High-Voltage Hot Rods Cruising into Electric Vehicle Conversions By Susan Salisbury Jan 13 2013
[image / Gary Coronado http://media.cmgdigital.com/shared/lt/lt_cache/thumbnail/908/img/photos/2013/01/08/b3/ae/120712-hot-rods-1.jpg High-Voltage Hot Rods Cruising into Electric Vehicle Conversions Left to right, Brant Cohen, vice president auto production, Alex Berry, vice president marketing and public relations, and Andrew McClary, CEO/Lead Designer, all of of High Voltage Hot Rods, Inc., with an EV GT-40, made using a 1968 Fiberfab Valkyrieh kit car, runs on 56 lithium ion batteries and traveling 90-120 milers per charge, built by McClary http://media.cmgdigital.com/shared/lt/lt_cache/thumbnail/908/img/photos/2013/01/08/3f/ca/120712-hot-rods-2.jpg An EV GT-40, made using a 1968 Fiberfab Valkyrieh kit car, runs on 56 lithium ion batteries and traveling 90-120 milers per charge http://media.cmgdigital.com/shared/lt/lt_cache/thumbnail/908/img/photos/2013/01/08/99/cb/120712-hot-rods-5.jpg Andrew McClary driving an EV GT-40 ] BOCA RATON — Most people think of an electric car as similar to a golf cart. They perceive it putts along at a slow speed and doesn’t go very far on a charge. Andrew McClary, Alex Berry and Brant Cohen, partners in Boca Raton-based High Voltage Hot Rods, which takes classic cars and converts them to performance-based electric cars, are out to educate people about today’s electric car. The cars they are converting or plan to convert, such as the ‘66 Corvair, the ‘66 Mustang and the ‘57 Thunderbird, provide a nostalgic appeal to car buffs. They use either an old car, or a reproduction of the classic car. It’s also about speed. Many of the vehicles have the ability to go from zero to 60 miles per hour in under five seconds. “We take the cars and customize them. We don’t produce the cars here. It’s similar to any other custom hot rod shop that would put in a V8 engine. Instead of putting in a V8, we put in an electric motor,” McClary said. “We make the electric drive trains.” McClary, 45, of Boca Raton, a web designer with an architecture degree, started building electric vehicles five years ago as a hobby. Six months ago, he launched the company with Cohen, 59, of Boca Raton, a mechanic and owner of Brant’s Automotive Inc. for 28 years, and Berry, 51, of Boynton Beach, a marketer and television producer. “I did not want to do electric cars until the parts had come to a certain level of quality so that we could build cars that did not look like science experiments,” McClary, the company’s CEO and lead designer, said recently from Brant’s auto shop, where they work on the cars. “In the last two years, the parts have matured.” McClary converted a 1968 GT-40 replica, which he now calls the EVGT-40 and drives every day. It contains 54 individual batteries with a total voltage of 180. Lithim batteries, similar to those used in cell phones and laptops require less space than the old-style lead acid batteries. A $10,000 lithium battery pack lasts about 10 years. But the cars require no oil changes or tuneups, and run quietly and without vibrations. The cost to convert the vehicles to electric is $20,000 to $30,000. Berry said, “We are bringing sexy back to electric cars.” Cohen, who is also an amateur race car driver, said he became excited about the hot rod-style electric car after taking a ride in McClary’s. “I don’t want a Camry with an electric motor. A hot rod or sports car with an electric motor is a dream,” Cohen said. The vehicles can be driven up to 120 miles on one charge that costs about $3, Berry said. Ninety percent of Americans drive fewer than 40 miles per day. Interest in fast electric vehicles is growing through such organizations as the National Electric Drag Racing Association. The White Zombie, a 1972 electric Datsun 1200, the first street legal electric car to run a 10-second quarter mile, as well as other electric cars, are beating gasoline-powered cars. Even though the mass-produced hybrid, plug-in-hybrid and electric cars sold by major manufacturers might not be as cool or as retro as the ones High Voltage Hot Rods is converting, sales are increasing. Chicago-based Mintel reported in December that sales of alternative fuel vehicles rose 73 percent in 2012, with nearly 440,000 hybrid, plug-in-hybrid and electrics sold so far. The sale of hybrid and electric cars has grown from a market share of a half a percent in 2004 to 3.3 percent of all vehicles sold in 2012. Mintel forecasts that sales of hybrid and electric vehicles will exceed 535,000 units in 2013 and reach 850,000 by 2017. The High Voltage Hot Rod partners are also working on a television series which they expect to be aired on a major network. “We are doing our first episode now and are looking to do a 13-part series that will air in the spring,” McClary said. “It will be kind of a “Myth Busters” meets “Overhauling.” A lot of people don’t really understand electric cars. It’s new to people. There are a lot of myths out there. I want to debunk them and set the record straight,” McClary said. The biggest myth is the “perpetual motion machine.” “People think you can hook a generator up to the wheels and have it generate electricity and charge the batteries,” Mc Clary said. “I usually get one person at every car show who thinks we should be doing that. Physics doesn’t work that way.” The procedure involves taking a conventional gasoline-powered car and removing the gas tank, radiator, fuel lines and other usual equipment and installing an electric motor, a battery pack and speed controllers. Or, if it’s available, they build the car from a reproduction. Eventually, they would like to sell kits with instructions for people who want to do the work themselves. Their first customer is Larry Mills, 65, a Coral Springs resident who drives a 1999 Chevy Geo Metro he has owned for four years to his job as an electrical engineer in Boca Raton. High Voltage Hot Rods is converting a 1966 Chevrolet Corvair to electric for Mills. “My car does not use any gas. There are countries in the Middle East who would like to destroy us. I would rather not send them any money. I would rather do something to make the U.S. energy independent,” Mills said. Mills’ Geo Metro can go 80 miles on a charge. His wife Arlene drives a hybrid Chevy Volt that can travel 40 miles before it switches over to gasoline. “The Corvair is going to be fun. I’ll put the top down,” said Mills, whose first car as a teenager was a Corvair. He expects it to cost a total of $40,000 or so. “An electric motor has maximum torque. You can get off the line pretty damn quick,” Mills said. For now the partners at High Voltage Hot Rods are getting ready for what they believe could be bigger demand for electric cars. Already, they’ve had a half dozen requests to convert more Corvairs. “I believe electric cars are going to take off at some point. We’re getting in on the ground floor,” McClary said. 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