I find myself right in the middle of this conundrum and I still go back and
forth sometimes. I have not gotten much use out of my Datsun truck the last
couple of years for several reasons. My BB600 Nicads are getting pretty long
in the tooth and barely provide enough range for some of my regular trips. It
also needed some other upgrades especially to the brakes. I just do not get
enough use out of it to justify the cost of keeping it on the road (insurance
etc...). I seriously considered getting out of the conversion altogether and
buying an OEM EV.
For now I am sticking with the conversion and keeping it as a long term project
that I will complete when I have the time and money. All I want out of it is
the equivalent functionality and reliability of a Nissan Leaf so I really had
to ask myself why not just go out and buy a Nissan Leaf? For me the answer
echoed some that have already been suggested. I really like my truck and long
term I think I will be happier owning my 1970 Datsun pickup nicely restored and
electrified over owning a Nissan Leaf. I think it is a lot cooler, I like the
fact that I did it myself, and that I can continue to make it into anything
that I want it to be. There are days though when I am jealous of the new breed
of EV owners. It must be nice to drive a factory fresh EV that you just have
to plugin and drive :)
I did make some progress on my truck this spring/summer. I upgraded the front
brakes from the factory drum to disc which made a huge difference. I finally
redid my interior which makes it much nicer to drive. I also replaced my
Logisystems Controller (which finally died) with a Zilla 1k (Zilla's were
unavailable when I bought the Logi) which is the controller I always wished I
could have. So after making some progress and driving it for several weeks, I
decided to pull it back off the insurance and put it away for the winter. I
may still do some more upgrades to it as time and funds allow over the winter,
but what it is really waiting for is that pack of lithiums which will run me
somewhere between $3000 - $5000 initial investment. That should buy somewhere
between 30 - 50 miles usable range with the ability to add to the pack in the
future if I desire.
Although, I've always considered my truck a long term project that I would
likely keep the rest of my life, the first few years it was all about getting
it on the road and keeping it on the road to drive and enjoy as much as
possible even if I had to cut corners to save money. I was able to keep it on
the road and get a lot of use out of it despite some definite shortcomings.
Now I am into round two and it is more about turning it into the conversion
I've always really wanted. I only live 17 miles from John Wayland so the
blueprint of what I want is always right there were I can see it. In the
meantime I have lots of other cars in my driveway, including my 2001 Honda
Insight that I bought brand new and have put 220k miles on :)
At this point I'm not willing to live with the limited range I see in the line
of OEM EV's currently on the market. If I did not have my own project sitting
in the driveway that just needs a nice lithium pack and a few other upgrades to
match their functionality I would be fine owning a Nissan Leaf or something
similar, but the only OEM EV I would be willing to shell out money for at this
time would be the Tesla S, and I am not even close to having that kind of money
to spend on a car. The other tempting options for me then are OEM hybrids.
I'm a big fan of both the Chevy Volt and Toyota Prius although I have never
actually driven either one so I can't say for sure. I really like the Volt
because it is so EV like. I'm convinced that for my use it would be much more
EV than Hybrid, and I like the Prius because I see it as equivalent in most
ways to my Honda Insight which I have loved, but with room for more than two
people. I know some on this list really get offended by
hybrids, but I have loved my Honda Insight. I originally bought it when it
became apparent that I simply could not build the EV I wanted for the commute I
was making at that time of 52 miles round trip with lots of freeway and some
long steep climbs. The availability of lithium has change the equation now and
I could build an EV to do that trip, but I know longer commute :)
damon
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