I'm basing this conversion on weight and the availability of wrecked Leafs.
The insurance companies don't know the vehicle and many are being totaled with
minor damage...that being said I bet I can get a t boned Leaf for a couple of
thousand or less. Add the price of a used Ultravan which is very variable. I
saw one in KS for 500 dollars. Another example here in the Bay Area San
Francisco is 1500 dollars. It was in the movie My Girl. I don't know the
condition but I suspect I could get it going for under 10k Including solar
panels. However that is if I can use the Leaf BMS/charger and figure out how
to put a front drive drive train in the rear. I suspect I could somehow
transplant the whole Leaf system if I was careful. Lawrence Rhodes...
From: Lee Hart <[email protected]>
To: Lawrence Rhodes <[email protected]>; Electric Vehicle Discussion
List <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, February 24, 2016 10:03 PM
Subject: Re: [EVDL] Zelectric conversions. 0 to 60's in seconds...but for
$130, 000???
Lawrence Rhodes via EV wrote:
> When I realized I couldn't build a nice electric car for what I could
> buy one for I gave up and bought a used Leaf EV.
So did I. We added a 2013 Leaf to my EV collection. It's hard to beat
the fit/finish/features for the price. It's my wife's car. She prefers
the comforts of new modern cars to drive any old conversion.
At the present time (the peak of the latest EV boom/bust cycle), it's
better to buy new than to build/convert. You basically can't *give* away
conversions at this point in the cycle. Conversions only do well during
the "bust" phase of the cycle, when you can't get auto company EVs.
I'd love to see us avoid the usual "bust" part of the cycle this time,
but history has a habit of repeating itself...
- It's happened many times before.
(history is the best predictor of the future)
- Gas prices are amazingly low.
(EV sales down, truck/SUV sales up)
- We're set to switch back to an all-republican government.
(There go all the EV subsidies. Back to drill baby drill.)
- Auto and oil companies are fervently looking for a new holy grail.
(diesel, fuel cell, tar sand, fracking, natural gas, biofuel...
ANYTHING to maintain the status quo with minimal change.)
> My next project might be an Ultravan (3000 pound RV) with a Leaf drive train.
That's an interesting idea. :-) I've always liked Corvairs. My first car
was a 1961 Corvair, and I still own my 1965 Corvair Corsa. I keep
dreaming of converting it into an Electrovair. Notice how similar the
specs are to the much-later EV1.
https://history.gmheritagecenter.com/wiki/index.php/1966_Electrovair_II_Concept
--
Knowledge is better than belief. Belief is when someone else does
your thinking. -- anonymous
--
Lee Hart, 814 8th Ave N, Sartell MN 56377, www.sunrise-ev.com
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