The buzz about alternative energy and Electric Vehicle (EV) has revived the last few years because of the clear threat that global warming has become. But for hobbyists and innovators, and lovers of life and earth, electric cars have been the gold standard for quite sometime now. Even more so after losing hope in Detroit, which actually recalled perfectly working and sold out versions of its EV and destroyed it for no apparent reason in the early 90s, even more so. It makes good sense too. The earliest cars were EVs and the managed to make motor vehicle history. Their time was up for no good reason when automakers decided to make cars with the internal combustion engines that require fossil fuel, a limited source of energy.

Everything from old Ford Taurus to Opel GT and even full scale trucks has gone electric or hybrid thanks to your owners. You can rest assure though that it takes a lot of time and energy to get it done, but surprisingly not a lot of money. In fact, for what you save on gas after your little science project, the cost of the whole thing will seem negligible. You might want to consider taking help from a friend who lives and breathes engines or a local mechanic if you yourself are a novice, despite your enthusiasm. Just keep in mind that the basic to making your car hybrid is packing it with a load of 12volts car batteries and figuring out a way of using smaller engines that powers it up enough to keep you rolling. And you better have clear diagram on where your wire are headed. But there is more to it than meets the eye. To get a clear idea of what you are doing, you might even want to read up on plans for restructuring your car. Websites such as MotherEarthShopping.com offers them online too. Or you could just Google “hybrid car plan” or “DIY hybrid car” to find other online sources.

But if you don’ want to jump directly into gutting your car’ engines, there’
a perfectly rational and satisfying thing you can do: get yourself a DIY electric car building kit. Not only will this give you a great sense of creation satisfaction, it will also help you better understand how electric cars work. Companies like the Robert Q. Riely Enterprise offers a great range of high end DIY kits which allow you to actually make everything from scratch, but with full detailed instructions. You even have your choice of two or four wheelers that you can take for a real spin around and beyond your neighborhood.

Edit:
Hey everyone!

We just released an E-book that teaches step by step how to convert a cheap electric car into an electric car. It’s a great way learn how electric cars and their innards work, so if your interested, please visit the page and learn more about the guide.

Click on the following link for more info:
http://electricvehiclesite.com/electric-car-conversion.html

They make for fun and interesting science projects that will serve a real purpose once completed.

Here are a few images of home made electric cars:

Some people believe that one day all cars will be electric. With the current debates on global warming this is not considered as pure fantasy.

Within a few years it won’t be unusual to see more electric vehicles and hybrid-electric cars on roads most everywhere. This is partly due to unpredictable and unstable petrol prices. Therefore to fit in with day to day driving needs, people are searching for better alternatives.

Electric cars are claimed to be up to 97% cleaner than what we now use and we will not have to endure the same pollutants as we do now. Did you know that just starting your car or sitting in traffic can increase air pollution?

So, just how fast do these cars go?

The NEV or Neighborhood Electric Vehicle can go at 20-25 mph. The three-wheeled enclosed “city cars” go up to 45 mph.

The ZAP Xebra sedan, although not a neighborhood electric car, because it only has 3 wheels can actually get speeds up to 40 mph. These city-class three-wheelers are more like motorcycles, and it can be licensed as a motorcycle.

The MM NGM – Myers Motors No More Gas is commonly referred to as the sparrow. Apparently Myers Motors acquired Sparrow Motors. They are in production and are now available and can reach speeds of up to a fast 75 mph.

The ZENN – Zero Emissions, No Noise is a four-wheel car that can reach up to 35
mph.

The T-zero built by AC Propulsion Inc does 0 to 60 mph in 3.6 seconds, according to the company. Due to its torque and light weight it does this on only 200 horsepower. It can go for 280 to 300 miles without recharging even if it can recharge on any 120 or 240 V power socket. Although this may sound good the price ticket may be a bit off-putting - $220,000.

According to WhatCar the Prius Hatchback 1.5 Hybrid T Spirit had an overall review rating of 3/5 for on the road performance. “The second-generation Prius is in a different league to other petrol-electric hybrids, nipping into gaps in town traffic and easily coping with A-roads and motorways. However, the electric motor can only deliver peak pull below 22mph, so at higher speeds the Prius doesn’t have the pulling muscle of a good turbo diesel motor.”

Hybrid and electric cars ‘can’t go fast’ is a myth that has been wrongly associated with them for a long time and is probably the reason that buyers stay away from them. Dependent upon the engineers the great thing about them is that they can be versatile – range, fuel economy and speed.

So we now have learned that the electric cars can in fact go fast enough to function in everyday life. For this reason, with the much cleaner efficiency, electric cars may soon grow in mass use.

With all the current emphasis on going “green” and protecting the environment, it is no wonder that the electric car has come center focus. Especially now with soaring gas prices, consumers want to know their options. Traditional gas powered vehicles have long been the focus of those concerned with environmental issues, and so invariably inventors and car manufacturers look to improve the technologies available on the electric car.

If you are considering the purchase of an electric car, you need to be realistic about their benefits. They’ve come a long way recently but they still have some significant disadvantages, and there are still limitations to their use and wide spread availability. Here are some disadvantages you may want to consider when evaluating if an electric car is feasible for your transportation needs:

1. Electric cars are expensive to own. If you’ve checked into the price of an electric car, you know they are not “low end”. It’s not so much the price of the car as it is the price of the batteries which they run on. If you’ve purchased batteries you know how the costs can add up quickly, and the batteries used in electric cars are lithium-ion, which are expensive. Also keep in mind that eventually the battery packs will need to be replaced, as they have a life of approximately 3 to 4 years.

2. The batteries will need to be recharged. A second disadvantage to an electric car is that the batteries will need to be recharged. This will require advanced planning because you’ll have to allow adequate time for the batteries to be fully charged. Now this might not sound like that big of a problem but if you are thinking of purchasing an electric car then you will need to make an honest assessment of how much you will use your vehicle. An extended or unplanned trip could be problematic if you haven’t had time to fully recharge the batteries.

3. Limits on driving distance. If you drive long distances, an electric car might not suit your needs, so you will need to consider how far you plan on driving your car. Most of the electric cars have limits on how many miles they can go before needing a recharge. Electric car maker ZAP recently announced that their electric car could travel up to 100 miles per single charge, but many people drive more miles than that round trip on a daily commute to work. This is definitely a limitation for those who intend to use the vehicle for getting to and from their place of employment. You certainly would not want to run out of batteries if you got stuck in a rush hour traffic jam.

4. Lack of power. Another disadvantage to the electric car is the lack of power, specifically quick pickup. If you do a lot of interstate driving there are going to be times when you will need to accelerate quickly to merge into traffic.

Electric cars have come a long way in recent years but still have to overcome a few more obstacles before becoming widely embraced as a solution for many consumers.

Electric cars that zip by have always been more sci-fi than reality, thanks to pop culture. But in fact, the earliest cars were running on electricity long before the energy and automobile industry decided to convert Detroit into a gas guzzling machine based on the internal combustion engine. And precisely because of that, electric cars are making a comeback. With fuel prices soaring, and fossil fuel itself adding ever more to greenhouses gases that cause global warming, the world is betting on solutions such as alternative clean fuels, and zero or low carbon emitting cars powered by electricity.

As Detroit is to the American automobile industry, Japan is fast becoming to the world. And their fleet of hybrid cars, those that use an alternative clean energy only or in combination with gas is helping Japan’s position as a global leader in the auto industry big time. Last summer, while Toyota took the lead from Ford and became the second most selling brand of automobiles in America just after GM, Honda comfortably outsold DaimlerChrysler. Toyota and Honda, both Japanese companies, are also the only mass producers of hybrid vehicles and enjoy steady success in that market. By 2003, Honda had sold over more than 37,000 units while Mazda expected to sell at 7,000 units of its 4WD Demio series. And according to a research by J.D Power, 350,000 units of hybrids will be sold in the US alone by 2008. You can rest assure that the Japanese brand of EVs will make a significant chunk of that market. It helps to get the word out when celebrities like George Clooney and Leonardo DiCaprio are already hybrid drivers.

Japanese automakers Mitsubishi too is hoping to re-brand its market imagine by launching a series of EVs in Japan by 2010. Subaru too is teaming up with the Tokyo Power Company to launch a series of electric vehicles, based on Subaru’s R1e minicars that will challenge Toyotas hybrids when it is launched.

While Japan continues to work on mass market models of EVs, engineer and designers there are also working on ever more impressive line of sporty and luxury models. The Eliica electric car, still only a prototype, can climb up to a speed of about 100mph in 7 seconds and reach a top speed of 400kmph. A brain child of Prof. Hiroshi Shimizu, Keio University, the car was produced with the help of a team of students. Did we mention it has 8 wheels, four in the front and four in the back? A full charge from a normal outlet takes about 10 hours and that will keep you going for 200 miles. The point was to show the potential of EVs, and it’s a point well taken. The California born Tesla is the only Super EV coming out anytime soon but it’s a luxury sports car. And Detroit is still grumbling. But you can count on Japan’s EV industry to take the world on a clean, eco-friendly spin.