Best Vehicles to Convert

[lenapralos]

So far, so good with a Small Truck conversion

There is plenty of space to put the batteries under the bed of the pick up and it's easy to fit 4 - 8 extra batteries up front next to the motor. 

The suspension is easy to beef up in the rear whether you buy helper springs or add leafs inbetween the U-bolts.

And, as an added American materialistic bonus, you can still haul all your "stuff" around in the back.

If you buy the s-10 conversion kit, almost all the hard stuff is already done

BUT, the range is a bit better when you convert a small light weight car with a uni-body frame.

So the question still is for myself, what is the best vehicle to convert, or shall I say the most practical for the average american who drives less than 30 miles one way to work and has a budget of only 10,000.  I think this stuff should be really well mapped out if more people are going to start going full electric to reduce green house emmissions or not be dependent on foriegn oil.

I already calculate that with gas at $5 dollars a gallon which I think it could be soon, that it will actually cost LESS THAN HALF to plug in and buy new batteries every 3 years, RATHER THAN BUY GAS driving a honda or nissan that gets 30 miles to the gallon.  I could be wrong, but especially not if you buy your batteries from Wal-mart at todays prices and they last you at least 2.5 years.  We can recycle lead, but not nearly as easily oil.

Thoughts?

John

[Reed]

You may want to consider converting a minivan. It is a unibody and my research indicates that the van body may be more aerodynamic than a pickup truck body.  I would suggest a shorty Ford Aerostar or Plymouth Voyager/Dodge caravan.

[leitmotif]

John

This is America you can have anything you want provided you can meet the price.
Seems to me the best conversion

vehicle you really like
will keep for 5 to 10 or more years (because you like it)
you are willing to maintain
vehicle that meets your needs and most of your wants

It is your vehicle, your time and money do it however you want with whatever you want.

I want to do a 56 Chev pickup because of "its funky", it stands out, I like the body style
and just plain old that is what I want to do.

Is it ideal for gross weight, airfoil shape, replacement parts, and a whole bunch of other factors?
NOPE

Dan Bentler

[aviken]

So the question still is for myself, what is the best vehicle to convert, or shall I say the most practical for the average american who drives less than 30 miles one way to work and has a budget of only 10,000.

If you are talking <30 miles one way to work, we'll assume 60 mile range is needed (for cushion and varied driving conditions). From my understanding, you will have a very hard time to get that range in a conversion for 10k. I would dare to say it can't be done (today). Since you are looking for such an extended range, I thing the pick up or van is a good idea, becuase you'll be carting around a lot of lead. Pay special attention to the Curb vs GV weight to make sure that you can add enough batteries to meet your requirements. In addition to the possible lower drag of the minivan (don't know for sure, but I'm going with what was said before), another advantage in the van is you can put the batteries very low and center - probably a little more than what you could in a pick up bed - and it's already protected from the elements. 

An S-10 might be good choice b/c you can get adapter plates cheaper - as they are already being produced for kits and you should not have to pay a design / one off premium for it.

Same is true of the small (Geo Metro for example) cars. If you comfortable with a tiny car, then that might be the way to go - but make sure you can put enough batteries in there to do the trick. Maybe talk to Mr. Cloud - he packed 101 miles worth in one for the last Range Rally.

Best of luck John!