Electric Vehicle Conversion Problems

The hope that drives us to search for something other than gasoline to power our vehicles often blinds us to the many problems that can crop up along the way. Sometimes that blindness continues on indefinitely. Before moving too far along I’d like to mention that this article may equally apply to converting a vehicle to run on other fuels such as natural gas.

The main problems stem from electric vehicles (EVs) being so uncommon in day to day life and some of the technologies that come along with EVs are very new. Electric vehicles are becoming more and more common, which is helping to gain public acceptance and understanding of that technology, but they still aren’t anywhere near as common and understood as the internal combustion engine. I was completely unaware of electric vehicles until-I should make you try to guess and I bet you’ll get it right-2008, when the prices of gasoline began soaring. Since my helpless introduction to EVs I have become something close to an expert, having put over 1000 hours of research and practice in the study of electric vehicle technology. If I knew now what I needed to know when I started my first electric vehicle conversion I would have saved a bit of money, time and I would have ended up with a much better electric vehicle in the end.

Cost

The cost factor is what gets many people. There’s not always an easy way to forecast the complete cost to convert a vehicle to electric as there are so many variables that are quite good at remaining hidden until you thought it safe to put your pocketbook away. Make sure you have more than enough money to do your conversion. The vehicle to be converted should be thoroughly inspected by a trained automotive tech for excessive rust, worn suspensions parts, weak structural members of the vehicle and give an all clear when all the pre-conversion needs are satisfied. I heard of at least one conversion that completely collapsed the car due to the weight of the batteries. The car’s chassis was not built to handle an extra 1000 pounds, so it let the owner know in the worst of ways. The weight issue will probably only apply to lead acid based conversions.  Far too many people try to make do with what they have when what they have isn’t good enough.

When buying parts, it’s tempting to avoid certain recommended, but not absolutely necessary parts like circuit breakers (just like the ones in your house, only much more expensive) and inertia switches (shuts off battery in accident), though they are important. Accidents and over current conditions can cause unnecessary damage to the parts that these relatively inexpensive safety devices could protect. There’s also the temptation to make some of the parts yourself and though many people are adequately experienced and equipped to do so, it may not make sense for you to attempt it. The tools that are needed for fabricating parts like motor mounts and battery brackets aren’t cheap (the ones that are often break) and it takes time to really master material fabrication. I was willing to give it a go, but I had already received some training on metal and plastic fabrication. I bought two inexpensive welders for my projects, both of which have broken. The worst temptation is to buy parts that are not quite powerful enough for your conversion. My rule (now) is to buy a motor and controller that are more powerful than you think you’ll need. Yes, you’ll spend more money up front, but the parts will likely last longer, be more efficient and you’ll be able to accelerate quickly enough to avoid accidents (braking doesn’t do the trick in all traffic situations).

Experience

If you must, must, must have that electric ride and are willing to do whatever is needed to build it yourself, prepare for a journey of learning. Those who don’t already have an automotive background should take at least some introductory automotive classes; better yet, take several advanced classes too. I mentioned earlier that I have invested 100 hours into my quest for EV knowledge, but not everyone will need that much to build a nice and safe electric vehicle. The quicker way is to hire an expert to guide you through the process (it’s not very expensive either, as little as a couple hundred bucks); the cost of the expert will save you at least hundreds if not more. Reading articles like this can get you a good way, but buying a complete book, such as “Build Your Own Electric Vehicle” by Bob Brant can be a challenging, but useful read or at least a handy reference manual. No amount of reading is quite like the actual start of your build; purchasing parts, ripping out internal combustion engine parts and combing through the vehicle is often fun and rewarding.

One problem I shouldn’t skate on mentioning is the experience of buying the parts. You may or may not have dealt with internet companies, but all of them are unique and some of them aren’t easy to deal with. Just because the company sells EV parts, it doesn’t mean that you should buy from them, even if they are cheaper than the other places. Search for a reputable company that has been around for a while under the same ownership. Some of the EV part suppliers have very limited knowledge of business or electric vehicles. Many of them are ma and pa type stores run out of a house. When buying parts, make sure that you understand the amount of time it will take to ship your items to you or lead time (time it takes to build your product), so you can properly plan your project. I purchased batteries from a poorly run company (I didn’t know it at the time) and my batteries sat in a warehouse for almost two weeks because of a mistake made by the company I bought them from. The total time for me to receive my batteries (from a quoted 6-8 weeks) was nearly 12 weeks. Such an occurrence can really mess up your plans.

Always use your credit card for parts purchases; some parts suppliers ask for a check (actually, I only know of one) and it should be considered suspicious if they insist that you use a check, no matter what reason they give you. Just because you read a review online doesn’t make it true. I usually judge the company by a ratio of good to bad reviews and if I’m unsure, I’ll make a small test purchase to get a feel for how the company handles itself. There are companies that crop up all the time, some last and most don’t. When it comes to selling EV parts, there are two company profiles that matter: Those that are in the business because it’s the current trend and those that will be in it because they believe in electric vehicle. The companies that are in business because it’s the current trend are the ones that more often fail because they don’t realize how many of their customers have no clue what they need. The ones that survive are the ones that primarily sell parts to other die hard EV fans. You can spot one of the companies that last by the parts they sell, which are competitively priced amongst similar companies and are rarely made in China. Many of the highest regarded EV parts are made in USA. Please don’t think that I’m bashing that which is made in China, they do produce some very good parts, but there is usually some sacrifice that’s made in the manufacturing of the part or a misrepresented aspect of the product in its description. 

Other problems are bound to pop up here and there. It's important to do as much research as you can prior to actually placing any orders, so as to prevent the most expensive problems from happening. One of my biggest mistakes was rushing into my project. Had I waited, I would not have wasted money on the lead acid batteries that I purchased initially (I was able to sell them for most of my money back, but some money was still lost) and I could have purchased the parts from a supplier that I later worked for (employees were given 5% discount). Of course, since you've read this article, you're a bit better armed for a conversion I was, I only had forums when I started (yuck).