# New here! Conversion Ready



## theonlysman (May 9, 2008)

Hello I am new to here and I have some electrical and electronic knowledge. I also have welding, painting and fabrication experience. I am looking to convert either my existing vehicle ( Chevy Avalanche) or another. I would prefer to be able to do this to my existing vehilce as I will not have to find another. (Drive way is pretty full as it stands.) I am inexperienced on the Electric vehicle and I do not have a lot of knowledge. That is why I registered here, for both help in the conversion process and education in the EV system. So any help would be phenomenal. Thanks Everyone!


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## onesojourner (May 6, 2008)

I think you will be pretty disappointed with the avalanche. you will end up spending a small fortune on batteries for and suv that size. but I am still just learning so don't take my word for it.


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## heynow999 (Mar 2, 2008)

The best way to start is to convert a small, light car or truck (ranger,s10). Mainly this is because the cheapest most reliable batteries available today are lead acid batteries. They are heavy. Figure 500 LBS to 1000 LBS to equal one gallon of gas. So basically you are building a vehicle with a one gallon gas tank. So the question is, do you want a 10 Mpg Avalanche or a 35 MPG Saturn, Geo, Golf or whatever other small car available.

Find a small cheap junker with a good body but blown engine and try to put together a cheapo first conversion to get your feet wet.

Good luck


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## mattW (Sep 14, 2007)

But before we shut you down to quickly what are your range requirements (how far away is work), required top speed and an idea of you budget (i.e how much would you spend to replace your current car and/or how much do you spend on fuel?). Your donor car will depend on your requirements and budget but you get to customise the car to your needs so its all up to you.
Welcome to the site!


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## ww321q (Mar 28, 2008)

mattW is right give us an idea of what your needs are . Minimum top speed and range , that you could live with . J.W.


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## theonlysman (May 9, 2008)

Hey guys,

I would like to be able to at least do 75 mph (you know highway speed) if possible. I am looking to get near 150 miles on a charge. I do have a wallet to spend some money on this (instead of gas) so I can go with higher option like Lithium batteries to help with weight and amout of charge compared to a standard car battery. My truck has plenty of space underneath to make battery boxes and I can convert my lids of the truck bed and roof to a solar system also. The engine compartment is very sizeable. I am looking to be able to keep the AC, alternator, and power steering ( like the LionEV system) in order to keep the creature comforts. SO any help would be great guys and gals. Thanks for the help already!


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## joseph3354 (Apr 2, 2008)

check out the EV's at this site evalbum.com and you will get a good idea of what you are going to need to achieve your stated speed and range. a 5000lb vehicle to start with will make it more difficult and expensive.30k worth of lithium batteries would be a good start.


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## ga2500ev (Apr 20, 2008)

theonlysman said:


> Hey guys,
> 
> I would like to be able to at least do 75 mph (you know highway speed) if possible.


New EVers never want to hear this, but one can driver slower on the highway. Driving 75 MPH is going to cost you a boatload of energy.



> I am looking to get near 150 miles on a charge. I do have a wallet to spend some money on this (instead of gas) so I can go with higher option like Lithium batteries to help with weight and amout of charge compared to a standard car battery. My truck has plenty of space underneath to make battery boxes and I can convert my lids of the truck bed and roof to a solar system also. The engine compartment is very sizeable. I am looking to be able to keep the AC, alternator, and power steering ( like the LionEV system) in order to keep the creature comforts. SO any help would be great guys and gals. Thanks for the help already!



I hope that wallet is really fat. Let's run some numbers. You said you wanted an Avalanche. A big SUV like that will probably cost you about 900-1000 Wh/mile. That estimate is based on the Rav-4 which is a small SUV, with about half the weight, here:

http://www.evalbum.com/995

Let's use the KWh/mile to keep the numbers simple. So that means your pack is going to need 150 kWh to get 150 mile range and that'll run your pack flat.

LionEV LiPo packs here:

http://www.lionev.com/Battery_module_pricing.html

would do the trick. Each 3.2Vx200Ah pack will contribute 640 Wh worth of energy to the cause. To get the 150 kWh that you need you'd need 234 of them. You costs:

Price: $93,600
Weight: 3450 lbs.
Volume: 33 cubic feet

You can organize them as a 374Vx400Ah pack and drive an AC motor. With regen breaking, and towing the batteries behind the truck, You may be able to get that range.

More likely you're going to have to rethink your goals. You can see why pure electric vehicles cannot replace their gas counterparts. Electric vehicles requires a completely different mindset:

1) Slower is better.
2) Lighter is better.
3) Range is limited.
4) Infrastructure is not in place. One cannot fill batteries all over the place in just a few minutes.

So you have to find ways to match your real needs. Do you really do 150 miles of highway driving each day? Or is that an occurance that happens once every couple of months?

Good luck thinking through your needs. I hope there's an EV that can meet at least part of them.

ga2500ev


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## joseph3354 (Apr 2, 2008)

what you want may be possible with your avalanche.i dont think you will get 150 mi. range but check this out anyway.

http://www.evalbum.com/037


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## Qer (May 7, 2008)

joseph3354 said:


> what you want may be possible with your avalanche.i dont think you will get 150 mi. range but check this out anyway.
> 
> http://www.evalbum.com/037


Mmm. I've stumbled over that beast before and that would be SOOO COOOL building something like that. Unfortunately, finding a truck in Sweden that is allowed to haul 1.5 metric tonnes won't be easy (eurpoeans tend to like small, or at least not quite as big, cars) and, of course, get the money for all the batteries and the motor without triggering my wife's anger.... 

I believe this is where you can almost hear the "Mission impossible"-theme being played in the background.


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## joseph3354 (Apr 2, 2008)

i think its mission highly unlikley(not impossible).the only thing in the way appears to be cost.but you may be in a good place to reduce some of the cost.FEVT was trying to set up manufacturing for thundersky in finland.i don't know how far along they are on it though.


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## Mastiff (Jan 11, 2008)

This project is possible, but the price of the batteries required will be prohibitive.

*What is your actual budget?*

if spending upwards of $50,000+ for batteries is out of the question for you, this vehicle won't be able to happen.


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