# sandrail gone electric in tampa??



## laukaitis (Mar 9, 2011)

I would like to build an electric sandrail 

It should have enough power to do about 60 mph or more for 20 miles twice a day, plus 30 mph for a an hour or more. basically enough to drive to the base and do a little driving around then go home. I would like to do this on one charge. if not I know I can plug it in on base. I live in Florida I want to enjoy the weather without the smell or noise of the VW engine. (no offense) and not pay $3.50 a gallon for gas. I don’t want to off road it, just jump a curb once in a while or run it along the beaches.

questions:

1) why has no one done this as a daily driver? are they afraid of the batteries getting wet?
2) Is it the cost of the batteries vs the VW motor not worth it or…..
3) If this is a daily driver how do you calculate the use of lights and radios into the power consumption?
4) How do you calculate the weight of the vehicle VS the power and determine the amount of batteries.

I have novice to beginner mechanical skills, but I have friends who are experts.
Sandrails here are a dime a dozen – no worries there. 


I am willing to spend 10 or 15 grand as a project, I will abuse craigslist as much as possible for the parts

Are there any Tampa people that are doing this??

Thanks in advance!!!


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## JimDanielson (Oct 19, 2008)

An electric sandrail would be awesome. I really want to do one as my next conversion, currently saving up for the batteries.

The power drain from 12volt components will be low. Probably about 500watts or less. Seeing as most people's motors probably run around 15kw cont. or more, the extra .5kw wont make too big of a difference. When I use as few 12v items as possible, I can keep my consumption easily below 100watts.

In my area I have never seen a ICE sandrail on the road, so seeing an EV would be even more rare. Maybe people are afraid of electrical components getting wet or sandy, but just make sure to protect them.


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## DavidDymaxion (Dec 1, 2008)

Not really sand rails, but dune buggies:

http://www.evalbum.com/3420

http://www.evalbum.com/2381

http://www.evalbum.com/2119

http://www.evalbum.com/761

http://www.evalbum.com/125


laukaitis said:


> I would like to build an electric sandrail
> 
> It should have enough power to do about 60 mph or more for 20 miles twice a day, plus 30 mph for a an hour or more. basically enough to drive to the base and do a little driving around then go home. I would like to do this on one charge. if not I know I can plug it in on base. I live in Florida I want to enjoy the weather without the smell or noise of the VW engine. (no offense) and not pay $3.50 a gallon for gas. I don’t want to off road it, just jump a curb once in a while or run it along the beaches.
> 
> ...


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## Woodsmith (Jun 5, 2008)

I did consider a sandrail but they are a little harder to come by over here. The few I found for sale were very nicely done, and costly due to the unwanted chromed ICE with all bells and whistles!

Possibly another issue could be the exposed components, possible theft of parts, damage due to water and dirt, lack of aerodynamics and body work to hide/support batteries.

However, given a nice UVA Fugative....
I could be tempted.


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## jddcircuit (Mar 18, 2010)

laukaitis,
I see your in Tampa area. I just met a group of guys this Saturday at their Suncoast Electric Vechicle Assoc meeting over in Clearwater. SUNEVA.org is their website.

One of the guys, Steve, drives his EV to MacDill AFB each day like you mentioned you want to do. Another guy named Terry showed me pictures of his electric sand rail like you are also considering. He says its quick but the range is not what he would like so he needs to rethink his battery pack.

We all filled out email list and MichaelJayClark collected the contact information. I contacted Michael by sending him a private message in this forum.

I am just getting started with my project but I have found everyone very helpful.

Good Luck
Jeff


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## laukaitis (Mar 9, 2011)

thanks a lot i look forward to this new hobby and a way to stick it to the oil companies!!!


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## cptmrgn (Oct 10, 2008)

Laukaitis,

I have been looking into a DIY EV for a year or two now. I just recently decided on the sandrail as my First EV project as well. I am going to look at a rolling chassis for $500 tonight. With any luck i will be able to start my project this weekend ! Please keep us informed of your progress and share any web links or helpful forum posts that you find as i am sure i will have the same questions you do. I will try and do the same!


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## buseybr (Nov 25, 2019)

So, I converted my sandrail to electric with a Hyper 9 motor and x1 controller, and a 10kwh LG Chem battery system charged by TSM2500. Works great, get 60 mph at 3rd gear, have 5. Proof of concept


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