Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Green Culture, Volkswagen
Homemade electric car built in 100 hours
Ken Albright had a gutted-out 1986 VW Scirocco GTX in his garage a few months ago. After $8,000 and 100 hours of labor, he now has an electric car. He figures it costs about 3 cents per mile to drive. He hopes the reduced operating costs will pay for the conversion in four years. Albright's design has five batteries under the hood and 10 more in back, making up a total of 120 volts. A video found on this link has Albright explaining that he built the car with a 40-mile range since his daily commute is 12 miles.[Source: Nicole Wade / Missourian]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
davidl340 9:32AM (11/29/2006)
Ah, one day we'll have access to affordable ni-mh or li-po/li-ion, and I'll think about doing this, my commute is 90 miles both ways.
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yes_i_am_an_american 9:38AM (11/29/2006)
90 miles each way? That is absolutely insane. For reasons to numerous to mention.
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pookey 3:15PM (11/29/2006)
^ what he said!
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teuton 9:31PM (4/21/2007)
12 mile daily commute times 250 work days per year equals 3000 miles driven per year.
15 batteries every 3 years at $80 per battery equals $400 per year for batteries.
3000 miles divided by 30 mpg that the Scirroco used to get is 100 gallons of gas. 100 gallons of gas at $3 per gallon costs $300 dollars.
Even without considering the cost of electricity to recharge the batteries this is a bad deal for the owner.
I figure that this project will NEVER pay for itself.
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mark 1:33PM (1/02/2009)
Why can so few see that electricity has the abilityto be made from other things than carbon based fuels. I would gladly pay the same if not a small percentage more to be free of the middle east's hold on our economy. Electricity can be made at home. Can you make gasoline in your basement or garage, I urge caution if you try. Electricity is as free as you want it to be, or how much effort you put into how you receive it. Like air and water, there also is electricity, as free as the wind blows, or as free as sunshine. Carbon fuels: I couldn't start to tally up the cost, in cluding the loss of life in the countless wars throughout history. Please be smart, forget carbon based fuels, the answer is electric.
teuton 8:36PM (12/23/2008)
Mark, to harness the wind and sunshine takes equipment. Equipment is not free. It takes energy to manufacture equipment. It takes money to buy the equipment. The equipment to harness the wind and sun requires maintenance and wears out and must be replaced. Also, please consider that batteries are made of lead or nickel or cadmium -- all very bad for the environment.
The point of the article - as I recall - was about how the owner was going to save money by converting his car to run on batteries. My comment was to point out that he will NOT save money by doing so.
Mark, I agree with you that electricity may be more socially conscious but it is NOT economically valid at this point. I wish it were.
Chris M 4:00PM (1/02/2009)
The flaw with your argument is the assumption that the batteries would have to be replaced every 3 years. The lifespan of lead acid batteries is strongly affected by the depth of discharge, and how long they remain in a discharged state. Shallow discharge and fairly prompt recharging will mean a much longer lifespan.
Since he has designed for a 40 mile range, and his typical daily drive is only 12 miles, I'd say he'd get a lot more than 3 years from those batteries. Moreover, it would still be usable even when the capacity had dropped to 25 miles.
Also, lead is valuable enough that some places will actually buy spent lead acid batteries for recycling. I once got $5 for an old car battery, that would be $75 for recycling 15 old batteries when replacement time finally comes.
teuton 4:23PM (1/02/2009)
Ok, since we're getting picky. First add in the $8,000 it cost him to do the project. Don't forget to add the opportunity cost of his personal time. I'll give you six years on the batteries and $10 per battery when they are traded in. Now, please also consider the electricity bill for charging the car nightly (I realize that this may not be that much money). You could even add $1.50 per gallon gas into the formula and it still wouldn't make economic sense.
If the guy likes tinkering around with cars, it's fine with me. But don't spout off BS numbers like $.02 per mile operating cost without backing it up - it gets the ignorant hippies needlessly excited.
Also, why not look into how much energy it takes to recycle a lead acid battery?
Chris M 5:41PM (1/02/2009)
Considering that lead has a melting point of 327.46 °C (621.43 °F) and iron has a melting point of 1538 °C (2800 °F), I'd say it takes a lot less energy to recycle 15 car batteries than to recycle one cast iron engine block.
teuton 6:00PM (1/02/2009)
Chris, go build yourself an electric car if it makes you happy.
Veritas07 6:52PM (9/01/2007)
I dont think it should matter if the car ever pays for itself. i would gladly spend the money on this as opposed to making oil companies and the government richer. take a look at how much tax is on a gallon of gas. one thing i find realy annoying is how insufficient cars are being made today. look at the toyota prius. its rated at 55 miles per gallon. i have a 91 metro that gets 60. so whats the deal. is it realy that hard to make a good car. i dont think it does. the technology is here, they just havent figured out how to charge us for it yet.
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G DOG 8:20PM (9/29/2008)
Bad news is I understand you still are responsible for the highway fuel taxes regardless. Cars here in NC that have been converted to bio desiel have been ticketed for not paying the tax. No way to get around the government regardless of how inept it may seem. :-)
Chris M 9:02PM (9/01/2007)
Teuton, you may be underestimating the battery life. The daily commute is much less than the expected range, meaning that the battery pack avoids deep discharges which shorten battery life. a 5 to 8 year lifespan is possible.
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Grimmex 11:46AM (9/02/2007)
Veritas07 said:
"look at the toyota prius. its rated at 55 miles per gallon. i have a 91 metro that gets 60. so whats the deal."
Oh, that's easy. The 91 metro is actually *rated* at 45 MPG on the highway. You have only proven that the EPA rating is wrong for your particular vehicle. Many prius drivers also report higher gas milage than the 55 MPG that it's rated at.
Now, as I see it, the difference between driving a gas vehicle and driving an electric, is that no matter *what* the fuel efficiency, you're not fixing the environmental problems of car ownership. You're just contributing to the problem *less*.
Now, if you live where I do, where 90% of electricity production is hydroelectric, then you can honestly say that driving an electric car nearly eliminates the problem. That is, when I'm not riding my bike or taking the train, which does an even better job.
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shiloh 8:29AM (4/15/2009)
happy to say our Metro, loaded withall my personal belongings including a 20 inch tv set, from VA to Il. and 2 adults, 60 count em 60 MPG. The Metro is now deceased after 200,00 miles. I buried in my back yard with a head stone. Lotsa respect for a a dear friend. NOW stupid Detriot and Washington cant figure out to build a higher than 35 mpg. DA, go back 18 years and revive a great little workhorse. R.I.P Geo.
Snark 1:41PM (9/02/2007)
"i have a 91 metro that gets 60."
I find this really, really hard to believe, unless you're using those obnoxious hypermiler tricks or have extensive aero mods.
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custom 4:25PM (9/10/2007)
My plan is to build a light weight electric car that would get around 100 miles per charge. I drive only 12.5 highway miles to work and another 12.5 highway miles home from work. 25 miles a day would keep from killing the batteries and with a regenerative breaking system along with a decent sized solar cell on the roof to trickle charge the batteries during the day, the batteries should last much longer. Sure the car will only have about 50HP and a top speed of around 90mph, but who cares if it gets me from point A to B. Heck its specs might not be that good, but because it's full electric I already have better torque and because it will be a lightweight car built mostly of polycarbonates, its power to weight ratio will be that of a regular sports car or better. For you ignorant people out there, it will have good acceleration.
On top of that I plan to have wind turbines and solar panels tied into my houses grid back feeding the utility company to offset my power bill. I have worked out many numbers and taken days with little wind and sun into account, and even so I would still be powering my house and charging my car with a negative amount (-$2.57) power bill at the end of the month. The system would also pay itself off in just under 2.5 years. In that short time span nothing should have broken down. Total cost of car, wind turbines and solar cells... $12,000. All home built (other than solar cells)
I'm only 21 years old and have never taken mechanical engineering or electrical classes. I teach myself everything I know and I'm still able to pull this off. Why won’t all of you give it a shot?
For everybody who wants to hate on Ken Albrights idea of a full electric car just because it doesn’t have great specs, shut up. At least he’s making an effort to cut ties with the oil companies. Sure he might divert the power offset and fuel usage to the power company, but the power companies run way more efficient than our cars. The more efficient they are, the more money they make. The less efficient car companies make our cars, the more money they make. Now who wants an electric car?
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xtechman 1:01PM (9/24/2007)
Electric is to get us off the oil tit. That's all. It is also better than a gas burner because the amount of consumables is much less. No engine oil to worry about and if you have regen you're brake system will last for just about forever. What, maybe 20 moving parts on an electric vs gas. You do the math. One thing I always see in these blasts on economy and cost compare remarks is that no one ever includes the cost to maintain the system. That can get pretty damn high over the life of the vehicle. If you are wanting to go total green then go naked, walk, and keep youre mouth shut as you will be wasting energy. Only uncooked meals for you so you don't pollute the air and what to do with your waste (poop). Mmmmm. Maybe Humans are not that green after all.
xraytech
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chalacuna 2:03AM (10/08/2007)
thats a very expensive convertion, i think it is cheaper to build from scrap.
http://greenfuelpower. blogspot.com
httP//gohybrid.blogspot.com
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randy kenney 9:48AM (2/26/2008)
Does anyone know where you can insure a homemade electric car?
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