Update on teen's all-electric 1988 Mazda pickup truck
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Green Culture, Mazda, Green Daily
High school student Andrew Angellotti contacted AutoblogGreen last fall to tell us about his 1988 Mazda B2200 pickup truck that he converted into an electric vehicle, taking nine months to learn how to do it and getting seriously DIY on the project. Our friend at Michigan Public Radio, Dustin Dwyer, was able to spend some with with Angellotti and an update on the teen and his truck was broadcast this week. Angellotti put 20 "basically golf cart" batteries into his truck; most (16) take up lots of space in the bed. The batteries give him a 40-mile range from a 10-hour charge. Considering that the truck's heat originally came from the engine, the EV doesn't have a warm cab any more, which must make for some tough driving these days. Still, Angellotti is pretty darn happy with his homemade truck. As he told Dustin, "There were quite a few points during the project, during you know, kind of a hard part, I'd start thinking, you know, for six thousand dollars I could have a really cool car. But, you know, I woke up the next morning and I'm like, 'But nobody else is going to have an electric car. So I decided to keep going with it." We're glad he did.
Listen to the report here or read the transcript here.
UPDATE: Andrew was kind enough to send us some more pictures of his truck and, as you can see in the gallery below, he is making progress on his second conversion, a Toyota Tercel.
LATER UPDATE: Yes, he has a heater.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
1-17-2008 @ 1:57PM
Tyler said...
As this is an EV, why doesn't Andrew install an outlet on the interior of the cab to plug in a space heater? Strap it down to the floor and viola, instant heat!
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1-17-2008 @ 2:57PM
me said...
Tyler - He only has a 40 mile range, an electric heater would kill the batteries a lot faster. If he could talk A123 into giving him some sample batteries that might be a possibility
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1-17-2008 @ 4:37PM
Mort said...
Way to go kiddo!
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1-17-2008 @ 5:06PM
Dave said...
NICE WORK. SERIOUSLY NICE WORK!
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1-17-2008 @ 7:05PM
Joseph said...
Congratulations!
You've accomplished something that (I'd imagine) truely takes devotion and hard work. Maybe you'll be Tesla's future competitor? lol
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1-17-2008 @ 9:30PM
darius said...
great job, as for the batteries, well A123 I don't think has a finished working bat, at least GM still is waiting for it from what I remember. He could talk to Altairnano as their battery has been running and tested so many times by so many companies and Universities but they are mostly working with fleets and large power backups for utility companies at least for now.
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1-18-2008 @ 12:43AM
Wildgoosechase said...
I'm sure it helps on his dates too, he will run out of juice every time.....
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1-18-2008 @ 8:33AM
MikeInNC said...
Great work Andrew!
That $6 grand would never buy a car nice enough to displace the number of job offers this kid may get after doing this. He needs to build a website with a lot of detail about the project and use that hard work to full advantage.
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1-18-2008 @ 2:33PM
eVolt said...
www.nedra.com
A123 has batteries for his project. Just not the vaporware GM promises.
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1-19-2008 @ 8:30AM
uncle john said...
Man, this is a serious accomplishment. A true testament to the fact that American ingenuity is alive and well. Here's an ATTABOY from me!!!!
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1-19-2008 @ 2:52PM
Andrew said...
Well done.
Very impressive.
Andrew Roddy
eBox Owner
Florida EAA
Reply
1-19-2008 @ 3:26PM
Andrew said...
Andrew,
This might be of interest, check out the links in the comment section.
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/01/18/battery-beach-burnouts-to-promote-evs-in-miama-and-san-diego-nex/
Andrew Roddy
eBox Owner
Florida EAA
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1-21-2008 @ 8:09PM
george said...
Very nice to see somebody from his generatio0n helping save energy by not burning up fossil fuel with loud noised over powered useless souped up wheel spinning drifting cars. Hes got his head on straight.
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1-21-2008 @ 8:30PM
Dwight Gentry said...
Great effert on the kids part.I hope he continues to experiment. But for anyone who knows how batteries are made and disposed of it would be GREENER to drive a truck that gets only 12 miles to the gallon on leaded fuel!
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1-21-2008 @ 8:42PM
harrjo5 said...
Kuddos to the electric-kid!As far as the heater goes,if he's got any common sense,he'll use the date(hopefully female)for HEAT!
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1-21-2008 @ 8:42PM
harrjo5 said...
Kuddos to the electric-kid!As far as the heater goes,if he's got any common sense,he'll use the date(hopefully female)for HEAT!
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1-21-2008 @ 8:54PM
remauto1100 said...
Electric conversion projects have been around for many years. So it's really no big deal. It's great the kid figured it out and went through with it, but what's the point? He can only go 40 miles! Thats called useless...not practical! Batteries have a high failure rate and cost alot! Electric motors are very expensive to rewind. This is all called FALSE ECONOMY! Spend $20 to save a nickel! Just like E-85 costs more to run than regular unleaded to go the same amount of distance! Do the math! E-85 will just drive the demand for corn up which raises costs! FALSE ECONOMY! Hydrogen is plentiful and free! Im all for reducing foreign oil use...but E-85 and electric is not the answer!
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1-21-2008 @ 8:59PM
john murphy said...
what a waste teenagers used to spend time making cars go faster an adding horsepower, another example of americas decline,
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1-21-2008 @ 9:09PM
G. McNew said...
"False economy" is accurate in this case. Lead/acid batteries are bigger dinosaurs than the (disproved) term "fossil fuels". Not to mention the cost and pollution of plugging this crate into the grid for 10 hours. The kid would be better served to buy himself an f-350 diesel truck and convert it to run on used cooking oil.
He could get 15-17 mpg and use it to collect scrap metal to give his enviro/emo buddies thier cheap high!
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1-21-2008 @ 9:28PM
jake067 said...
Interesting. Looks nicely done.
At least some teenagers actually think for themselves. Some people do not have this ability, as the previous poster shows.
Any girl that chooses a guy with an F150 over a guy who built an electric vehicle probably has low self esteem and knows she doesn't stand a chance with the guy with the EV and therefore has to settle. Talk about trailer trash. Anybody ever notice that guys who drive F150s are 1000 times more likely to end up on an episode of Cops than a teenage kid who builds an EV?
Whether or not it has drawbacks or is cost effective, it's a step in the right direction. Bravo I say. At least this kid is willing to step out of line. Most other teenagers are obsessed with fitting in.
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