Since there was such a big response to my update on Andrew Angellotti the other day, I think that even more news on what this Michigan teen has been up to in the home electric vehicle conversion front would be in order. According to a story in the Flint Journal, Andrew has put around 2,500 miles on the batteries and electric motor. Also, and this is the real reason I wanted to update the tale, he does have a small 12-volt heater in the cab for winter driving. As for his next project, converting a Toyota Tercel, Andrew wants the car to go fast - at least 80 mph - on a 120 hp system. The Tercel should be ready in the spring.

Andrew told the Journal that, "I think alternative energy is very important in our future. I just wanted to get the word out that electric vehicles are possible." He's certainly done that. Even David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, is impressed. "I give a lot of credit to a young person who's capable of doing that because it's not a very easy thing to do," Cole told the Journal.

[Source: Melissa Burden / The Flint Journal]

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.