Homemade EV - The Canadian Way

Ok, so I don't actually expect you to go out and build this one...

Alt-Fuel Resources

If you're looking for some good resources for EV or other alt-fuel information, parts suppliers, etc., look at my links list to the right. I'll only be including truly useful web links - no advertising or bait 'n switch sites. If you have suggestion, add a comment to this post and I'll take a look at it. Thanks.

The Best Electric Conversion Manual Available

This is it! The absolute best EV manual you can find, plus accompanying videos that show you, not just tell you, how to do it yourself. All the EV conversion books I've read so far seemed to be lacking in some area or another, but I think I've found the best resource for converting to electric. When I found it I got really excited.

Electric Conversion Made Easy was written by Gavin Shoebridge from New Zealand. He is well known for building an electric car on his own from scratch because he documented the whole thing and posted video footage on YouTube.

Home Made Energy

If you want to jump right into making your own solar panels and wind turbines, might I suggest HomeMadeEnergy. The book has a simple, straightforward approach without a lot of fluff. If you're already sold on renewable energy and have taken energy efficiency measures, you can skip the intro, go straight to the meat of the text and get right to building. Some good tips on materials as well as templates are included. Perhaps most valuable of all, they include several videos that take you through the process step-by-step. I know it makes a big difference when you read about it or hear about it versus actually seeing it actually done. Believe me, it helps a lot.

Electricity 4 Gas

Took some time off there, but I'm back now. In the mean time, I tried out another ebook manual for converting your car to electric, called Electricity4Gas. This was a no-fluff, "get down to brass tacks" type of manual. To me, that was very refreshing. The author was clearly not trying to impress me with how many pages he could fill with stuff I didn't care much about. In my opinion, most books take way too many pages to say something that could be said in half the time. The author also includes some details that I didn't see in any of the other manuals, such as how to reconnect your alternator to charge your 12V accessory system without a DC/DC converter.

Electric-Cars-Are-For-Girls Website

So this isn't a product, per-se, but I wanted to do a quick review on a web site that I think is very helpful for the everyday person: Electric-Cars-Are-For-Girls.com, authored by Lynne Mason, here in the Seattle area. In spite of the name, the web site isn't just for girls, in fact I think most of the viewer comments and questions are from guys. In any case, the web site is very informative for beginning conversionists and those just thinking about buying, building or stealing (just kidding!) an electric car. The question/answer forum is very helpful for those in the process and there is a pretty comprehensive list of links to other sites and helpful resources. Definitely a must-visit if you're thinking about converting or buying an electric vehicle.

P.S. I think one of my favorite posts is an interview of a school teacher here in Washington who converts a classic VW in his driveway for around $2000 - with no prior experience. Read it here. (I get no kickbacks from this site -- I just think it's cool)

Make your own Solar and Wind Energy

Les and Jane Oke put together a pretty comprehensive package for anyone wanting to wean themselves off of the power grid. Indeed, that is what they did; in fact everything they cover is from personal experience. That doesn't mean you need to go off-grid completely, but every little bit helps.

I'm going to group solar and wind energy together, because they really work together to make a complete renewable energy system. There are actually three separate guides in the Convert-2-EV package covering renewable energy solutions for the home, including making your own solar panels, building your own wind generator, and a wealth of information on other related subjects,

Biodiesel Fuel Guide

Along with the Convert-2-EV package, I got a handy e-book on how to make your own bio diesel. I have to admit I was more excited about this prospect because, though I don't have a diesel-powered vehicle, I do have an oil furnace that is about 81% efficient. Heating a 5-bedroom house with sub-par aluminum windows... Well, you can imagine what that would cost. Last winter we shut the furnace off and ran electric heaters in all the rooms. I figure we saved 30-50% on our heating bill just doing that. We have a wood-stove insert, but that only heats one area effectively unless you run circulation fans throughout the house, which gets a bit clunky and still uses electricity.

Back to the book...

Convert Your Car To Electric

I finally decided to give one of those online e-books a try. You know, the ones that promise that you can build a nuclear reactor in you back yard using spare parts from the junkyard. Like most people, I'm a little curious, but more than a little skeptical. But what the heck, if it comes with a guarantee, why not try it. So I did...

I decided to try Les Oke's Convert-2-EV website that claims you can do an ELECTRIC VEHICLE conversion yourself for hundreds rather than thousands of $$$.

Convert It! & Build Your Own Electric Vehicle - Book Review

Ok, starting off let's talk about electric vehicles (or EVs). I started getting on that bandwagon when I found myself with an extra vehicle that had a bad engine. Perfectly fine car otherwise that I could put thousands into to try to get it running as before, or.... why not convert it to electric? Being the home schooled self-study type, I decided to get some books on the subject. There are surprisingly few. I tried the library first and got nowhere, so I went online and found two main books that are sort of the industry standard: Michael Brown's Convert It!, and Build Your Own Electric Vehicle by Seth Leitman and Bob Brant.