REMOVE
INSTALL
Used to moderate
Eight 12-volt lead-acid power. $700-$1,500
batteries. $500-$2,000.
Aluminum plate.
$100
Refurbished part
from a forklift.
$500-$2,000
Changes output
voltage. $150-$300
r
Recharges batteries. 1,500W home heating
$1,500-$3,000 element. $50
research and have lithium-rich ore deposits in Tibet. AFTER THE SHOW, I VISIT THE
Still, most EV builders prefer the reliable simplicity two-car garage behind Wayland’s suburban
of lead-acid batteries and refurbished DC forklift home and ask him to show me the parts that are
truck motors. Pioneers such as Wayland and Wilde needed for a conversion. It takes him only 10 min-figured out 10 years ago that you can safely force utes to gather and array eight 12-volt batteries, a
96 volts through a 48-volt motor if you turn the motor (refurbished from an electric forklift truck),
commutator ring to change the timing. Jim Hus- a controller to moderate the power, some heavy-ted, who ran a business refurbishing forklifts for duty copper cables, and a recharging unit. With
24 years, was stunned when he discovered what minor additional items such as a 5,000-ohm poten-the EVers were doing. He is now a true believer, tiometer that fits under the gas pedal and costs less
hanging out with the nerds and spreading the than $10, this is all you need. The lesson is obvious:
gospel with wide-eyed intensity. EVs are ideal for backyard builders because they
“This is very exciting for me,” he says. “I want can be really, really simple.
to get more of these cars out on the road. I’ll work The first step in a conversion is to find a “donor
within any EV builder’s budget to make his car vehicle,” usually a lightweight compact gasoline-better. Send me a motor and I’ll send it back with powered automobile from a scrap yard. You throw
variable timing. I want to make a retrofit kit, a user- away almost all of its mechanical components:
friendly way to do what these guys have been doing the engine, radiator, hoses, carburetor, air cleaner,
on a much more technical basis.” ignition system, starter motor, exhaust pipe, muf-
He sounds giddy with the possibilities. “There fler, catalytic converter, fuel pump, and (of course)
are thousands of different models of DC motors the gas tank. An electric motor needs none of
that have been built in the past 40 years. Some these peripheral devices. It is also one-quarter the
would be ideal for motorcycles. And I’m looking to size of a four-cylinder gasoline engine, about four
wire a pair of motors so they can go from series, to times as efficient, and far more reliable. An electric
series-parallel, to parallel to make a three-speed vehicle needs no external cooling system, filtering
transmission. I’m proud to be a part of all this.” systems, or oil supply.
Illustration by Tim Lillis
