Cheapskate Greenies! Canadians build sub-$1K DIY electric car

Filed under: Etc., Green, Tech

Don't want to wait for the Chevrolet Volt? Don't feel like spending tens of thousands of dollars on a new green car? Combine your thrift, environmental consciousness and affinity for wrench turning by building your own electric car. Canadians Darin Cosgrove and Ivan Limburg have electrified a Geo Metro for less than $1,000 and you can too! Starting with a Metro helps set expectations, as the converted car is not fast and suitable only for low speed in-town tripping, but the original was no paragon of performance anyway. AutoblogGreen covered some of the ForkenSwift's construction, but we thought it'd be a good thing to revisit. The winter months are upon us, and building an EV in the garage is a nice way to stay out of the snow.

After stripping out the gas engine and its associated plumbing, the duo sold the engine and fuel tank; we're amazed that there's a market for Metro engines. A $500 used forklift provided the DC motors and control systems, and the carcass provided good scrap value once the vital organs were harvested, helping offset costs. A used bank of batteries were donated by another EV owner, though new batteries would boost performance and range. But hey, nothing's as cheap as free. Finding a Metro for cheap might be a neat trick now that prices have been inflated, but any old light thing will work. For a total tally of $672, who can complain with the results? Thanks for the tip, Maxim.

[Source: Ecomodder]

Cheapskate Greenies! Canadians build sub-$1K DIY electric car originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 03 Dec 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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