One of the most affordable ways to electric vehicle ownership is to start with a conversion where the IC engine and its associated sub-systems like gas tanks and exhaust systems are scrapped and replaced with clean electric components. Every year, hundreds of enterprising individuals will take on the challenge of converting small cars, trucks, even motorcycles to run on electric motors. This is a grassroots phenomenon EV World has reported on for many years now.
One of those individuals is EV World’s own technical editor, Mike Brace, who converted a 1982 Yamaha Turbo that he bought on eBay for about $700. Equipped with AGM lead-acid batteries, he uses it to commute to and from work. You can read about his project on Instructables.com.
For better than a year now Mike and I have been talking about building me an electric motorcycle — a project in which my wife has taken a very dim view. She’s much more supportive of the notion of seeing my S10 converted to electric drive, but budget considerations have put that project on hold for now.
Then McCraw Hill sent me a review copy of Carl Vogel’s Build Your Own Motorcycle, part of their Green Guru Guides, complements of Seth Leitman, the series editor. It got me to thinking more seriously about this fairly affordable route to EV ownership, working with Mike to put together an easy to assemble kit for serious hobbyists.
For the entire story visit http://evworld.com/currents.cfm?jid=68
