[ausev] Realistically?

[Christopher Robison]

On Thu, 2007-07-12 at 17:46 -0500, David White wrote:
> Dear friends,
> 
> I've been lurking on this listserve for some time now.  I live in  
> Austin and own a Prius, but have fantasized about converting my 1996  
> Ford Ranger XLT to EV.

Hi David,

At the moment, a primary focus of our group is assistance with
conversion of vehicles to electric power for folks in your situation; we
might be just be general enthusiasts like other car clubs, except that
today there aren't many choices out there for folks who just want to buy
one. So, we build them instead.

If you have the drive to do a conversion, we can help with advice, some
loaned tools, heavy lifting, etc.  Budget about $10K in parts if you do
the work yourself; you may be able to come in under this but it's a good
number to start with.

The Ford Ranger is a vehicle we've done before. There are issues with
the frame rails being too close together for effective battery storage
between them (the S-10 frame is wider and works better) but I've seen a
good example of a conversion where body modifications to the bed sheet
metal allowed some batteries on the outside of the frame rails as well. 

The best bet may be to get involved with other projects, open garages
and other work events, helping out with other people's conversions and
learning what's what at the same time. When you've seen a bit of what's
out there, you'll be in a good position to start making choices about
your project.

> PS.  I have considered an outright trade for a completed EV, but I  
> really do need a truck.  Am I missing other options--short of buying  
> the 26k Ranger on ebay. 

Besides building your own or hiring out the conversion, another option
may be to look on the Tradin' Post:

http://www.austinev.org/evtradinpost/


Keep an eye on it, and at some point you may see someone posting a
vehicle that would work for you.  You'll probably have to pay for
cross-country transport, but this shouldn't be a dealbreaker.


-- 
Christopher Robison
chris at ohmbre.org
http://ohmbre.org          <-- 1999 Isuzu Hombre + Z2K + Warp13!