[ausev] New electric car conversion business in Texas?

[tomsmail]

I think that's an excellent idea since this is a hobby for
the most part, if I understand you correctly.  The idea is
collaberative specification.  Detailed; down to the bolt
size; with costs down to the cent; and realistic range
numbers, validated through actual testing of our "product",
right?

There's still opportunity for some people to make money,
selling homebuilt components or offering services, I think. 
But the end consumer would have an accurate recipe.

The challanging part/question is, are there enough human
resources with technical skills and expertise here and are
they committed enough to keep the ball rolling even when
things become mundane, boring, or even cost some $$?

I believe the first, most critical step to getting traction
on this is to have computer resources and a wiki space where
the group can start sketcing an outline and then
contributors can start publishing.

Tom


First suggestion: I think the group ought to decide on a few
vehicles of different classes (sub-working-groups?), instead
of just one vehicle/body style, just so that no-one is left
uninterested and therefore unwilling to participate.  For
example, I woulnd't build a two seat tandem trike myself,
but if this is made to be one of the catagories then it
might draw more particpants who are interested in that
configuration.




> All,
>
> I believe that it's rough going to make a profitable
> business doing   full out conversions, but that there is
> plenty of room to make some $   supporting local
> conversions (welding, machine work, installation, etc).
>
> How would people feel about starting a community "open
> source" car   conversion project?  If we can settle on a
> small set of gliders and   drive trains then this would
> allow an a wide range of people to   contribute to the
> design.  Once the design was proven, people could   pay
> local mechanics and EV enthusiasts to do much of the work.
>  Since   the design is known, the budget and work would be
> predictable.
>
> For example, I'm trying to make it much easier for someone
> to follow   in my RAV4 conversion with the RAVolt blog.
> Ideally, someone else   will convert a RAV4 and update my
> designs.
>
> This approach overcomes the liability issues of selling
> conversions   because the car owner is the lead builder.
> It also keeps the costs   low and predictable.  We'll also
> be able to iterate on the design to   make incremental
> improvements.
>
> Thoughts?  Comments?  Flames?
>
> Rob (RAVolt.com, EVAlbum 995)
>
>
>
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