<VV> Converting a Corvair to electric viable?
Todd Heimer
todd_heimer at yahoo.com
Wed Dec 31 19:33:16 EST 2008
Whether you're a skeptic or pro-electric, the great thing about building an electric car is that you can tailor it to your range needs and budget:
NiMH batteries have been proven to have the durability/cycleability to go 100,000 miles (in the Toyota e-RAV4). They are readily available and don't require fancy cooling or sophisticated cell balancing for safety.
I did some planning for a 2000 lb electric vehicle (VW squareback, a little lighter than a corvair) and the NiMH battery cost for a 20 mi range at 60 mph is about $3000. The battery pack would weigh only 150 lbs.
Not bad in price or weight for that range. You can scale it up linearly if you need more range...
-Todd
'64 'vert, keeping it gas powered until we hit $5/gallon
More information about the VirtualVairs
mailing list