You should definitely do it. Once you start, its not as difficult as you think. I mostly did it to do my little part in saving the planet, dispelling the perception that most people have about electric cars, as well as demonstrating that solar can meet most of our energy needs. As a bonus, this just so happens to be by far the most fun car I have ever driven! I've now gone over 11,000 miles without a drop of gasoline! Good luck! I fully agree with your comment about where electric cars would be now if they hadn't abandoned them. For most purposes, they are superior to a combustion engine.

Thank you, I appreciate it!

Thanks for the kind words. I highly recommend you do it. You won't be disappointed, unless you put too small of a motor or controller. Go big!

Yes, they're definitely one of the easiest.

Did it work? I have a '70, and a '71 in my yard, waiting

Good luck! The more the better!

You should. You won't be disappointed. Trying to dispel the myths about electric cars.

I wish you luck. You will not regret doing it!

@Alan Hall I am very intrigued by your idea! Curious to know, 4x4 or 2wd?

Thank you. You don't need a kit, and you can buy most of the components from dealers in the USA who I'm sure would ship it to England. I'm pretty sure I've seen some conversions in England. You should definitely do it -- you will not regret it!

That is awesome news! I was trying for "most interesting man in the world," but that Dos Equis guy already won that one, so I'll take "coolest guy on earth!" Thanks!

Yep, I wanted to do my little part. But after driving them, I could never go back to gas anyway! They out perform gas in every single way, except range.

Maitland Moore, what a sweet "see through rose-colored glasses" thought! But, did you ask the kids in Congo? res.cloudinary.com/engineering-com/image/upload/w_640,h_640,c_limit,q_auto,f_auto/Cobalt_mining_w61wez.jpg Or did you ask the kids in Bolivia? www.nationalgeographic.com/content/dam/magazine/rights-exempt/2019/02/lithium/lithium-aymara-salar-de-uyuni-salt-flat-harvest.adapt.1900.1.jpg And I bet you didn't ask these kids either! ...kzfaq.info/get/bejne/gMl6a9CWl5iyhqc.html

@@ZEUS-eg8jw My batteries don't have any cobalt. So people in Bolivia are shoveling precipitated salt. So what? They're probably happy to have a job! When you have no argument, just play the "kid" card! So transparent and pathetic.

Thanks!

Glad you like it. I encourage you to do it!

Yes, my charger is capable of using a J1772 connection, but I never bothered to install it because I love the versatility of the 3 prong, and I've never had a need to rapidly charge. Over night is fine. Also, the batteries appreciate the slower charge (around 9 amps).

Whether home built or factory built--electric cars are the future, for the sake of the planet.

You're welcome. I'd like to encourage as many people as possible to do it!

Glad you liked it!

Thanks you very much. I appreciate it!

Thanks for the kind Words! Yeah I remember many times measuring each cell with a multimeter just to make sure. Those little volt meters made life much easier, and they were only 2 bucks each on Amazon! Check out my electric karmann ghia video I just posted today.

Thanks you very much!

Close--its the Manzanos.

I'm still tied to the grid, which means during the day my meter spins backwards and I'm putting energy into the grid. During the night I use grid power, but the meter is over 7 Megawatt hours ahead of where I started! I believe I broke even on the solar panels in about 6 years. The beetle has a range of 90 miles, and my Karmann ghia has 120. In the winter, the range decreases significantly. When the batteries are below 32 degrees F, the voltage sag at high currents is huge! The performance is also less, but this thing is so powerful I really don't notice! More details www.evalbum.com/5147

Make it come true!

If you want around 100 miles of range and halfway decent performance, probably 15 to 18k. I encourage you to do it!

The original bug didn't have power steering or boosted brakes and drives great without it. These things can be added though.

Thank you very much

It's really hard to say. Probably about 6 years with the solar, but it would be much longer now because they've eliminated the payments from the utility company for new customers. The car would take a lot longer to break even. I have gone 18000 miles which would be about 750 gallons of gasoline. Until batteries are less expensive, saving money is not a good reason to convert a car, but there are many other very good reasons. However, depending on range and performance, you could do it for fairly cheap. Good luck!

EV West (and some other companies) sell adapter plates for many specific vehicles. I would have tried to save money by making my own, but then I came to my senses and realized that if I was off by just a little, I'd be spending a hell of a lot more money!

Very true! How you drive affects the range a great deal.

+se7en1976 No maybe not, but the fact that it CAN do 5.3 second sprints and 90 miles shouts "Superb Athlete"

I've had to replace the stock tranny in both cars with a performance one. It has welded 3rd and 4th gears, a much lower ring and pinion ratio, and a super differential with four spider gears instead of 2. They have held up perfectly. Haven't broken any axles yet, surprisingly. I did also install a traction bar to help prevent wheel hop. A major difference is with the electric motor is the smooth power delivery. Even though it has far more torque, there is never a shock load like with an ICE revved out to 5k rpm and dumping the clutch!

I've driven in a few inches of snow with no problems. I've also accidentally driven in heavy downpours with no harm. The motor gets warm so any snow that gets on it will quickly melt and evaporate. The bigger problem in the winter is battery temperature, which greatly limits your range, unless you heat the batteries or leave it in a garage.

Where are you and why can't you?

Great Britain (a giant floating labour camp off the coast of Europe). Having done a quick search there is a British company importing some of the parts you list for your conversion, but I can see getting a conversion on the road (with a MOT and insurance) being a nightmare.

That's surprising. I figured Europe was doing much more to reduce fossil fuels than we are, especially with the ignorant moron president we have now. At least you guys are still in the Paris agreement! I know there are people in Great Britain who have done it, so I know there's a way. You might just have to jump through more hoops.

I believe (and am happy to be corrected on) that you would need something called an Individual Vehicle Approval for an electric conversion in the UK. This is applied to vehicles such as home-built motorhomes, kit cars, personal imports, or vehicles which have been re-engined. I have no experience of the IVA but I used to work with a French physics graduate who brought a Citroen AX over from the Continent. After a year it had to have a SVA (the predecessor to the IVA) which was a nightmare to get through. This was a standard vehicle so I can't imagine what it is like for anything which has had major modifications.

That being said, we are seeing plenty of hybrid vehicles and electric cars such as the Tesla over here (although being imported the Tesla is very expensive), but very few conversions as far as I can tell. Your president made a name for himself over here when he seemed intent on buying the whole of eastern Scotland to turn into a golf course.

Sure, glad to help. This should answer most of your questions. evalbum.com/5147. evalbum.com/5330

Yes, and its faster and better looking than a Leaf!

Without regenerative braking to boot. (DC motors in general don't do regen. Evnetics played with it, but never released a controller that will.)

EV West has kits

Glad you liked it! Convincing the world is hard to do!

@@bottsfinevids4463 ha ha .. I have surrendered long time ago..

New Mexico. This will answer your questions--evalbum.com/5147

It is the 4 and a half. It comes with the bezel and it fit perfectly with no modifications. Keep in mind, it is a 68 bug. On my 74 Ghia, the holes were too big so I had to fabricate a stainless steel plate with the right sized holes. You could see it on the electric karmann ghia video. The ghia speedo looks like it might be the size of the later bugs/ super beetles, but I don't know. I will tell you, I am very happy with the speed hut gauges, and would definitely recommend the GPS. Good luck!

Thanks. Much appreciated. There are plenty of cheaper 85mm GPS Speedos, but speedhut look better fit.

No, sorry. Just doing it for myself, and the planet!

Cant you just enjoy the car and stfu?

They only have lithium, iron, and phosphorus. The lithium is from ground water, not mines. They are 99% recyclable, but theres not much market for that yet, because the LiFePO4 batteries are lasting far longer than thought!

Botts Fine Vids exactly!

I'd have to increase the voltage by adding more batteries. Since I don't have room for more of the same size, I would need to have smaller batteries, but then they might not be capable of supplying the full 1000 amps. A different battery chemistry like LiPO would do it, but LiPO has many other disadvantages. Besides, a vw bug is pretty sketchy at 100+ mph!

90 miles if driving mellow. Check out evalbum.com/5147 for more details. Yeah, that cat infiltrated the set and went off script!

evalbum.com/5147

he explains at 3:01