Texas Teenager Builds His Own Electric Car for $10,000

Oct 17

Written by: Sebastian Schepis   31,300 views    

Published on October 17th, 2008 in Electric Cars

Electric Bradley GT II

In what is yet another example of human ingenuity, a 17 year teenager from Texas has completed his summer project - building an electric car - and a awesome-looking one at that - on a $10,000 budget.

Texas teenager Lucas Laborde’s electric car is based on a Bradley GT II kit car which his father bought him on eBay for only $5,000. The electric motor, controller, and batteries required for the conversion cost another $5,700. The project took Lucas over 150 hours to complete.

The car itself is capable of traveling 40 miles per charge, plenty for Lucas’ daily drive to school and back, and has a top speed of about 45 mph and because it’s electric, it’s got a ton of low-end torque.

The home-built EV does have a few quirks; the weight of the batteries has caused the fiberglass body to twist slightly causing the gull-wing doors on the car to not entirely close properly. But given that this vehicle was built by a 17 year old on a shoestring budget, we think it’s an impressive achievement.

This Post via Gas2.org

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16 Comments

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16 Responses to “Texas Teenager Builds His Own Electric Car for $10,000”

  1. Sanchez said on October 18th, 2008 at 11:32 am

    wow….. this kid must be intelligent

  2. Adam said on October 18th, 2008 at 3:50 pm

    The kid needs to see if he can get a sponsorship by a123 so he can get some lighter batteries!

  3. Beau said on October 19th, 2008 at 4:42 am

    That’s amazing, and I think that its extremely cool. Having support for your ideas will help create another EV engineer. Thanks to the father for supporting his son passions.

  4. AaronT said on October 24th, 2008 at 12:23 pm

    This might be the coolest thing I’ve read all week! I’ve been thinking about converting my Toyota pickup. Hafta look this kid up.

  5. Grant said on October 27th, 2008 at 7:16 am

    “it’s got a ton of low-end torque.”
    bahahh bet this kid spins em’ at every light ahah sick

  6. electricitycycles said on October 27th, 2008 at 3:03 pm

    What a great ride! I love the doors and the car is such a cool concept. No, where is the flux capacitor? ;)

  7. web design company said on October 27th, 2008 at 4:40 pm

    If he can build that for $10,000 then the big boys should do it far cheaper and better. This kid should go far

  8. Ralph said on October 28th, 2008 at 2:11 pm

    Here is the correct picture and specs of the Bradley GT2 that Luke converted
    http://www.evalbum.com/2158

  9. joe the plumber said on October 31st, 2008 at 1:45 am

    so he was $700 over budget. epic fail if you as me. homemade shit is supposed to be cheap.

  10. joe the plumber said on October 31st, 2008 at 1:48 am

    oh and web site design company (if that is your real name) how does this mean that the “big boys” could do it cheaper. i do assume they pay their employees. last i checked, gm spends more on healthcare than they do on steal.

  11. lol said on October 31st, 2008 at 2:53 am

    Most places sell better (non-electric but still better) cars for 500-2000 dollars…cars that can get you across country

  12. Answer My Health Question said on November 13th, 2008 at 8:57 am

    Great invention! From this we can save gas. Energy saver!

  13. apeweek said on December 28th, 2008 at 7:14 am

    The Bradley GTII used to be sold as an electric kit car, for about $10,000, back in the early 80s. There are a number of these still on the road today. A few examples:

    http://evalbum.com/type/BRAD

    Electric car conversions are easy to do, and this typically costs $2500 - $10000. Here’s one of several companies that sells already converted cars, some for as little as $10,000 (including a couple of Bradleys):

    http://www.alanizcorporation.com/

  14. xavster said on December 28th, 2008 at 8:25 am

    where is the flux capacitor?

    LOL

  15. Lara said on January 30th, 2009 at 9:36 am

    Wow - this kid is impressive!

  16. Cyclonus said on May 13th, 2009 at 6:19 pm

    He should get hired by the automakers. He can teach them a thing or 2.

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