Zoomi Life

Most of us can’t afford a Fisker Karma or a Tesla Roadster, so we’ll have to find another way to go electric with our vehicles. Some of the more intrepid of us will do it ourselves.  Sites like DIYelectricCar.com are there for that. This is a great resource and I was amazed to look through and see what’s there. A friend sent me the link and said I should check it out. Thanks! This site is awesome!

It’s a user-supported Wiki combined with a blog from various members of the site who are in the process of or have just completed conversions. Other useful information like real-world product testing (like batteries, motors, etc.) are also to be found here. The best part, though, is the EV Conversions Forum, in which users can talk about, ask questions about, and generally get help from people when doing or planning EV conversions. Frikkin’ awesome.

For instance, the DIY EV Wiki on the site gives great general information as well as some specifics on basic design and mechanics considerations. Users are, however, encouraged to search the forum by make and model and see if anyone has done a similar conversion and, if not (or if new questions have arisen), to create their own post regarding the conversion of a specific vehicle.

Others who’ve “been there, done that” can then jump in and give pointers, ideas, information, and so forth. It’s a great user-supported setting with lots of great information from people who really know what they’re doing.

For instance, I’m considering doing a conversion of my Toyota 4×4 pickup—originally I was going to go with CNG, but have since thought maybe electric would be better. There are a couple of dozen forum posts regarding Toyota pickups—even an already-converted EV for sale. Great formulas for estimating energy needs, battery weight, and other things are also to be had.

This is a great resource for both the build-from-scratch and the conversion planner in EVs. Lots of great information, great people, and a very nice community. The site could use some work on organization and cleanup, but it’s an amateur site, not a professional for-profit, so that can be excused.

If you’ve got questions about or plan to do an electric conversion, you definitely need to spend some time at DIYelectricCar.com. A great resource for sure!