Originally Posted by Emmerich

I own an electric car, a Corbin Sparrow. It weighs 1500 lbs, uses 13 yellow tops for 158 volts. Whatever you *think* your range will be, cut it in half. They claimed 30-50, 15-20 one way before charging was realistic. And it only held 1 person. Any sort of accessories will KILL it. Hills will KILL it. Rapid acceleration will KILL it. A?C, forget about it. No long trips, ideally if you commute you can recharge at work. If you get stuck, you are SOL. Call AAA and get flat bedded home.

The recharge system is CRITICAL. You have to have temperature monitoring on the batteries to prevent thermal runaway. The life of the battery pack determines how much $$$ will be spent, 13 optimas go for a lot of $$$ not including tax and battery fees. You have to "condition" the pack before using the car fully.

They are cute toys, can work in very limited circumstances, but are not for the average user since finding mechanical help is impossible unless you live in an EV area.

My car looks like a big helmet, you are basically a 1 man parade. The looks you get are cool. Would not want to be hit by ANY moving objects.

If converting a real car, I would strip down every piece of weight possible.