electric car conversion

Where to buy an electric car conversion (already done)

Good place to find a used electric car conversion for sale
This is the Tradin' Post, from Austin EV website. It is a free classified advertising service for people who want to buy and sell electric cars and conversions.

EV Finder Classifieds - Used electric cars and conversions
Another very good resource for finding used electric car conversions in your area. There are also (fairly current) ebay listings on this page.

Oregon Electric Vehicle Association Classifieds
This doesn't appear to be a very active classified list; the last time I looked, the newest ad was dated 2005. However, it doesn't hurt to look, does it?

Electric Vehicles of America's Conversions for sale page
More conversions for sale.

CoolGreenCar.net
This company, which has been in business 8 years, converts fast cars, like Porsches; ) but also do ordinary cars, trucks, motorcycles, boats, snowmobiles. Hybrids from BMWs to trucks.

Where to get your gas-gobbler converted

Southern Electric Cars, Inc.
In Gainesville, FL; Richard Johnson will convert your gas-guzzler to electric.

Bob's EV Conversions
If you need repairs or upgrades to your electric car, or if you need your gas-guzzler converted to electric, Bob's got you covered in the San Diego area.

Canadian Electric Vehicles
Conversion shop in BC that also sells parts and kits. If you've got a gas-guzzler you want converted to electric, Randy is the person you want to talk to. Have a look at the pictures of conversions they've done in the past...and read my interview with Randy Holmquist here.

Ampmobile Conversions in South Carolina
Company based in Lake Wylie, South Carolina, which converts any light, manual-transmission car or truck to electric, using your donor-car or theirs. They generally use a DC system, widely available lead-acid batteries, and a clutchless manual transmission system that they promise won't make me dump my latte in heavy traffic. Final price tag: 10-12 thousand, depending on the bells and whistles. Read my interview with Tanya here.

Grassroots EV
Located in Ft. Pierce, Florida. You can buy a conversion here, or you can call Steve up and talk to him about the conversion you're working on. Steve's also got a conversion cd available for sale on his website that you can watch on your computer using Windows media player.

more info in : http://www.electric-cars-are-for-girls.com/electric-car-conversion.html

After 56 years, automaker has moved operations to new facility in Yuma

The last car has long since taken its last test lap, and most employees have already moved to a new facility in Yuma.

For the past few weeks, perhaps a half-dozen people have been packing for General Motors' final departure from Mesa, bringing a quiet end to an era when American automotive icons like Corvette, Firebird and Camaro had to do or die on a 5-mile test track in the brutal desert heat.

Today, GM will quietly turn out the lights at its vast Desert Proving Ground in southeast Mesa, ending more than 56 years of operations here. The closure is only coincidental with the financial collapse that pushed GM last week to take the once-unthinkable step of declaring bankruptcy.

Not only have times changed in the car-testing business, but urban sprawl has finally crept up to the Mesa site.

What once was ideal land use for a 20th-century industry is no longer appropriate for the new century's aspirations.

But, oh, what a tale the past century can tell.

Roc Arnett remembers when the Proving Ground was shrouded in secrecy, hiding its operations behind barbed wire and tall earthen berms. It was a special thrill to spot a heavily disguised prototype out on the open road for testing.

"I can remember . . . learning to drive, and it would be sport for us to find those future cars and their test cars going down U.S. 60," said Arnett, now president of the civic and business coalition that will be instrumental in planning the future of the site.

"Back then, U.S. 60 was Main Street (in Mesa). As high-school kids, we'd follow those things - 'Is that going to be a Corvette?' 'Is that going to be an Impala?' "

It could have been almost any vehicle GM developed over the past six decades, including some that never made it to market.

There was the Firebird, a brainchild of legendary designer Harley Earl that first zoomed around the circular track in the mid-'50s. Propelled by a kerosene-powered turbine engine, it had a titanium body and a revolutionary suspension system that eliminated springs and shock absorbers.

A generation later, there was the solar-powered Sunraycer, which set a world electric-car speed record of nearly 75 mph.

Although those technologies never arrived in the showrooms, many of the improvements in GM vehicles first went through their paces in the hellish heat, dust and deliberately miserable driving conditions at the Proving Ground.

Jack Sellers, a Chandler councilman, spent his entire professional career there, including almost 20 years as facilities manager, before retiring.

"The facility played a much larger role in a lot of things that General Motors did than many people realize," Sellers said.

One frequent early visitor was Zora Arkus-Duntov, a GM executive known as the "Father of the Corvette" because he advocated saving the now-legendary sports car when sales faltered in the mid-'50s.

Most of the Proving Ground's work was mundane, such as seeing how brakes, tires and other parts would hold up in the heat. Sometimes, components wound up in other companies' products. The Mesa site helped develop transmissions for Rolls-Royce, for instance.

Employment fluctuated over the years. In the mid-'90s, GM had about 400 employees there, but Sellers said that during peak testing seasons, there could be as many as 1,200 people on site as GM's various divisions sent people to monitor work on their respective makes and models

Mitsubishi i MiEV electric vehicle priced at $45,660

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. has priced its new electric vehicle at 4.38 million yen, or $45,660 at current exchange rates, and wants EVs to account for 20 percent of its global output by 2020.

Mitsubishi unveiled the production version of its i MiEV battery-powered car on Friday, saying it aims for 1,400 lease sales to corporate customers and local governments by March 31, 2010. The i MiEV goes on sale in Japan late next month.

Separately, Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. unveiled an electric version of the Subaru Stella small car, also priced above $40,000. But Mitsubishi's sales goals are more ambitious than those for the Stella and include some overseas sales. The Subaru Stella won't be sold outside Japan.

Europe gets a version of the i MiEV next year. The U.S. launch of the lithium-ion battery-powered car comes after that. Those prices haven't been announced.

Individual sales in Japan start in April 2010. Mitsubishi will begin taking those orders in July.

Buyers can qualify for a $14,490 green-car subsidy from the government, bringing the cost down to $31,170.

99-mile range

The four-seat, bubble-shaped i MiEV is the centerpiece of Mitsubishi's plan to leapfrog bigger rivals such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. in environmentally friendly technology. Mitsubishi missed the hybrid-vehicle boom and wants to move straight into zero-emission EVs.

The small commuter car has a single-charge range of 99 miles, which Mitsubishi says is good enough for 90 percent of the average Japanese daily driving needs. It can recharge its battery in 14 hours on 100-volt power, in seven hours on 200 volts and in 30 minutes on a high-output quick charger. For a bit of futuristic flare, the i MiEV is the first car from Mitsubishi to have light-emitting diode headlamps and taillights.

In tandem with the i MiEV launch, Mitsubishi outlined new green-car goals for 2020. Besides wanting EVs to account for 20 percent of its global production by that date, the company wants to halve the average carbon dioxide emissions of its global lineup.

In the factory, Mitsubishi aims to cut per-vehicle carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent from 2005 levels.

Subaru, too

Fuji Heavy Industries launched lease sales of its own electric vehicle in Japan on Wednesday. It is a plug-in version of the Subaru Stella minicar.

Deliveries of the Stella start next month. Fuji is targeting leases of 170 units by next April.

The Stella EV is priced at $49,255 and is eligible for a government subsidy similar to that offered on Mitsubishi's i MiEV. Subaru has no plans to sell the car overseas.