Update on teen's all-electric 1988 Mazda pickup truck
High school student Andrew Angellotti contacted AutoblogGreen last fall to tell us about his 1988 Mazda B2200 pickup truck that he converted into an electric vehicle, taking nine months to learn how to do it and getting seriously DIY on the project. Our friend at Michigan Public Radio, Dustin Dwyer, was able to spend some with with Angellotti and an update on the teen and his truck was broadcast this week. Angellotti put 20 "basically golf cart" batteries into his truck; most (16) take up lots of space in the bed. The batteries give him a 40-mile range from a 10-hour charge. Considering that the truck's heat originally came from the engine, the EV doesn't have a warm cab any more, which must make for some tough driving these days. Still, Angellotti is pretty darn happy with his homemade truck. As he told Dustin, "There were quite a few points during the project, during you know, kind of a hard part, I'd start thinking, you know, for six thousand dollars I could have a really cool car. But, you know, I woke up the next morning and I'm like, 'But nobody else is going to have an electric car. So I decided to keep going with it." We're glad he did.
Listen to the report here or read the transcript here.
UPDATE: Andrew was kind enough to send us some more pictures of his truck and, as you can see in the gallery below, he is making progress on his second conversion, a Toyota Tercel.
LATER UPDATE: Yes, he has a heater.
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 4)
FordBronco 3:22PM (2/04/2008)
Get A Ford my 1988 ford f150 xlt lariat can sqaush that mazda tin can good luck getting a date in that thing
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G. McNew 9:09PM (1/21/2008)
"False economy" is accurate in this case. Lead/acid batteries are bigger dinosaurs than the (disproved) term "fossil fuels". Not to mention the cost and pollution of plugging this crate into the grid for 10 hours. The kid would be better served to buy himself an f-350 diesel truck and convert it to run on used cooking oil.
He could get 15-17 mpg and use it to collect scrap metal to give his enviro/emo buddies thier cheap high!
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Debbie 11:16PM (1/21/2008)
Andrew, Great job! The experiences and the education you have will help you in the future. Don't listen to the negative comments. They don't know what they are saying.
Give us an update on how the new electric car is coming along. Hopefully someone will help with those batteries so you can have less cost and be able to go further.
God bless! Debbie
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jake067 9:28PM (1/21/2008)
Interesting. Looks nicely done.
At least some teenagers actually think for themselves. Some people do not have this ability, as the previous poster shows.
Any girl that chooses a guy with an F150 over a guy who built an electric vehicle probably has low self esteem and knows she doesn't stand a chance with the guy with the EV and therefore has to settle. Talk about trailer trash. Anybody ever notice that guys who drive F150s are 1000 times more likely to end up on an episode of Cops than a teenage kid who builds an EV?
Whether or not it has drawbacks or is cost effective, it's a step in the right direction. Bravo I say. At least this kid is willing to step out of line. Most other teenagers are obsessed with fitting in.
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tommy 9:46PM (1/21/2008)
Nice job, don't listen to the wackos, batteries are easily recycled. Let's see, new batteries every 100K miles and recycle the old ones vs $1500 for a new timing belt and 40 or 50 oil changes for a diesel VW... tough choice! I'd buy a plug-in-electric in a minute. And so will many others - that's why the OEMs are pouring money and research into the technology.
Again, excellent work!
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Joe 10:01PM (1/21/2008)
This kid is smart...some company should finance his college education and get a commitment from him to work for them. This is 'brains combined with work ethic and commitment'.
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eddie 10:15PM (1/21/2008)
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Rose 10:21PM (1/21/2008)
If solar panels were installed on the bed cover, hood and roof it might help to extend the battery life.
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eddie 10:23PM (1/21/2008)
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Erik Jaffe 11:19PM (1/21/2008)
Way to go kid! GM made a super-successful electric car that all the users fell in love with. And then they took them away. I think the oil companies were behind the recall (bribed the car company executives?), but who knows. All I know is they can work. And I heard scientist are coming up with extraordinary new batteries that can last much longer. Check them out!
E.J.
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Ben 12:36AM (1/22/2008)
Wow! Serious inspiration. If a teenager can do this without a degree, etc, I should at least be able to do as well. Perhaps, I can give up an hour of my computer or tv time a day to try to learn and do something new.
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undrgrndgirl 11:37PM (1/21/2008)
thumbs north on this one :)
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Little Big Man 11:41PM (1/21/2008)
Way to go man! GM, FORD,CHRISTLER you guys should ALL be ashamed of your selves. You've been out done buy an 18 year old boy !! Take your high breads and put them where the sun does'nt shine !!!
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Jack 11:45PM (1/21/2008)
NOW puy a trailor hitch, Buy a Generator that will chatge the batteries and you will go a LOT further than 40 Miles.
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danny 5:56PM (1/23/2008)
great job andrew..maybe the big 3 automakers will be embarrassed enough to take electric more seriously.. do some reseach and you will see the feds have been imposing regulation on the auto maufacturing companys since 1964 to come up with alturnatives for gasoline engines. but they keep letting them off the hook. it goes to show you that a young kid could come up with a vehicle thats power up by electric and they couldnt by now. i mean not to take anything away from andrew, with all the engineers in the auto industry they could have been alot farther ahead. and it is easier then they say it is. its just the oil companies have bigger pocket then us. its taken the abusive ripoff of the american people by the oil companys over the last 3 yrs to start a change.
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.......... 12:04AM (1/22/2008)
[ profanity removed ]
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Chris 12:49AM (1/22/2008)
Congrats on an incredible effort, takes hard work to make it in life and this guy has a great future if he sticks with it....Now he needs to figure out how to make these batteries WITH OUT all of those toxic chemicals, leads,acids etc. Then, he can design the rest of the car out of pure,recycled product, but until then, go petro or hydrogen.
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Bobby G 12:20AM (1/22/2008)
(Comment #34 wins "COWARD OF THE WEEK AWARD".)
Angelotti, you got my vote! Thumbs way up!
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OLPJR 12:23AM (1/22/2008)
All of you get over yourselves! This kid made an electric vehicle with a 40 mile range. While it is astounding that a kid his age had the foresight, resources, and ingenuity to accomplish the task, he did it mainly for exposure. He is not trying to save energy or anything else. You can best bet he's got a mustang, camaro, or similar car that he drives daily. 40 miles for an eighteen year old? HA! Yeah...Right!
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Chris 12:49AM (1/22/2008)
To comment #34, couldn`t even leave your name lol, what does the future hold for you? Some day, maybe when you are all grown up, you`ll be sitting behind your cash register at the local thrift store and remember this day. The day that you EMBARASSED YOURSELF on the WORLD WIDE WEB, with tens of thousands of people as witnesses. Then realize that this young ambitious kid with the electric car probably is sitting behind his computer,in his office,of his corporation....sleep on it #34 and when you wake up, think of a way to appologize to this hardworking young man and to the rest of the world for your behavior. I bet you make your family proud !
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