NBC News reports on electric car conversion shop
Among the videos at the NBC News website, mostly of CEOs and political leaders, there is one video about a company that converts gas cars to run on electricity. This "tiny shop in the middle of Kansas," the NBC News reporter says, "turns out more purely electric cars than any other place in the U.S." The segment includes a 40-year-old black and white video from the Today Show, where the host says electric cars are nothing new, are not golf carts but real cars that operate on the streets. Lots of people are still trying to get that message out today.
I think conversion shops will soon be a thing of the past as the large auto makers become aware of the advantages of electric vehicles. The video includes a converted VW, but VW has said they plan to make every car with an optional hybrid drivetrain. VW has also said if all cars were a hybrid the auto industry would go bankrupt. So, while they might not have a great future, for now, converters do enjoy their moment in the spot light as literally the only source for a normal, affordable, electric car.
[Source: NBC News]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Brian Hague 1:49PM (2/11/2008)
Well Kansas isn't that far away from Texas... wonder if he'll do my old S-10 pickup...
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MarkR 2:25PM (2/11/2008)
Lintton said, "I think conversion shops will soon be a thing of the past as the large auto makers become aware of the advantages of electric vehicles."
I tend to find my self on the other side of what you say for some reason and this is no exception.
If I were a betting man I'd bet you there will be more electric or electric hybrid conversion Auto shops 25, 50 years from now than there are today. People want to be "green" but people also like there classics. 15-20 years there will be a huge market to convert the cars from the 1950's all the way to the time we are totally off Gas. 15-20 yrs from now there will be a huge custom conversion market to convert hot rods of today to electric. All the Vette's, Stangs, Camaro's etc. etc. etc. There will also be a market for converting todays Trucks and 4x4's to electric and any other favorite flavor of automobile. Just look at the overall Auto market, the customization shop will never die. And it will be a long time before the electric conversion shops die, just watch it move under the custom shop banner. Please, Today there are only a fraction of number of the conversion shops 20 yrs from now. Not everyone will want to drive a car of the future they will want to drive the car of today or their youth with the technology of the future. Same as it ever was......
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Carl 10:00AM (8/09/2008)
So true, Mark. I'm trying to find someone to convert my 1969 Pontiac. I've created a site with all the details...check it out:
www.greenvintage.org
tugboatwilly 10:05PM (12/04/2008)
Absolutely the best point for electric conversion stated so even bone headed auto exec's should be able to understand.
Lad 2:29PM (2/11/2008)
If Firefly can bring their much-improved Pd technology batteries to market at a competitive price, that might make retrofit BEVs feasible.
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Andrew 4:27PM (2/11/2008)
I've meet Wayne (the guy who does the conversions) before and would like to give anyone interested in his conversion shop his website. www.ev-blue.com
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Lascelles Linton 6:24AM (2/12/2008)
MarkR, All good points but I don't think anyone is counting. Once the Volt, plug-in Saturn, plug-in Prius comes online, I would assume the market would be hurt. After that, if say, gas prices go up more, I expect car makers to just re-issue electric versions of their cars. That again, would hurt the conversion market.
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tugboatwilly 10:05PM (12/04/2008)
Didn't you ever have a favorite car? With a conversion you could have it again and it would out last your shoes this time.
MarkR 9:30AM (2/12/2008)
I'll grant you there will be an interesting transition period but I wouldn't call the shops dead. Maybe dead as we know it, as with most business models you must change/evolve or die. And some individual shops will die, But there will be others to take there place with a new and better business model. Conversion shops will not totaly die its to new of a market. However ones that convert crappy old cars may have their days numbered. But then again the names you mentioned not one is a truck so the ones that convert s10's may have a few years left on their life. I wouldn't claim its dead until it actually is. I'd still bet they have a long life ahead of them.
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Lascelles Linton 10:24AM (2/12/2008)
MarkR, I think the main problem for conversion shops is Cost. Look at the cost of the Nano and the Air Car. It might be cheaper to buy an EV than to it will cost to do the conversion. We are talking about, to use an example, steel or bronze razors when the real problem is disposable razors from China :D Sure, if EV ramp up is slow and gas cars stay on the road, conversions shops should do better. If we are flooded with cheap EVs, major brand will just jump on the bandwagon, snapping on their frames to cheap Evs from over seas, killing the conversion market.
The conversion market really only works if the big automakers don't catch on. Think about it. They are buying the car, eating the automaker's profit, add on top of that, they take out the most expensive part of the car, the engine, then replace it with man hour and products, and must sell it back to the consumer at a reasonable price, comparable to original car anyway, all while losing the warranty on the car and in many cases the parent company saying what these guys are doing is dangerous. Auto industry's profit margin is RAZOR thin, I don't see how converters will put if off for too long.
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tugboatwilly 10:06PM (12/04/2008)
And besides. After the conversion there is a lack of petroleum purchases and maintenance items to consider. This is going to put several camel jockeys in a lurch and maybe they don't buy ten Bentley's this year.
barfbag 3:23AM (6/19/2008)
The automakers don't want to sell us simple EVs, they want to give us hybrids overloaded with technology and luxury features that keep the price tag high and insure there will be a lot more maintenance than with a straight electric car.
VW said that with electric cars the auto industry would go bankrupt? well then I guess we don't need the auto industry as it is today, let them go bankrupt, and welcome the EV conversion shops! Hopefully they'll grow and take over the manufacturing plants of GM and Ford.
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Mic 1:15PM (7/03/2008)
I don't believe the conversion shops will die. As Mark R. said, the shops will adapt and the weaker ones will, indeed, die. The 'industry' won't. The major auto makers 'caught on' in the late '90's but didn't want electric to catch on, so they only leased cars and not only repossessed them at lease expiration, but destroyed them. People will eventually find that they can't afford the high price of gas or 'phony' hybrids that burn gas except on start up. If you go onto the highway, you're certainly going faster than 25mph. The hybrids actually have the same electric capability of the NEV's.
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Pat Kaa 11:24PM (9/26/2008)
Hey there I really like your article infact I found a site that teaches you how to convert your own vehicle to run on gas and electricity for under $300 http://www.squidoo.com/electric-car-conversion-kits-guide
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Woodenbee 10:47AM (12/03/2008)
Yes I think there will always be a market for conversions, we just need to make sure they don't crush all the good candidates, I think recycling gas powered cars is a great green idea and one day shops like Wayne's will be able to turn your worn out old gas car into a gleaming new EV for half the price of a new car, if only we could get congress to invest in that, why not build a workshop in every technical college dedicated to EV's ? or at least one in every state, what would that cost $1billion maybe?, actually that's wayyy too much, that would be $20 million per state, if you can't build a workshop for that kind of money then there's something wrong. Wow what are they doing with all that money???????????
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JOHN 4:35PM (2/14/2009)
I WISH YOU GUYS WERE RIGHT BUT THE OIL CO,S ARNT GOING TO GIVE UP THERE CONTROLE ON THE CAR INDUSTRIES JUST YET, SEE THE SHOW WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR ! GM ,HONDA,FORD & Toyota HAD THAM OUT IN THE 90S JUST TAKE A LOOK AT THE SHOW !!!!!!!!! THANKS JOHN
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awolff 12:37AM (11/07/2009)
I have seen the show "Who killed the electric car" I recommend every gear head, commuter and every conservationist to see it. Since seeing that show I am looking into how to buy an old car and convert it myself.Using the internet so far to researching kits and books,and local clubs.China and Europe are already ahead of what the U.S. has on the market.I mean plug in pure electrical that can reach highway speeds.
Oil companies and big business and the media have sold us a bag full of bullshit.
It is obvious to me ev's are the most efficient,reliable and cost effective transportation.
Yes, there will be hybrids and fuel cell and other crap that will divert attention and resources and delay mass production of affordable evs.Maybe if grassroots production of conversions are increased that will speed up America's ev mass production .
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