Get schooled on building your own electric vehicle
Are looking for a project to keep you busy this summer? Have you always wanted to have your own electric car to go along with your solar panels? You don't want to wait for the Volt and the Tesla is too pricey? Perhaps you can build one yourself. What's that? You don't know anything about converting a gas hog to a green dream machine? Well, if you live in the Seattle area perhaps you can take a course.
This summer, a 6-day intensive course on electric car converting will be held at the South Seattle Community College starting June 16th. Classes will be from 8 am to 5 pm. with the mornings devoted to classroom instruction (no spitballs) and the afternoons dedicated to the hands-on conversion of a lucky student's donor car. The finished product will be capable of "highways speeds" and have a range of between 40 and 60 miles, according to an item on the Post-Intelligencer reader blog.
If it isn't your car that gets converted, you still won't walk away empty handed. Every student will receive a copy of the book, "Convert It" written, not coincidentally, by the instructors of the course, Mike Brown and Shari Prange. Since they have written a book on the subject (as well as possessing lots of other experience) you can be assured they have a clue what they are talking about. Supplemental help may also be rendered by various members of the Seattle EV community.
If you want to hear more information and ask questions before committing to any part of the $800 total fee then why not call them about attending the absolutely free informational meeting (signup details after the jump). Have fun and happy gas-free driving!
[Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer]
Seattle electric vehicle conversion class free "information evening" will be held on the evening of April 23rd. For more information, call South Seattle Community College office of Continuing Education at (206) 764-5339. Registration is also available online at www.learnatsouth.org.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dave B 9:59AM (3/23/2008)
I don't suppose there's a chance of this course coming to Dayton, Ohio...is there?!
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jake 2:42PM (3/23/2008)
If the occasion comes that I NEED to get a car (I still rely solely on public transport) I would want to get an electric car. If automakers fail to make them affordable by then, then I would consider a conversion since it would likely be much cheaper. Hopefully there will be more battery options in the future too.
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SteveW 4:52PM (3/23/2008)
A bit of a pain when the links dont go to the relevant article, anyway here is the Seattle PI blog entry
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/electricvehicleguide/archives/134830.asp#extended
And the class at SSCC
http://www.learnatsouth.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=1011&CategoryID=4&SubCategoryID=112
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Domenick Yoney 12:06AM (3/24/2008)
SteveW:
Clicking the "read" link at the bottom of the post will take you to the article on the PI reader blog.
Thanks for the SSCC direct link.
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mark 6:22AM (3/24/2008)
Who the heck has an electric Holden Commodore? ;-)
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CanaDoc 6:14PM (3/25/2008)
@ #3 (steveW)... Just for clarity, that's not the link to the course, just to the info night. The course doesn't seem to be listed yet...
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goldiesimpson 9:53PM (8/27/2009)
Hi, Where can I purchase the book Convert It by Mike Brown? London Ontario Canada
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Domenick Yoney 10:47PM (8/26/2009)
Amazon seems to have it.
http://www.amazon.com/Convert-Michael-Brown/dp/1879857944