Battery-powered 1994 minivan cost $6,000, runs 20-25 miles
Taking an older vehicle, gutting the powertrain and converting it to operate solely on electrons is certainly not a new phenomenon. It's been done many times and many ways with varying results. Fairleigh Dickinson University graduate engineering student, Sai Sankar, is a relatively new to the art of EV conversions. Sankar started with a 1994 Chrysler minivan for his project. According to Edmunds, you can get one in running order for about $1,500. Of course, for a project of this type a non-running example would suffice and should cost considerably less. Sankar built the electric van for a sustainable entrepreneurship symposium at the school called Growing the Next Generation of Green Ventures. He evidently used about $6,000 worth of off-the-shelf components to create his emissions-free family hauler.
The whole lashup has a top speed of 55 mph, can carry 800 lbs of people and/or stuff, and has a range of 20-25 miles. A full charge of the battery takes 4 to 6 hours and costs an estimated $1.50 in New Jersey. Assuming a Voyager or Caravan of that vintage gets around 20 mpg, this would be considerably less expensive to operate with gas prices around $4 per gallon. Of course, the gasoline-powered variant can hold significantly more than 1 gallon of fuel and can be replenished in minutes rather than hours. But for someone who just needed to hustle the kids to school and go get some groceries something like this could be viable.
[Source: NJ.com]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Brian 1:45PM (5/08/2008)
Good Job. The technology is here and now. Not 10 years away.
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steven 2:02PM (5/08/2008)
Facts, facts, what is so hard about checking the facts!?!?!? That is either a Plymouth Voyager or a Chrysler Town & Country. The EPA sticker said 20city/24hwy with the 3-sp auto and 20city/27hwy for the 5-sp manual (although Edmunds says it got 30mpg HWY)
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rj 2:26PM (5/08/2008)
The cost of electricity is not the main expense when operating an electric vehicle, batteries are.
If you are using lead acid batteries that have a useful life of 300 - 500 charge cycles the cost of replacing the batteries could be more than the cost of gasoline over the same distance.
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Wave54 4:00PM (5/08/2008)
* Facts, facts, what is so hard about checking the facts!?!?!? *
What's so hard about actually reading the article. Hint: the key words would be "of that vintage". The EPA figures you state were for those vehicles BRAND NEW, not 14 years old.
I had one and 20-22 mpg is about right with high miles on the vehicle.
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Whopper 4:32PM (5/08/2008)
What, in heaven's name, is so spectacular about 20 to 25 mile range with 4 to 6 hour charge time?? I live within the city limits, not out in the country. My Saturday chores include the grocery store (6 miles one way), the dry cleaners (4 miles beyond the grocery store) and home (10 miles from the cleaners). I would then be trapped at the house for the next 4 hours. Yeah, a real accomplishment...he should have spent $1200 and rebuilt the engine and used the remaining $4800 for gas.
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iHero 6:46PM (5/08/2008)
Great work....but he should have built a Hybrid Adapter:
http://www.hybrad.com
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GenWaylaid 7:58PM (5/08/2008)
The sticking point of these home conversions is always the cost of battery capacity. It's not that he couldn't have made the vehicle with much more than 25 miles of range, it's that he couldn't have done that for anywhere near $6000.
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Jim 7:21AM (5/09/2008)
" emissions-free family hauler"
NO NO NO! Electric cars certainly generate fewer emissions, but they are only emissions-free if they are charged by electricity from solar, wind, or hydro-electric sources, which are rare in the US. Low emission and remote emission (emission is at the power generating plant, not at the car) yes, but NOT emission free.
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Derek 12:01PM (5/09/2008)
I still don't understand the motive behind these conversions except to make a statement. First off, I would be surprised if the vehicle has a 20-25 mile range AT 55mph WHILE hauling 800# of stuff. Give some real world ranges. How many people could honestly use this as anything other than an occasional toy? The range barely covers my current 12 mile (one way) commute, never mind side trips for errands or cold weather killing the batteries range.
Just do some simple math: with average mileage being 10,000-15,000 miles per year, that means Americans average 27-41 miles per day. I kmow my mom did at least that ferrying my sister and me around. Better add some batteries, like 2-3x what's in there now.
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pree2ccol 3:52PM (5/10/2008)
To #9:
This design isn't for vehicles that will be driven for long distances. The whole point of this is that it be used for shorter distances - say by campus vehicles that shuttle between different buildings, facilities vehicles, company cars that go between different areas in a large campus etc. The idea is not to use this to drive for long distance from the east to the west coast!!! Atleast he's taken a first step towards developing something that is 'green' and quite cost-efficient as well. Not simply talking about an abstract design.
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