Build a Homemade Electric Car – How to Choose the Right Vehicle

Are you getting ready to build your own homemade electric car? Have you chosen a car to convert to electricity yet? If not, then here is some information to get you started.

Before getting started, it is always good to plan out the process that you will take to convert a car. You don’t want to get into the middle of a conversion and realize that you need to begin again. An important part of the conversion process is the vehicle that you choose to convert.

Although pretty much any car can be converted into an electric car, there are just some cars that tend to be more efficient when converted. This is to not say that you should only pick cars that fall into this criteria. This information should just serve as a guide to be used if needed:

Build Homemade Electric Car Selection Criteria

  • Type of vehicle
  • Have you determined if you will be choosing a small car, sport utility vehicle, or a truck to convert? The best cars to be converted are small sedans that have the capacity and space for storage of your batteries. Pickup trucks are also great for conversion projects.

  • Transmission
  • Experts suggest that you choose manual transmission over automatic transmission whenever possible. Manual transmissions tend to be more efficient than cars with automatic transmission.

  • Weight of vehicle
  • Regardless of what vehicle you choose to convert, your vehicle must be able to support the added weight that will be required for your batteries and motor. This can vary anywhere from 200 to 500 lbs. You may need to check the weight rating of your vehicle. This can usually be found in your owners manual.

    These are just some guidelines that you can use to select a vehicle for conversion. Once you select your vehicle to convert, then you are really on your way to driving your first electric car.