Driving Sports

In part 1 of this odyssey of automotive insanity, we learned a bit about the history and challenges of battery electric vehicles. Now we answer the age-old question: "Dude, how did you do that?"

This Electric Van project was performed with a kit purchased through Brown's Electro-Automotive in Santa Cruz, California. Mike Brown has been building electrics for over 30 years, and he really knows his work.

Fred did the installation design for a pair of battery boxes to be mounted as low as possible in the van, encased in non-conductive plastic boxes reinforced with a lightweight exterior steel frame. The plan called for 24 deep cycle, high output, 6 Volt golf cart batteries. Each battery weighs about 60 pounds, so he had over 1400 pounds of battery to install in a vehicle that has about a 5,000 pound gross vehicle weight rating. He calculated that with 4 people in the bus, he'd be close to the limit.

In addition to the batteries, an electric bus uses a strong 144-volt DC motor, mated to a custom adapter plate and a stock VW flywheel and clutch assembly. There's also a battery charger, DC controller, and a vacuum pump to assist the brakes. On the upside, you do eliminate the original engine, so you get some weight back. However, those who build electric cars quickly learn to discard every possible ounce of excess weight on the vehicle.

The actual assembly process was so easy as to be trivial. Working in Fred's driveway, we drilled and cut and mounted everything in less than two days. In a proper auto shop, we could have cut that time in half. In fairness, the quick assembly is primarily due to Fred's excellent engineering and planning. Almost all the parts were ready to install and Fred's clear diagrams complemented Mike's proven conversion kit.

The bus drove out on electric power the first time we threw the switch.

Older air-cooled Volkswagens are particularly well-suited to conversion because they're lightweight to begin with and the engine is designed to hang off the transmission with no other structural support. Therefore, hanging the electric motor off the transmission is easy: it weighs less than the original engine!

Driving the bus around Fred's neighborhood, we quickly learned how to use the clutch and gears to best effect. Electric motors generate their maximum torque at 0 RPM, so you can leave the bus in third gear and take off without even touching the clutch, but it's a pretty slow takeoff. You can also drive it like a traditional car and use first gear, but the best result seem to happen when you start in second gear and then shift to third for neighborhood driving. Expressways and freeways will require fourth gear, and the bus can achieve and maintain 55 MPH.

But let's be clear - this is not a mighty road machine. It's an around-town vehicle. Fred's still working out the range on a full charge, but it should come in around 80-100 miles. And that's plenty for a car to get an urban or suburban family to work, school, and the grocery store.

Tune in tomorrow and read Part 3 to find out how Van Jovi (yes, that's the name) runs on solar power that's healthy for children and butterflies and other living components of Mother Earth.