On 26 Sep 2014 at 10:15, Rick Beebe via EV wrote: > In order to make it work on a massive scale you have to pick one or two > models of cars so that you can streamline the process and make > standardized components like battery racks. Choose the wrong car and > you're dead because no one will buy it.
Even if you choose right, you have only a few years at best before the automaker redesigns the car. Then you have the choice of redesigning your conversion, retooling, making new molds and dies and so on; or letting your conversions get older and more used. People who are paying something north of $25k for a car don't want an 8-10 year old car, even if it's electric, so the answer to this one isn't hard to find. You could pick a "classic car" glider to convert. But there you run into availability problems - clean gliders and parts. You also have to restore the vehicle before you can convert it. It becomes a real challenge to sell the car for a profit at a price that any normal person can or will pay. You could contract with an automaker, almost always in Asia or Eastern Europe, to supply you with new gliders. You end up buying from small, financially strapped automakers whose vehicles aren't state of the art or appealing to buyers. Your supplier is also more likely to go out of business or stop offering cars in your country. (Electricar of Athol Fiats and Renaults, anyone?) Hobbyists have built thousands of conversions, some better than others, of course, but often quite successfully. There's a whole mini-industry that serves EV hobbyists with components, batteries, and even a few kits (where model-specific, mostly for now rather old cars and trucks). It's a small but still (I think / hope) viable business. However, I can't think of a case where EV conversion has ever really been what you'd call successful on a commercial scale. Solectria probably came closest, and IIRC they only sold 300-some cars and trucks during the 1990s. David Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA EVDL Administrator = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = EVDL Information: http://www.evdl.org/help/ = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Note: mail sent to "evpost" and "etpost" addresses will not reach me. To send a private message, please obtain my email address from the webpage http://www.evdl.org/help/ . = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
