thwang99

I'm in the process of converting my '06 Scion xA to Electric! Should be hopefully cool, and a preppy car afterwards. I'll have all of the ICE components available for sale,
though if this works, otherwise I'll be putting the ICE components back in. Anyways, thought people might be interested in a electric Scion conversion!

- Tony

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DarkBoxJr

Why?

andysxA

what exactly do you mean by "electric"?

Bsbox

As soon as they make them good enough and cheap enough i'll be first in line to convert my xB. Didn't anyone see "Who Killed the Electric Car?" I would have my own solar and hydroelectric systems, power my car and home, then sell the surplus back to the power company. I hate buying gas and i hate paying social security but that's another story.

Bsbox

^Oops i guess we were too busy watching "Fast and Furious 3"

Monkeyideas

are you doing it yourself or having a professional do it? Will it be all electric or a hybrid?

thwang99

Well, instead of say, $200 per month on gas, it would cost $10 per month for electricity, maybe. And maintenance would be WAY less. Brake pads would wear much much slower, no engine maintenance at all. Also, way less wheel to well pollution. And electricity is a form of energy that has many different sources, as opposed to oil which is a limited resource. This will be a fully battery electric vehicle. Working on this myself and with a few other people. I put up some pictures here of the electric drive system and car, evconvert.blogspot.com

Neothin

34 miles to a charge? that's kinda cruddy.

Dwatts5250

So, how much money are you having to put into this project, on top of the purchase of the xA? Im curious...

thwang99

Actually I think I can get closer to 40 to 50 miles now, but yeah, that's just initially, with a small battery pack (around 200 pounds?). I plan on at least doubling the pack later on (when finances allow!). Most EV conversions have a 1000 pound battery pack (http://www.evalbum.com). My goal is 120 mile range, but I'd be happy with 80.

As for costs, too much! The technology is still more expensive than an ICE setup, plus it's all custom work.

jct

i wanna see DIY detailed picture when you do it, ok...

stonecoldnimrod

is that on dvd already... in the dollar movies?

oldmanatee

WHile the pollution point is valid, $10 a day to operate your car isn't very economocal....

Do it for the technology, not for the savings at the pump....

I applaud your endeavor...

oldmanatee

Get the box set with "An Unfortunate Lie" by AlGore.

PakanaHerruus

Well, what are these things performance wise? The xB/xA are slow to begin with.

I can't imagine going any slower. Would it be like a golf cart?

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jetlounge

iTrader: (3)

good luck. even only at 34 the diy aspect alone would be great.

rip out all of the interior guts, large metal panels...everything...and convert to fg or carbon fiber or kevlar if you have the budget.

stonecoldnimrod

hey hey don't diss gore. i liked that movie. it was... educational? it was that movie in which i saw the preview for the electric car. dyin to see that one.

Bsbox

thwang99

The $10 is per month (with say, 25 to 90% battery capacity charge per night), versus say, $200 per month for gas. Thanks for the applause though!

You'd just plug it in at night like a cell phone, and hopefully the electricity bill will go up by $10 or so. As for performance, I'm hoping better than stock! The passing power, and smoothness of the drive should be much better than stock also. An electric AC induction motor has good torque basically in it's whole RPM range, so you could keep the car in second gear during driving. I'm hoping for maybe 8 or 9 second 0 to 60?

AC propulsion's eBox gets 7 seconds 0 to 60: http://www.acpropulsion.com/ebox/

Anyways, the car will hopefully be lighter than stock too, which will help acceleration. Also, the grill will be covered as there's no need for a radiator, which helps aerodynamics and improves top speed. I'm considering removing the side mirrors and replacing them with cameras too.

BTW, Who Killed the Electric Car is a good movie, kinda boring documentary style though. But if you watch it with an open mind, it's revealing. The mindset of the public has been that electric cars are "slow oversized expensive golf carts". The expensive part currently is correct, though.

kdepew

If you want to do it for fun, great. If you really think this is going to save you money, think again. This will almost certainly cost you alot more money than just continuing to drive your car with gas.