Build your own EV for $500

December 30, 2008 by Curt Siters

I am not a big fan of Mother Earth News - they have gone far too upscale for those who would benefit most from that type of information. However, every once in a while the cover will have something that catches my eye and I will pick it up.

The latest issue (Dec. 08) is one of those. It had articles on bread baking which is one of my favorite pasttimes. While browsing through the pages I came across a two page spread on electric cars which I found very interesting. Many companies have cars that will go into production for the U.S. markets in the next 12-18 months. This makes me wonder why the GM, Ford and Chrysler are lagging so far behind?

Whatever the reason, they are.

Here is a synopsis of some of the companies and vehicles listed in the article:

• Miles XS500 will be in beta testing in the summer of 2009 and has a price tag of $35-40,000
• Think A306 arriving in late 2009 with a price in the mid $20,000
• BYD E6 to arrive in the second half of 2009 - no price given

This list brings home why Mother Earth has gone upscale - the least expensive of them [I]starts[/I] in the mid $20k’s. Out of reach for most Americans - who would benefit the most from it.

What if there were a way to get an electric vehicle today? What if it only cost you less than $5,000? What if it had the style of your favorite vehicle - car, truck, van, etc? What if it cost only $1 per day to “fuel”?

Well there is a way you can have all of this and it can be done for $500 in parts (plus your time.)

I recently came across a place on the web where a couple, living off the grid, has managed to engineer a conversion from a fossil fuel based car to an all electric plug-in that will handle most of your daily needs. It cost them less than $500 to do and uses $1 worth of electricity to go about 100 miles (ymmv.)

If you like to tinker, are just fed up with the Big 3 and Big Oil, or really want to help the environment you really should check out Convert2EV.

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Curt Siters is an Independent Associate for Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. He is also aYoung Living Essential Oils Independent distributor and publishes articles on YourWebReference and at TheVeryEssence. He also does web work such as website design, website maintenance and SEO for websites.

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