This page will chronicle the journey over the next couple of months that a group of high school students will be taking: Building an electric car. ABC auctions of West Michigan had an Austin Healey Sprite lying around, and they have given that to the cause. (Side note: I have no idea what year the car is, and would appreciate any knowledge that somebody who knows these cars could contribute. My guess is between 61-66.) This is pretty fantastic, actually, because it is a small, lightweight car that has been known to get fuel mileage in the high 30's to low 40's....and that was with a carburetor. And with electric cars, if the donor vehicle got good gas mileage, then the conversion is far more likely to have good range.
This car is....rough. To say the least. it can only be imagined that the owner had grandiose plans to restore it, but then found out that automotive restoration require either a lot of money or a lot of effort and gave up. Or, it may be more likely that they didn't give up, but instead decided to take out their anger on the car. "I know, I'll weld the body seams together and then do a bad bondo job, that'll teach it" is kind of the attitude that I imagine that owner having when working to undo the damage.
It is perfectly okay that this car is so rough. Someone who wrote about gas to electric conversions had said "Do not convert a rust bucket, even if it is free, because then all you will have is a rust bucket that runs electric."
Well, this was a statement made by the small minded intended for the masses. It generally holds true, but in this particular case, we are neither small minded nor to be considered a member of the masses. Yes, we are teenage street urchins. But do not be deceived: this does not automatically exclude us from the possibilities of being intelligent, resourceful, pioneering, and quality driven.
THIS IS NOT YOUR STANDARD CONVERSION.
It is not even your standard high school or college conversion.
Do not enter into the delusion that it might be. If you are looking to convert your car, this will not be the blog for you. This is not an introduction to electric cars, there are plenty of those around. This site may be interesting or perhaps even informative, and if you're lucky, witty. But it will not give you practical advice for a standard conversion(if any of them could really be considered standard anyways), and should not be looked to as such.
When we are done, we will not have an Austin Healey Sprite that runs electric. We will have an electric car loosely based on an Austin Healey Sprite. The current vehicle will function as a mold to pull carbon fiber body parts off of, and something to examine while designing the frame, suspension, etc. Everything will be custom made, there will be very few, if any, original parts. There will be an aluminum frame that will incorporate the battery pack design. The body will be stretched, the wheels will be covered, the interior will be redesigned. This car will be a whole new beast.
This is only possible with the contributions of the following sponsors:
Street Dreams By Ross: providing assistance, tools, and working space
Galaxy llc: providing electrical components, including lithium ion batteries.
ABC Auctions of West Michigan: providing the donor vehicle
New sponsors and donations in any capacity are greatly appreciated!
If you would like to help, or have any questions/comments, please e-mail electricsprite@gmail.com
