In the last 30 + years racing and building stock cars in the NASCAR series and maintaining my pleasure boats and race boats, along with all the s
upport vehicles for business and pleasure I found I spent more time maintaining my gas powered vehicles than I did enjoying them.
Back in the early 70's I was inspired by an elderly lady how would drive by my home in her old electric golf cart on the way to the grocery store and back a few times a week. It was safe for her and everyone else. No one ever complained when she took advantage of her preferred parking space in front of the grocery store door.
I became envious over time as she drove
by in her silent, no maintenance transportation. At the end of her
journey she plugged the cord to the battery charger in to the garage
wall electrical outlet and seemed very content and secure it would be ready, all tuned up
for her next journey.
The price of gas had skyrocketed from 30 cents to 75 cents and the gas companies where taking all the high octane poisonous lead out of the gas.
How was I going to race to the store and back in my big, heavy, high compression, gas guzzling, noisy, American dream car. The world was looking pretty
grim. I had a wonderful wife and a 2 year old daughter to be concerned for. It was time to take things into my own hands.
I was
happy with my new vision of the no-maintenance, no gas vehicle. I
knew I needed to go faster and farther than the elderly lady down
the street with her golf cart.
I was pleased with my new family transportation. It seated
4 passengers, cruised the fast lane of the freeway and I felt safe
with a row of solid lead running across the front and back of the
little sports car. I liked replacing the gas tank with batteries.
The car was quite and didn't vibrate as I sat on the freeway. It never
over heated and I wasn't smelling the fumes from the gas or oil burning.
I was never concerned if the car would start and didn't wait for it to
worm up, so it didn't stall out in the middle of the street. I no longer spend time waiting
in line for gas or smelled like the gas I spilled on myself. I was
enjoying my new peace of mine the battery powered car gave me.
There were some interesting differences I enjoyed about my new electric
vehicle conversion. No vibration and no noise. The electric motor is round and
spins on roller bearings on both ends. There is no compression
or friction. When the car comes to a stop so does the motor.
Once the car gets rolling it just coast along.
It was a very short time later I found an older (aerodynamic), sports car that needed the gas engine replaced. The people I bought it from were happy to have it out of their yard and I was happy to have it in mine.
That was then and this is now.
In the early 1970's the V twin Harley Davidson was the ideal small
engine for E-VConcepts hybrid designs. The large displacement V-twin
made a good torque at low speeds and matched the running speeds of our electric motors. The
V-twin gas engine
was inline with the electric motor and coupled by an electric clutch
much like the magnetic clutch on your automotive air conditioning
compressor.
The electric vehicle concepts above
are some of original patented body styles created by
Spherical
Fiberglass Designs in the late 1970's. Even in their time they where capable of 80 MPH
and an 60 mile range before needing to recharge the lead acid batteries.
These electric vehicle concepts were equipped with 220 volt chargers. Recharging
the lead acid batteries would take 20 minutes
and gave you another 40 miles of driving range and on and on for ever.
Complete recharging would take 5 to 6 hours and was usually left for
your time at work and overnight at home. 110 volt charging was an option but would take twice
as long.
It is easier to find an electrical outlet than a gas station. Every
business and every home has the ability to recharge an Electric Vehicle.
Charging my electric vehicle at work
meant I was driving for free. By driving (discharging the batteries) and recharging the batteries
I was stirring the chemicals and making the batteries work better and last longer. This
was just the kind of car the
gas companies and car manufactures didn't want me to own.
Electric Vehicle Concepts History
E-V Concepts
With the flip of a switch your gas engine is turning the electric motor and drive train. The rotating mass of the electric motor
helped increase the fuel efficiency of the gas engine at freeway speeds.
It was now possible to for the motor to make power to recharge the
battery supply.
In the 70's and early 80's we enjoyed the Italian cars (Fiats) for the host conversions. Compact
designs, superior steel quality, very adjustable conventional 5" coil springs with remote shocks and one of the best 5 speed manual transmissions in the world. With a fiberglass body modeled after the early (Boxer Berlinetta) Ferrari and the Italian chassis this seemed to be the dream car to spend hours a day parked on the Los
Angeles freeways.
With our close ties with the NASCAR racing teams in Charlotte, North Carolina and our own car building facilities located there. It has been the ideal
source for chassis and suspension components designed to handle the
weight of lead acid battery powered high speed electric vehicles. If your
fantasy requires you drive a NASCAR racer (battery powered), Electric
Vehicle Concepts is poised to create this for you. Door handles and extra seats are optional.
The right choice for your electric vehicle conversion is important to the handling and safety
of everyone. Most compact cars are not designed to handle the extra weight
of lead acid batteries front and rear. Electric Vehicle Concepts has been involved with battery
powered propulsion systems for over 30 years and is now using light
weight lithium batteries.
We continue to design and fabricate
prototype electric vehicles for companies around the world along with
our conversions of cars , yachts and motorcycles. We are happy to help in any way to make this world a smarter place to live today and tomorrow.
