Ev Conversion Kits

Going Green by Going Google

From mowing it’s Googleplex headquarters’ lawn with a herd of goats to proposing a $4.68 trillion plan for changing alternative energy policy in the United States, it’s clear that Google’s commitment to sustainability has more significance than just another ad or PR stunt—although admittedly the company specializes in the former, and their efforts indeed achieve the latter.

The heart of Google’s sustainability policy pivots on a single premise:  that what’s good for business can also be good for the environment.  This is why Google decided to cool their massive internet data center in Hamina, Finland with recyclable sea water, reducing its energy consumption by up to half of the standard data center.  But how else has google lived up to it’s commitment to sustainability and carbon neutrality?

To date, the ad-driven internet giant has invested approximately 780 million dollars into clean energy projects, and has only resorted to buying carbon credits as a temporary measure for offsetting their greenhouse gas emissions.

In the field of solar power, for example, Google has already made two significant contributions.  The first was a $280 million investment in SolarCity, a company that grants up to 1,000 homeowners the opportunity to lease photovoltaic installations at a discounted rate, with savings of up to $100 a month compared to standard electricity.   The second was a $168 million investment in BrightSource Energy’s “Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System” (ISEGS), located in the middle of the Mojave Desert.  The project is one of the largest solar installations to date and is set to produce 392 MW of energy over a 25 year life span.

Also located in the Mojave Desert is the Alta Wind Energy Center (AWEC), which when finished and operating at max capacity will deliver 1550 MW of power direct to homes and businesses via Southern California Edison (SCE).  The power-purchase agreement with SCE will help guarantee that California reaches its “33% of electricity from solar energy” goal by the year 2020.  Google has a $55 million stake in one leg of the AWEC project—the Alta IV—under a “leveraged lease” agreement.  The agreement allows Terra-Gen, the company managing the project, to pay back the up-front costs to Google at a later date while still maintaining control of the center’s operations today.

E85 Ethanol Flex Fuel » EV Conversion Kits on Wall Street

What does Wall Street have to do with electric car conversion kits? Simple: as the economy is going down, you are looking to save energy to save costs. Gas may still look cheap due to its lower demand but Peak Oil is grinning just around the corner. Gas prices can only go up. It’s a certainty.

Oh yes, there are also the persistently annoying matters of global warming and climate change. Survival is prompting many to look for creative solutions. Think differently. Live differently. More simply and cheaply!

One response is to look at buying a diy electric car kit. You can of course go straight for a new plugin Volvo or even a plugin Toyota Prius but that will set you back a substantial amount of money.

There is a more simple and “green” way than that, re-using existing gas guzzlers.

While living more simply is definitely a way towards a sustainable future, ev conversions from electric car plans are not necessarily that simple.

Most of those who are doing them, and there are increasing numbers of people doing so, do have some mechanical skills and the right tools for the job. Then again… it’s not out of the ordinary these days for a high school to convert a car to electric for a school project. So, bottom line is yes, you can.

You can do it yourself, find a mechanic who can do it for you, or buy one already converted.

Do it yourself

Lets say you are looking at the first two options. What should you bear in mind? Here’s some tips:

Select the right “donor” car. This is the regular, petrol-driven car whose body you will use to refit with an electric motor. So, you throw out most of the “organs” and keep the body – just to be different.

What attributes should your donor car have?

It must be lightweight, regular model, manual gear shift, with lots of room to stow the batteries.

Yes, of course it is possible to gather together all the bits you need to transform your gas booze bucket into a lean electric vehicle.

Some conversion guides gives you excellent support on that score. But to be sure you have it all, and in one hit, just buy yourself a conversion kit.

Most of the kit is constituted by two main things, the controller and the electric motor. The rest is wiring, clips and all manner of bits to mount and connect the two main components to your car frame.

Doing it this way is smart because you know everything is there for your model car, it’s cheap and you can get on with the main game: Putting it together.

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