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Electric cars are here, NOW... come join the evolution!
There's a new day dawning in the world of electric cars.
Oil-fueled transportation isn't sustainable. We always knew it, though it was hard to admit.
- Easily drilled oil reserves are running out.
- Dependence on other countries' oil? That just lets them hold us for ransom! Drilling oil in delicate ecosystems like the Canadian oil sands - well, if we do, those places will never be the same again. Once drilled, forever ruined.
- Carbon dioxide heats up the atmosphere, air pollution makes us sick...and automobile tailpipes cough up literally TONS of both every day.
But there's an alternative.
Electric vehicles are sustainable transportation, in ways that other "future cars" - like biodiesel, flex-fuel and hydrogen cars - are not.
...problem solved, right? Um, not quite.
Unfortunately...
...a powerful bunch of politicians and corporations (call them the Oilies, or call them the 1%) are deeply interested in keeping gas-guzzlers all over the roadscape until every last teaspoon of crude oil has been refined and burned.
Why? Because it's profitable - at our future's expense.
So about five years ago, a documentary filmmaker named Chris Paine showed us how the automakers and oil industry had conspired with politicians to "kill the electric car", to deprive us of even the OPTION of buying our beloved cars, and what we saw in his film made us really mad. Lots of us got busy and fought back.
If you saw Who Killed the Electric Car? and got mad, too...come on in. You're in good company.
How to Get Your Own Electric Car
Happily, now there are a lot of ways for you to get an electric vehicle!
- The regular automakers, including Nissan, Ford, Mitsubishi and Chevy (and soon, Toyota and Honda) are offering quite a few electric powered cars now; some are all electric, like the Nissan Leaf, while others like the Chevy Volt are technically plug-in hybrids.
- Conversion shops across the country are offering their services to turn your gas-gobbler into an electric vehicle.
- You can build your own electric car. Lots of folks with no prior experience or special skills have built or converted their own electric vehicles.
- There are custom electric vehicles available using fiberglass bodies (think Porsche Spyder replica), AC electric motors, and lithium batteries. These are brand new cars, not conversions, and they are built by local small businesses rather than giant international companies.
Come on in and have a look around, take your time. You'll find lots of reliable electric car information and interviews with my friends at conversion shops, electric vehicle motor and lithium battery suppliers, automaker spokespersons, and folks who have built beer-budget electric vehicles in the backyard.
Electric Vehicle Conversion Corner
Interested in converting your gas-gobbler to electric, and wondering where to start? This is where you'll find:
...and other conversion-related things. Don't be shy, jump right in!
One More Thing...
And finally, the best kept secret about electric cars? (I can share it with you, because we're friends now; ) They're really, REALLY fun to drive.
Try it once and you'll never want to give up the keys.
Inside Electric Cars are for Girls...
Electric Cars Blog Mostly painless blog of electric cars, electric vehicles and conversions
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Nissan Leaf With No Range Anxiety Do electric car drivers have different views on the Nissan Leaf and range anxiety than the automotive magazine folks? Turns out they do.
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Ford Electric Car: Ford Focus Electric 2012 The Ford electric car contender is based on their Focus, and I have to say, it seems to be doing its best to blend in. Not a bad thing.
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Electric Car Advantages Electric car advantages: good reasons to drive an electric car, some obvious and some not-so-obvious...
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Electric Car Conversion Books Electric car conversion books are the place to start if you want to build an EV, or convert a gas car to electric.
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Electric Vehicle Conversion Videos: EV Secrets Interview with Gavin Shoebridge from NZ who did an electric vehicle conversion on YouTube...now revealing his EV Secrets. Oh, yes; )
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Build Your Own Electric Car You can build your own electric car. It's not rocket science, and there are conversion kits available!
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Electric Car Conversion The electric car conversion is the world's best kept secret! You can buy them already done, or you can do it yourself.
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Plug in Hybrid Cars from Giant Gas Hogs You can convert giant gas guzzlers into plug in hybrid cars with this retrofit from NetGain.
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Electric Car Batteries: Lead or Lithium? Which electric car batteries do you need for your conversion or NEV: Lead, or lithium?
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Electric Car Batteries: Lithium! Best electric car batteries for conversions are LiFePO4 prismatic cells. Interview with Lithium Storage and EVTV on the marriage of lithium and EVs.
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Lithium Battery Management Systems Lithium battery management systems for your electric car: When you need it, and when you don't. (Controversial interview included; )
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Custom Electric Vehicles: Venus Motors Venus Motors builds new custom electric vehicles using fiberglass kits, electric drive trains, and lithium batteries.
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My favorites...
Duke's Garage Conversions
Canadian Electric Vehicles
Lithium Storage EV Batteries
HPEVS Motors
Visiting from the UK?
Check out Christine and Ash's excellent electric car blog,
MyGreenWheels.com,
for info and news about electric vehicles on your side of the pond. (Say hi to Christine for me!)
EV Conversion Videos
New Electric Cars...
Tesla Roadster
Nissan Leaf
Ford Focus Electric
Chevy Volt
Fisker Karma Plug-in Hybrid
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