A guide on how to convert any gas- or diesel-powered vehicle to electric power. Includes ownership advantages, basic EV operation, subsystems, components, basic EV operation, project vehicles, and conversion kits.

Go Green-Go Electric! Faster, Cheaper, More Reliable While Saving Energy and the Environment “Empowering people with the tools to convert their own vehicles provides an immediate path away from petroleum dependence and should be part of the solutions portfolio.” – Chelsea Sexton, Co-founder, Plug In America and featured in Who Killed the Electric Car? “Create a superior driving experience, strengthen America, and restore the planet’s ecosystems…that’s the promise of this book and it’s well worth a read!” – Josh Dorfman, Founder&CEO – Vivavi, Modern Green Furniture Store; Author, The Lazy Environmentalist: Your Guide to Easy, Stylish, Green Living. This new, updated edition of Build Your Own Electric Vehicle contains everything that made the first edition so popular while adding all the technological advances and new parts that are readily available on the market today. Build Your Own Electric Vehicle gets on the expressway to a green, ecologically sound, cost-effective way that even can look cool, too! This comprehensive how-to goes through the process of transforming an internal combustion engine vehicle to electric or even building an EV from scratch for as much or even cheaper than purchasing a traditional car. The book describes each component in detail---motor, battery, controller, charger, and chassis---and provides step-by-step instructions on how to put them all together. Build Your Own Electric Vehicle, Second Edition, covers: EV vs. Combustible Engine Overview Environmental and Energy Savings EV Evolution since the First Electric Car Current Purchase and Conversion Costs Chassis and Design Today's Best Motors Battery Discharging/Charging Styles Electrical Systems Licensing and Insurance Issues Driving Maintenance Related Clubs and Associations Additional Resources

Get all the information you need on the revolutionary vehicles that are gaining popularity in today's automotive industry. This easy-to-read book addresses the movement of technology towards new and upcoming electric vehicles, with a focus on the hybrids in use today and the fuel cell vehicles of tomorrow. Expansive coverage includes the political and social impact of these vehicles, as well as the basic theories of alternative vehicles as they relate to construction, electricity, batteries, and motors. The book ends with a look into the future, focusing in on vehicles under development.

When Eric Ryan is sent by Teach for America to a hard scrabble high school in the heart of North Carolina's NASCAR country, one of the many things he didn't count on was Harold Miller sticking his head into his class one morning and announcing, "Hey Mr. Ryan, we're gonna build an electric car." Two regional utilities had challenged a group of elite schools throughout the South to design and build battery-powered electric vehicles. Although Ryan's underprivileged high school had not even been on the list, somehow Miller had managed to squeak them in and onto an adventure which not only began to take over the lives of Ryan, Miller, and a local engineer named George Hawkins, but an unexpected group of kids with no visible resources, know-how, or expectations. With an ancient Ford Escort rescued from the compacter, a few hundred pounds of scavenged golf cart batteries, a local minor league NASCAR driver as coach, and the local constabulary looking the other way as the reborn "Shocker" began careening over back roads on test runs, the kids (barely) get their pasted together dark horse to the big contest in Richmond, and then, naturally, win the whole thing.

Thoroughly updated to encompass the significant technological advances since the publication of the first edition, Electric and Hybrid Vehicles: Design Fundamentals, Second Edition presents the design fundamentals, component sizing, and systems interactions of alternative vehicles. This new edition of a widely praised, bestselling textbook maintains the comprehensive, systems-level perspective of electric and hybrid vehicles while covering the hybrid architectures and components of the vehicle in much greater detail. The author emphasizes technical details, mathematical relationships, and design guidelines throughout the text. New to the Second Edition New chapters on sizing and design guidelines for various hybrid architectures, control strategies for hybrid vehicles, powertrain component cooling systems, and in-vehicle communication methods New sections on modeling of energy storage components, tire-road force mechanics, compressed air-storage, DC/DC converters, emission control systems, electromechanical brakes, and vehicle fuel economy Reorganization of power electronics, electric machines, and motor drives sections Enhanced sections on mechanical components that now include more technical descriptions and example problems An emphasis on the integration of mechanical and electrical components, taking into account the interdisciplinary nature of automotive engineering As an advisor to the University of Akron’s team in the Challenge X: Crossover to Sustainable Mobility, Dr. Husain knows first-hand how to teach students both the fundamentals and cutting-edge technologies of the next generation of automotives. This text shows students how electrical and mechanical engineers must work together to complete an alternative vehicle system. It empowers them to carry on state-of-the-art research and development in automotive engineering in order to meet today’s needs of clean, efficient, and sustainable vehicles.

Unprecedented secrecy surrounded the early development of General Motors's Impact. Shnayerson watched the story unfold from a position of access never granted a reporter before--literally from the inside of the pace-setting GM Impact program. This is the first book to penetrate the silence surrounding GM's risky and successful decision to become the world's first mass producer of the electric car.

Electric traction is the most favourable type of power supply for electric railways from both ecological and economic perspectives. Its reliability largely depends on contact lines, which must operate reliably in all climatic conditions with as little maintenance as possible. Extreme demands arise when overhead contact lines are required to provide reliable and safe power transmission to electric traction vehicles travelling at speeds in excess of 300 km/h.The authors have used their world-wide experience to provide comprehensive descriptions of configuration, mechanical and electrical design, installation and operation of contact lines for electric railways on local and long-distance transportation systems, including high-speed lines.The book provides students and those embarking on a career in this field with a detailed presentation of the subject, including the electromechanical and structural requirements. Railway company professionals and manufacturers of contact line systems will find practical guidance in the planning and implementation of systems, as well as appropriate specifications and the technical data they will need, including standards and other regulations. Since large sections of the book are dedicated to the system aspects, consultant engineers can also use it as a basis for designing systems and interfaces to other subsystems of electric railway engineering.

While the classic battery electric car continues to make only a small impact on the automobile market, other types of electric vehicle, especially hybrids, have made significant and promising improvements. Moreover, small battery electric vehicles such as bicycles and mobility aids are also developing well. Presenting more than 160 diagrams and pictures, this book explains the science and technology behind these important developments, and also introduces the issues that underpin the design and performance modelling of electric vehicles.Electric Vehicle Technology Explained:Encompasses a full range of electric vehicles: bicycles, mobility aids, delivery vehicles and buses – not just cars.Covers all the basic technology relating to electric road vehicles – batteries, super capacitors, flywheels, fuel cells, electric motors and their controllers, and system design.Considers the environmental benefits and disadvantages of electric vehicles and their component devices.Includes case studies of a range of batteries, hybrids and fuel cell powered vehicles, from bicycles to buses.Offers many MATLAB® examples explaining the design of appropriate computer prediction models.Professionals, researchers and engineers in the electric vehicle industry as well as advanced students in electrical and mechanical engineering will benefit from this comprehensive coverage of electric vehicle technology.

The tumultuous history of inventors and corporations who have tried to bring the electric car to the market.Amazingly, in 1900 28 percent of all cars were electric. By 1920 the electric car had all but vanished and gas-powered cars dominated the market. In Taking Charge, Schiffer deftly explores how cultural factors, not technological ones, explain the rise of gas-guzzling cars. Schiffer brings the history of the electric car into the present, arguing that despite the Detroit Big Three’s reluctance to make electric cars, their time has finally arrived.