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Build Your Own Electric Vehicle (Paperback)

by Bob Brant (Author) "Why buy, convert, or build an electric vehicle today? ..." (more)
3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
RRP: £14.99
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Product Description

Product Description
Electric vehicles have many advantages over their gas-powered counterparts. They are ecologically sound, much cheaper to operate and require almost no routine maintenance. But they can also cost twice as much just to drive off the showroom floor. Ambitious do-it-yourselvers, however, can enjoy the clean-running convenience of an electric car for half the price of the most affordable Chevrolet or Toyota. This money-saving guide explains step by step how to build an inexpensive EV from a kit or from an existing internal combustion engine chassis. It begins with a look at the history of electric vehicles, from vintage tyrn-of-the-century Baker Electric automobiles to current international advances in EV technology, and a look ahead at the future of EV development. Then, Bob Brant embarks on a chapter-by-chapter building-block description of each EV component: motor, drive train, controllers, power supplies, chargers and chassis. Final chapters pull it all together with clear instructions for assembling an electric car from scratch or kit, with advice on where to find low-cost EV supplies and systems.
Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
Why buy, convert, or build an electric vehicle today? Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

4 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.5 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Useful (but biased) information, 14 Jun 1999
By A Customer
'Build Your Own Electric Vehicle' is an easy to read book, with a lot of good information on everything from the history of electric vehicles to estimating performance of your own EV. Where I was disappointed was with the, at times, heavy biases in Mr. Brant's writing. At times, his 'save the world by driving an EV' rants almost convinced me to return the book. Mr. Brant brings up many tradeoffs with EVs - buy/convert/build from scratch, 6-volt/12-volt batteries, truck/car/van, etc. In each case, he compares the pros and cons and proceeds to say 'The best choice is ...' If there are tradeoffs involved, there probably isn't a 'best choice'. Instead, a more appropriate summary might be 'If range is your primary concern, X is better. If acceleration is what you want, then go with Y.' Perhaps I would have a higher opinion of the book if I hadn't read it from start to end. If you are looking for specific information (How can I estimate the range/current draw for my EV?), this is a good book. If you want a general overview of EVs, I would look somewhere else.
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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A comprehensive guide to the components and systems of EVs, 29 Aug 1995
By A Customer
This 310 page book is more than its title implies. It is an excellent source of information, even if one is just interested in learning more about the subject of electric vehicles. Mr Brant's credentials include a degree in engineering, and having worked on the Lunar Rover. He begins his book by exploring the appropriateness of the electric vehicle from an environmental standpoint. He then quickly reviews the history of the EV, from the mid 1800's to the present. He does a good job of surveying the current (as of late 1993) crop of electic vehicle producers, as well as the plans of the major auto makers for electrics. Brant devots a chapter to the options available to the person who wants to own an electric vehicle today: Buy a ready to run car from a manufacturer or converter, have one built or converted for you, or do the conversion yourself. One option that he seems to largely discount is the option of buying a used EV. Although such vehicles can be somewhat hard to find, especially away from large cities on the coasts, they can put a person into an EV for much less money and work than any other alternative. As you might expect from the book's title Brant favors the self-conversion option. He compares the various types of motor vehicles as conversion options; passenger cars, vans, and small pickup trucks. His conclusion, that a small pickup truck might be the easiest to convert, while giving the best range, seems a valid one, as long as a small pickup meets your needs, and suits your style. Chapter 5 is an excellent reference listing suppliers, EV clubs, and various converters and manufacturers. With Chapter 6 Brant begins the real meat of the book. He presents formulae and charts that allow you predict the performance of the vehicle you choose for conversion, and pick the size of motor and batteries that you will need. The next chapters are devoted to each of the unique systems of an EV in some detail: Electric motors, controllers, batteries, and chargers. To this reviewer, these chapters are the most valuable, and make this book useful to anyone with an interest in Electric Vehicles. The current state of the art is reviewed for each of these systems in some detail and with an eye toward practical maintanence and selection, and upcoming technology is also covered. Surprisingly, only one chapter of the book covers the actual conversion process. Although there is probably enough detail here for the experienced home mechanic or mechanically inclined individual, someone who has never pulled an engine out of a car, or done other major repairs on his own, will probably need more help; especially if his conversion is not of a small pickup truck. All-in-all there is a lot of good information in this book, and it is a vital addition to the library of any would-be electric vehicle converter, owner or pipe dreamer..
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Buy it for info, 12 Mar 2007
By Mike Bee (Warrington) - See all my reviews
This book is a good read if you are into all af the technical data on electric cars but not too good if you are looking to build one.

Information on how to make an electric car is limited to the basics of what you will need to do. There isn't a lot on how to actually do it though.

The information this book contains is useful as a introduction to self building an electric car as it does give all the details on what you need but due to lack of instructions I wouldn't reccommend it to someone with no technical knowledge.

If Haynes made a manual it probably be better but I suggest buying this so you know what you are getting into first so you can decide weather you can do it or if it would be too much trouble. Either way buy it. I have and I believe I can do it even though I have never built a car before.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Excessive tree-hugging and lacks detail and authority
This is Leitman's update of Bob Brant's original 1993 book. I have read both.

Like the original book it suffered from excessive tree-hugging. Read more
Published 6 months ago by John Hardy

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