STATE-OF-THE ART ELECTRIC VEHICLE CONVERSION
Automobile owner explains how he transformed his traditional, gas-guzzler into a hybrid car.
May/June 1982
By the Mother Earth News editors
We came, we saw, we tested. . . and we were pretty impressed!
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STAFF PHOTO
A while back our alternative vehicle researchers came across (and subsequently recommended that Mother's Bookshelf ® carry) a volume called the Electric Vehicle Components Catalog, put out by Flight Systems, Incorporated. Each successive edition of the catalog has gotten better, too, and the newest (No. 3) version of the 75-page book includes—in addition to an up-to-date listing of available components—an in-depth discussion of the key factors that must be considered when converting any vehicle to electric power (and those factors are just the sort of thing that most of us figure out after a mistake has already been made).
We were sufficiently impressed by the catalog to want to find out more about the folks who are responsible for it. As you'd imagine, Flight Systems got its start in the aviation industry. Back in 1965 the company began producing solid-state controllers (used for light pulsing) for both aircraft and landing fields . . . and that business eventually got the firm involved in the U.S. space program. By the early 1970's, however, the directors began to become enthusiastic about the potential of electric automobiles, and —as of 1980—they made a commitment to do their best to supply some of the needs of what they believed would be a growing market.
So at about the same time that MOTHER was deeply involved in alternative automobile research, the Flight Systems folks were developing a few plans and publications of their own. And those manuals describe the procedures necessary to convert a Chevette, a Pinto, and a VW beetle from internal combustion engine to total (not hybrid) electric power.
The plans are now available, and MOTHER'S crew lost no time in checking them out. Each of the three conversions is meticulously detailed in its own large-format booklet and accompanying construction drawings. Furthermore, in addition to providing clear step-by-step conversion instruction, the plans contain pertinent information on such topics as battery charging and maintenance.
Our interest was really piqued by the time we'd finished going over the plans, and we decided to test the performance of a Flight Systems conversion. To do so, we sent a staffer to visit Ted Combs and Jerry McDonald of Fort Lauderdale, Florida . . . who own a converted Chevette that's used to provide transportation to and from their electric parts business.
