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Gav's EV Conversion - 19 - Frequently Asked Questions
Visit www.EVsecrets.com & grab my new EV Conversion book + video package! Now that the conversion's complete I thought I'd tackle all those questions I get through my inbox. The questions answered in this video are the most common I get asked on almost a daily basis by people at supermarkets, on the street or by email. I'm sure many of you have the same questions too, so on with the video! For all the other technical questions, check out my FAQ page or my Tech Specs page at www.KiwiEV.com I admit, it's not a terribly exciting video compared to the others, but it's important for anyone using my conversion as a platform for their own.

Gav's EV Conversion - Step 17 - The Charging System
Visit www.EVsecrets.com & grab my new EV Conversion book + video package! The car's finally ready for the big inspection! After some initial hiccups, my recharging system is now up and running using 13 individual chargers and one 32-pin plug (I'm only using 28 of the pins though). As well as finally getting the charging system going, I've also installed a splash-guard under the motor and installed the ventilation ducting. Everything went well and each battery is charging as it should with no noticeable voltage-drop through the recharging cables either! A car transporter will arrive in a few days to collect the Tredia and take it up to Auckland where I'll meet it for the big test! Let's hope it passes! (I'll need everyone to cross their fingers) Next video coming soon!

Gav's EV Conversion 5 - Removing the Clutch
Visit www.EVsecrets.com & grab my new EV Conversion book + video package! Wow, this EV conversion project is turning into a mini series. Next it'll be "Twin Peaks - Who Killed Laura Palmer's Electric Car?" :) In this video we're removing the clutch from the car. A clutch isn't needed in your average Electric Vehicle as you generally drive around town in one gear all day. If required, you can still change gear easily though as there's no backpressure from having a big gas engine chugging away aimlessly. There are many EV drivers who swear by keeping the clutch in the car, and many who think it's unnecessary but once it's up & running I'll be the judge of that! It's my first EV so I'm keeping it simple. No motor+clutch+gearbox adapter makes it nice and simple for a non-mechanic like me. Anyway, we hit a bit of an obstacle trying to remove the clutch by undoing nuts & bolts. The clutch pedal base seems to be a sealed unit. This leaves us little option for removal but getting out a saw...

Gav's EV Conversion 6 - The New Gearbox
Visit www.EVsecrets.com & grab my new EV Conversion book + video package! In this latest episode I take the old internal combustion parts to the refuse centre and then pick up my new gearbox. I found a local wreckers yard that had an old Mitsubishi Cordia gearbox for $150 so I snapped it up right away! You'll notice the new gearbox doesn't have a gaping big hole in the side of it which helps a little... It needs a serious clean up though. Looks like it was beaten with the oilly stick.

Gav's EV Conversion 1 - Towing the Donor Car
Visit www.EVsecrets.com & grab my new EV Conversion book + video package! The journey to convert an old gas car to electric starts here! I'm getting sick of paying for gas so I decided to do something about it. I'm not much of a mechanic but after doing casual research for some time, I decided I could convert a car to run on electricity by myself. No gas/hybrid oil-burning nonsense - just pure electric all the way! Follow me through the exciting changeover from gas to electric through these videos. It's going to be many many months before the car is converted, so get comfortable. EV's are quite uncommon in NZ, in fact I know of only two in the entire country. I'm looking forward to being the third. The first step was to purchase a donor car. I found a 1987 Mitsubishi Tredia with a seized engine but otherwise in good condition for $180. After towing it home, we then had to figure out a way to get it up the drive and into the garage to begin removing the planet-killer bits under the bonnet. In the next video we start taking it apart... I can't wait to get that "EV Smile" that electric car owners talk about so much.

Gav's EV Conversion 9 - Installing the Pot Box
Visit www.EVsecrets.com & grab my new EV Conversion book + video package! The next video in this classic New Zealand Electric Car Conversion has arrived! My Potentiometer Throttle Box has arrived from America! It was a birthday present from my mum - sure beats socks & undies! This "Pot Box" as it's known, is like a light dimmer switch. The accelerator cable is attached to it and when you press the gas pedal, the lever moves, adjusting the amount of power the motor is to receive. I also learnt that in New Zealand you require an additional spring connected to the outside of the pot-box for safety in case the main spring fails. It made me wonder if other countries have this same extra spring requirement?

Gav's EV Conversion 2 - Dismantling the Tredia
Visit www.EVsecrets.com & grab my new EV Conversion book + video package! The Electric Car Conversion continues! Following on from my first video a few days earlier, this is where we finally find a way to get the Mitsubishi "Deadia" into the garage. Once in the garage the dismantling begins. We start by removing all the old bits & pieces not needed for an Electric Car. A few examples of now obsolete items I enjoyed removing were: Gas tank Exhaust system Fuel lines Petrol filler spout & lines Used engine oil Oil filter Petrol Filter Carburetor Radiator & lots of brown water And of course, The Planet Killer (the engine)! I have appeased the knuckle Gods many times over the last few days. I have made many a sacrifice of skin and blood to them, as it is written in the knuckle bible. You'll notice I got a big suprise when looking at the gearbox after removing the engine... It wasn't a good suprise either! Enjoy the story as it unfolds everyone.

Gav's EV Conversion 4 - Cleaning the Exxon Valdez
Visit www.EVsecrets.com & grab my new EV Conversion book + video package! Video number four is here (early too). We're getting closer to converting the car to electric every week! In this video I removed the seats & carpets before scrubbing & hosing them down. The amount of brown water that came out of those seats was pretty gross but at least my fiance will sit on them now. :) I ended up scrubbing the metal floor, door skins and ceiling too and I can finally say the car smells good!

Gav's EV Conversion - 20 - Living with an EV 1
Visit www.EVsecrets.com & grab my new EV Conversion book + video package! So far so good! Having an electric car has been great! We've been using the Tredia as a reliable daily driver for a couple of months now and we've cleanly clocked up over 800 kilometres (500 miles) already! Our "Unspent Gas Money" jar gets a $40 visit from Her Majesty each week. It's much better having the money we normally spend on gas back in our pockets, that's for sure! After 2 months we've put almost $300 of money in the jar that would have otherwise gone up in smoke - literally. We now have to decide what to spend it on! I've been busy saving money and I've sold a few things to make up enough to buy a new faster charger too. The method I'm currently using works fine, but it's slow and chargers here are VERY expensive. I'm about to order a new Zivan NG3 16-amp charger from EV America! That'll be in the next video, along with my demonstration at the regional Sustainable Energy Expo! So keep your eyes peeled for the next video! Until then, happy motoring. :)

Gav's EV Conversion 7 - Buying the Motor
Visit www.EVsecrets.com & grab my new EV Conversion book + video package! I was worried about this video - I mean how could I possibly make an interesting video about buying a motor on the internet? :) Still, the saga continues! Just this morning I went in to the bank to sign the loan paperwork for the electric motor and borrowed $3000 NZ to get my EV conversion project rolling. This is a major milestone in the conversion process. I reckon I'm about a quarter of the way there already! I made a second trip to the bank this afternoon once the money had appeared in my otherwise sad looking bank account, and sent $2015 US to the other side of the world. Within a matter of a few short days my motor will arrive by airfreight! So, now that the motor is on it's way I can relax right? No... Believe it or not, there are still quite a few things to be done before that motor arrives. Keep watching this space.

Gav's EV Conversion 14 - Installing the Batteries
Visit www.EVsecrets.com & grab my new EV Conversion book + video package! The batteries have arrived and are installed at long last! It took a few days of fiddling about but we installed and secured the front and rear batteries into place with super-strong stainless steel strapping. I also created and installed my sealed rear battery box which has the extraction system connected to the turbo timer and a relay so that both the ignition and the charging system activate the fans. The turbo timer ensures the fans keep going for 3 minutes after I've turned the car off, or unplugged the charger. It sounds complex but it isn't. You have to remember it's ME we're talking about here ;)

Gav's EV Conversion 12 - Installing the Battery Racks
Visit www.EVsecrets.com & grab my new EV Conversion book + video package! At last! The battery racks are in! After a some battery choice problems, some battery rack sizing problems and a few delays I've finally got all three racks installed. It took a while and there was many a stressed moment but at last the racks are complete. The rear rack is bolted into the floor with 5mm thick steel bar underneath to hold it in place. The front racks are welded to the chassis (not the sub frame) to ensure the crumple zones remain... well, crumpley in an accident. :) Now it's time to get the control-box and Curtis Controller wired up and visit the bank for the batteries. It's full speed ahead! The conversion will be complete in no time!

Gav's EV Conversion 10 - Installing the Motor
Visit www.EVsecrets.com & grab my new EV Conversion book + video package! The motor is in! After a bit of a delay, the adapter plate has been created and mated to the gearbox, and the motor has been installed into the Tredia! We had a few delays along the way with problems finding an engineer, our wedding being overseas, the adapter plate & motor not fitting in the first time, and THEN having to get a mounting bracket welded up. Whew, there's a bit of work involved in getting the motor installed but at long last it's in! I noticed in the video that we make that heavy motor look light & fluffy lowering it into the Mitsubishi. It is not. I think it was due to editing out all swearing and straining noises from the video. :) I can finally say the motor has been installed into the car and I think a big Yeeehhhaaaa is in order. That's one small step for Gavin, but one giant leap for Gav's EV conversion.

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Gav's EV Conversion 16 - The First Trial Run
Visit www.EVsecrets.com & grab my new EV Conversion book + video package! Woohoo! The Tredia is alive and KICKING! After successfully test-spinning the wheels with the car off the ground, we lowered it down late on Friday night and took it for it's first test drive up and down our empty street! I make no apologies for my excited girly giggling - you would too! I would rather have test proven the car on a race-track or abandoned airport runway but there are none of those things near here so I had no choice but to use the empty road. In case the Police are reading this, Sorry! I had to for testing purposes! It won't happen again! :) So, not only was the test drive REALLY good fun, it was very useful for finding faults. I've tracked down three teething issues I need to work on before taking the car to Auckland to be certified! If you're thinking of starting your own conversion or if you've been putting it off, START IT TODAY! Ok, still heaps to do before I can drive it about so it's back into the garage to build the recharging system!