Bruce Burk, St. Johnsbury Academy, winner 1991 American Tour de Sol Open Class
We built Mr. Brown's car and we won.


John B. Newell, past president, Electric Auto Association
If a booklet similar to yours had been around when my first gasoline car was converted to electric propulsion, the car would have been both easier to convert and more reliable. Your notes should be required reading for all members before starting construction.


Dr. W. Robert Kincheloe, Stanford University, Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering
This is a very readable and practical manual for the do-it-yourselfer. I heartily recommend this book for anyone who has ever contemplated such a project.


HOME POWER, April/May 1994
Don't even think about converting it until you have read this book.


Book Description
This book is the leading how-to resource for electric car conversions. It combines Brown's years of professional automotive experience with down-to-earth language even an automotive beginner can understand. It is not written for the engineer in the laboratory, but for the home mechanic building his own car, and for the average person behind the wheel. Brown speaks to the reader as if talking to a friend in his garage. Before lifting a wrench, Brown answers the most frequently asked questions about electric cars: how fast will it go, how far will it go, how long will the batteries last, how pollution-free is it really, and many more. The conversion process itself begins with choosing an appropriate donor chassis, and stripping it of internal combustion components. Here Brown's experience provide numerous tips and tricks to make the later conversion process easier and more successful. Step by step, Brown leads the reader through the conversion. As each component comes up, Brown gives a little background on the different types available, and the pros and cons of each. He includes tips on layout, design and fabrication at each step, and discusses different approaches for different chassis, such as front wheel drive vs. rear wheel drive. By the end of the book, every part of the conversion process has been discussed. Brown wraps up with a procedure for testing and troubleshooting, and guidelines for normal driving, charging, and maintenance. The book is salted heavily throughout with photos and diagrams to illustrate its topics, and it includes a very thorough index. CONVERT IT has been chosen by the Department of Energy and by numerous schools across the country as the textbook for high school electric car conversion projects.


From the Author
A lot of people make electric cars very complicated, and they don't need to be. I believe in keeping it simple. Over the years, I've learned a lot of tricks that can help the builder, and a lot of pitfalls that should be avoided. I want to share the benefits of my experience.


From the Back Cover
CONVERT IT explodes the common myths about electric cars. It explains: Why they are tremendously cleaner than internal combustion cars--even including the used batteries and the emissions from the power generating plants. Why they are more energy-efficient than internal combustion cars--even including electric power transmission losses. Why they are much more economical to operate than internal combustion cars--even including periodic battery pack replacements. Why they are perfectly practical for the driving most Americans do today--even using plain old DC motors and lead-acid batteries. Why they won't create a need for new power plant construction--even if there are millions of them on the road. Why they are the cars of the future--AND the cars of today!


About the Author
Michael P. Brown has a background that is unique in the electric car industry. He has 28 years of hands-on professional experience as an automotive mechanic. He served his apprenticeship and was dealership trained, and eventually left to operate his own auto service and repair shop for 14 years. He also spent several years building race cars. This gave him a firm foundation of real life automotive knowledge that other electric vehicle people lack. He understands the stresses that driving place on components, where failures are likely to occur, and the kinds of user abuse and neglect that are common. He also understands the kinds of problems that are likely to confuse or irritate the average driver. In 1979, Mr. Brown founded Electro Automotive, a retail supplier of conversion components and kits. Over the years, he has built numerous electric cars, and has been responsible for helping hundreds of amateur mechanics build cars of their own. He has been consulted for electric conversion projects by the Department of Energy, Stanford University, and various utilities and schools across the country. He was invited to participate in a working group for the President's Federal Fleet Conversion Task Force. Mr. Brown himself drives an electric conversion on a daily basis.


Excerpted from Convert It! by Michael Brown. Copyright © 1993. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved
From Chapter 2: The workings of an electric vehicle (EV) are very simple. Electricity moves from the power source, which is probably a wall socket, through a charger, and into the battery pack. When the ignition key is turned, the main contactor closes, allowing electricity to move from the batteries to the speed controller. As the throttle is depressed, the potbox sends a signal to the controller telling it how much electricity to release to the motor. The speed of the motor varies depending on how much electricity it gets. The motor is connected to the transmission by an adaptor plate. The power goes from the motor, through the transmission, and out to the wheels as in a gas car. That's it in a nutshell. We'll talk about each of these parts in more detail later. From Chapter 7: Once you have your motor, you need to install it in the car. The first step is attaching it to the transmission with an adaptor. Okay, let's look at what an adaptor is. There are two sections to an adaptor: the plate that mounts the motor to the periphery of the transmission, and the hub that connects the motor shaft to the flywheel and physically transmits the power. The plate can be made of aluminum in order to save weight. It should be no less than 5/8" thick for adequate rigidity.