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Comment by TEV213 | Hacker News Reader

Buy a cheap used car and convert it to electric. I'm serious.

For the price of a modern, cellular tracking device with wheels you can buy a classic retro "sleeper" car that's an EV with hundreds of miles of charging capacity.

Bespoke EVs, for the win!

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Ah yes, becoming a mechanic and building your own car is the solution.

For the people who can do it it's great, but most just can't. I can barely change my tires, how would I swap an entire drivetrain and rewire the whole thing?

The same way you accomplish anything else that you want done but don't want to do yourself - pay someone to do it for you.

Last time I investigated this idea, there was virtually no practical instructions, and any kits that might have been available were from sketchy looking companies in India. Am I wrong about this?

I don't think it's easy. You can in theory buy a motor from ford, get a battery from somewhere else, and tape it together. You need to at least know someone with a lot of equipment and time to help.

You’re right on the money, this idea is very popular with three groups of people; mechanically inclined with money and infinite free time, lots money and no real need for a car, and people who have done no research but think it’s a cool idea.

Nope. The kits (that cost less than 3x the car) suck. The good conversions are largely repurposing modern running gear from a tesla or other ev. Also typically consting more than what you seek to convert.

Just buy and drive a used car. Making more waste is a bigger net environmental harm than running the ice engine.

And then if it breaks, nobody knows how to fix it, and once you’re done with it, nobody will want to buy it off of you…

> and once you’re done with it, nobody will want to buy it off of you…

I would

BS. Spend over $40k on a used car of dubious mechanical quality with no ability to get it fixed when it breaks? Be serious.

why would you be done with it. it's yours, you did it for yourself. i dont think you need another every two years

People’s needs change, and not everyone is OK with being locked in the state of automotive safety in 2005 for perpetuity.

For reference, here's lists of commercial conversion companies you can hire to do the work (USA-centric) https://www.hybridcenter.org/electric-car-conversion-compani... https://www.google.com/search?q=custom+EV+conversion+compani... https://www.treehugger.com/electric-vehicle-ev-conversion-co...

Resell value greatly increased when a professional warranty is applied to your conversion.

Don’t follow that first link, there’s malvertising on that page.

From the third one:

Price Range: Turn key conversion - contact for a quote, DIY kits $19,185 to $22,500

So the conversion cost almost as much as my 2020 model. I mean, that is borderline imo. If you are really dedicated to the idea, then I could see convincing ones self that it's worth it. But I suspect it's like many things that us tech people enjoy, in that it will end up being way more work to maintain than you realize, and have no real payoff.

Even for a mechanic (which I assumr most people aren't), there's no chance this is cheaper factoring in man-hours.

Can you link to a kit you'd recommend?

While this can provide a solution for some people with enough skill AND equipment, it doesn't offer one to anybody who is missing one of either of those things.

Further, it omly delays the inevitable. One day there's not going to be enough vehicles left to convert that one can readily find parts for.

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