Project Beginning

I have wanted an electric car for a long time. Over ten years ago, I used an electric truck on a summer job working with the college grounds crew. This was the perfect application of an electric vehicle – frequent start and stops, lots of torque during starts up hill, quiet, no exhaust, and super reliable. Then I discovered that there are suppliers that sell parts for converting a vehicle to electric. I was excited. The plan was to convert a small pickup truck, because this frame could carry the weight of the batteries, some 2000 lbs of golf cart lead acid storage, without overloading the vehicle. But I just couldn’t seem to fit this dream of a project into my budget.

Now that I’m finally able to do my conversion project, a new battery technology has emerged that makes it practical to convert smaller cars. Lithium Iron Phosphate (lifepo) chemistry stores more energy in a battery that weighs less and takes up less space than lead acid. The small pickup truck has been dropped for a small sports car – a 1983 Porsche 911 SC. I like new technology.

The steps of the project include:

• Fix up the Porsche 911
• Remove the internal combustion engine and supporting components (exhaust, gas tank, radiator) 
• Couple an electric motor to the transmission
• Secure between 48 and 56 batteries into the car
• Mount the controller and accelerator position sensor. The controller goes between the battery pack and the motor, and controls how much voltage and current is delivered to the motor
• Install a battery charging system
• Stop buying gasoline



Soliton 1 Controller













Warp 9 Electric Motor



Manzanita Micro Battery Charger

Calb Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery Cell