Build Your Own Electric Vehicle (Book) ✰✰✰✰

Book: Build Your Own Electric Vehicle

A comprehensive guide to the components and systems of EVs  by Seth Leitman and Bob Brant.

310 pages of DIY EV conversion information and some very detailed information about doing self-conversions.  The book covers EV history, practicality of conversion, available off the shelf technology, aerodynamics, and physics of EV conversion.   The book is good for obtaining an understanding EV’s in general and is a decent resource for those wishing to gain some base knowledge before starting their first EV conversion project.

Bob Brant does a good job of expressing his engineering knowledge in fairly plain language.

Build Your Own Electric Vehicle, Second Edition, covers:

EV vs. Combustible Engine Overview
Environmental and Energy Savings
EV Evolution since the First Electric Car
Current Purchase and Conversion Costs
Chassis and Design
Today’s Best Motors
Battery Discharging/Charging Styles
Electrical Systems
Licensing and Insurance Issues
Driving
Maintenance
Related Clubs and Associations
Additional Resources

All pretty good stuff really, but the fact  that it was written in 1980 even before GM had released the EV1 and the internet boom makes some of the information dated.  This book can now be purchased at Amazon for less than 1/2 the original cover price, so it easily worth the price.