Thinking about converting your gas car to an electric? It's actually not that hard to do and there are many e-books and resources available to help you through the process. Understanding the main components and how they work before getting your feet wet converting your car will help make your project a little less daunting. Although there are many other bits and pieces such as relays, fuses, gauges and the like, these are the five main components needed to convert your car from gas to electric:
1. The motor - This will propel the car and comes in many different sizes and horse power ratings. Unlike its gas burning cousin, this piece of equipment has only one moving part which not only makes it more efficient, but less likely to break down.
2. The battery pack is a set of batteries wired in series to produce a high enough voltage to power the electric motor. With each battery added in series to the battery pack, the voltage in the pack is increased by the amount of the newly added battery. The voltage needed for the motor will determine the battery pack size.
3. The motor controller is a device which allows current to flow from the battery pack to the motor when the accelerator is pressed. The more you press down on the accelerator, the more power is delivered to the motor.
4. The DC - DC converter is similar to a transformer. That is, it transforms or converts the higher pack voltage down to 12 volts to operate the accessories in your vehicle such as lights, turn signals, stereo etc.
5. The vacuum pump is necessary for your brakes to work. Gas engines create a vacuum when running which is used to operate your brakes. Electric motors don't create any vacuum so a separate pump must be installed.
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