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Chapter 4: The Best Electric Vehicle for You 79Fi g u r e 4-3 Don Moriar ty’s custom spor ts racer electric vehicle.construction techniques—or at least making haste slowly while you learn them—andis, again, not for everyone.Electric Vehicles Built from KitsThe best example of building from kits is the Bradley GT II kit car (see Figure 4-5), ofwhich there are several versions around. This combination of 96-volt electrics on aVolkswagen chassis with a lightweight body delivers impressive performance alongwith a snazzy, classic body-style, but you’re going to have to part with a substantialamount of cash and labor before you make it happen. A kit-built EV can be a highlyrewarding and satisfying showpiece project for those who have the experience,enthusiasm, and persistence to pull it off, but (for the third and final time) it’s not foreveryone.Converting Existing VehiclesConversion is the best alternative because it costs less than either buying ready-madeor building from scratch, takes only a little more time than buying ready-made, and istechnically within everyone’s reach (certainly with the help of a local mechanic, andabsolutely with the help of an EV conversion shop).Conversion is also easiest from the labor standpoint. You buy the existing internalcombustion vehicle chassis you like (certain chassis types are easier and better to convertthan others), put an electric motor in your chassis, and save a bundle. It’s really quitesimple; Chapter 10 covers the steps in detail.To do a smart EV conversion, the first step is to buy a clean, straight, used, internalcombustion vehicle chassis. A used model is also to your advantage (as you’ll read inChapter 5) because its already-broken-in parts are smooth and the friction losses are