ONE YEAR DRIVING A HOME CONVERTED ELECTRIC CAR.

The conversion of an internal combustion automobile into an electric car and the experience of driving it to and from work for more than a year are reported. The car is a used 1970 VW Beetle with a 15 hp dc motor (separately excited field) powered by twelve 6-v lead-acid batteries in a 36-v system fused at 800 amp. Vehicle speed range is provided by resistors and contactors in the motor armature circuit and the existing auto transmission (without a clutch). Regenerative braking is used and discussed. Problems include early battery failures (120 cycles) and high operating costs due to battery replacements. It is concluded that the burden of electric car deficiencies is on the battery manufacturers, who are challenged to develop an EV-212 battery capable of providing 100 amp at 6 v.