Convert to Electric Vehicle

Solar panels are helpful with cars that weigh less than 500 pounds but in a 3000 pound car ......... not so much.
A square yard of panels in full sunlight gives you about 45 watts. You need 100 of them to power a 1 hp motor.
Electric motors produce their maximum torque at stall and minimum torque when they are running at top speed. It is directly proportional to the amperage consumed.
When building an electric car weight is your prime concern, after that it is getting a motor that can turn high rpm and then gear it down for more torque and road speed. Batteries are the limiting factor right now. The Lithium Ion batteries produce enough heat that they tend to burst into flames - you have to provide cooling and lots of it. NiCads are good for quick power but it doesn't last for long. Lead acid batteries are ok but they are heavy - remember that weight is your enemy.
A tube chassis with a reinforced plastic or fiberglass pan for the batteries is the cheap way out. Combine that with two motors (one at each rear wheel) and it will give you the lowest losses. Run a gear reduction from the motors to the wheel and it should give good service with a good transistorized controller.
Oh, one other thing - the more voltage the faster the motor will run. Start at 48 volts and go up from there. 600 amp hours worth of batteries will give you about 6 hours of power on an eight hour charge with ferro-resonant charger but a high frequency charger will charge the batteries in about half the time.

 

Have the chassis made of carbonfiber tubes. That should save a lot of weight.

 

Awesome idea! What part of Huntsville do you live in? I just moved to FL from Gadsden area. I know alot of Huntsville is up and down grades which would also affect the range of an electric vehicle. I would replace as many body panels as possible i.e. fenders, hood, bumpers, trunk lid, with fiberglass and cabon fiber pieces like a MaverickMan hood (shameless plug for Derrick) to get the weight even further down. I would take the stock dash out, seats, etc. Replace them with lighter weight units as well.
Since I live in the FL flat lands now after I get the Mav finished I would really like to build a small electric vehicle. With a commute of 5 miles round trip to work each day I think it would work out well for me!