It begins

Every fall Fredericksburg, TX hosts The Renewable Energy Roundup, which is a really great showcase of technologies and tips for greener living. One of the exhibits was a collection of cars - which looked normal - but had each been converted to run purely electric. Batteries replaced the fuel tank and an electric motor replaced the engine. One of the cars there was Mark Farver's MR2, which did 0-60 in about 6 seconds, with no tailpipe emissions and almost silently. How cool!

Over the next many months I spent a good deal of time trying to understand how the whole system worked and what it would take to convert my car. In my searches I came across a kit that is made to fit my car, a VW Cabriolet. Later I heard of an older electric VW Rabbit being retired and the kit sold. After a lot of back and forth, I took the plunge, and with the help of a friends truck moved the pile of parts back to my garage. There the parts waited for us to get a different car (incase it took more than a weekend to finish).

Last weekend I officially parked the VW and started pulling parts out of the engine bay. Next weekend should see the engine come out. I'll post pictures of the progress soon.