Are Electric Car Conversion Kits Worth The Cost?

It will come as no surprise to those who know me that I am not a big fan of electric car conversion kits. It’s not that conversion kits are bad. It’s just that the alternative is so much better.

To be honest kits work great. The parts are all shiny and new and I suppose this is important to some folks. I would just rather pay less than $500 to do a conversion instead of $5000 or more on a kit. After all, it’s not like the kit requires any less work to complete. In fact, the work required is pretty much the same whether you gather up the parts yourself or use a kit. The car you are using doesn't care if you use a kit. Either way, you have to pull the engine, install the electric motor, batteries, a charger and a controller.

Another thing you should know when considering a conversion kit is that the batteries are NOT included in the price. You just aren't going to go very far without batteries, so the cost of the kit isn't the "all-in" price. Batteries are not a minor additional expense either. I would expect to spend an additional $1000 on top of the other expenses for kit batteries.

There may be some advantages to buying a kit, but cost, convenience and time aren't among them as far as I'm concerned. There are numerous local sources for finding extremely inexpensive parts and this is what I prefer. Once you start understanding the mechanics of it all, and it isn’t very complicated, the process becomes quite basic.

It really isn't necessary to buy a new motor when the right used or reconditioned motor will be just as reliable. If you know what to look for and where to look you can get a very cheap motor that will easily outlive the rest of the vehicle. That’s just one more reason why I don’t think kits are necessary.

Not convinced? We can show you how to pick the right kit for your project and we can also recommend some excellent low cost alternatives to electric car conversion kits.