The Eclectic Electric Corvair

A plan has been forming in my brain for a while. My good friend Cash gave me a '65 Corvair Monza that has just minor work to be done in order to make it a driving vehicle. The engine has been rebuilt, and the interior is in excellent condition. All things considered it is about $800 and some work away from being ready.

Here is where I hit a snag. I'm now considering making it an electric vehicle. For those of you who don't know me, I am not a Global Warming alarmist, and I don't believe we are going to run out of oil any time in the forseable future. Because the Corvair has a four speed manual transmission, cruising at 60MPH means you are turning the engine at 3,000RPM. This is not good for gas milage, and also means you are not going to get to more than 75MPH. Due to the high torque of an electric engine, and the fact that electric motors are more efficient when turning at higher RPMs, the conversion to electric would make the Corvair more realistic for long trips, if only we could overcome a few little obsticles.

Here is the list of things that I am requiring in order to make this project a reality;

1. Must be able to spin the tires
2. Minimal alteration (read: Distruction) of the origional Corvair
3. 30+ miles on a charge
4. Hybrid, Unlimited range
5. A/C, Stereo, and Heater working

I plan to use a DC electic motor, a Zilla controller, and some sort of generator to achieve this. I am also going to look into solar power for some of the charging, but the math will determine if this is advantagouse or not. The solar may only be viable for charging the 12v system that will run the lights, instruments, and radio.

If anyone has information/experience with these types of conversion, please let me know!