DIY EV CHAT
There’s an incredible, global community that has sprung up around the desire to convert old cars to electric. People who love recycling and people who are doing it for performance. People who want to save money, and people doing it just for the fun of the engineering challenge. I set out to meet an interview some of them, and then give them a forum for discussion, with DIY EV Chat.
Danny Floyde & the electric Jimny
I chat to electric off-roader Danny Floyde about his converted Suzuki Jimny 4x4. This is a tidy build with no expense spared - listen to find out how much Danny spent. And he kindly shares some of the mistakes he made along the way so you can learn from them on your project.
Janosch Oppermann and the electric taxi
What happens DIY spirit and open source tech becomes a business? Janosch Oppermann and Alex Howard are converting London taxis into EVs, offering us all cleaner and quieter cities - and potentially a more profitable business for the driver. I talk to Janosch about his conversion journey, the pitfalls of the taxi business, and what it's like taking this tech to market.
Janosch and Alex's business, Clipper Automotive, is doing a small funding round as we recorded. If you like the sound their business and would like to invest, get in touch at https://www.clipper.cab/contact
Jamie Jones and the Bugplug
In this first episode of DIY EV Chat, I speak to Jamie Jones about his adventures in EV conversion, from his son's bike to his electric Beetle, the Bugplug. How did he get started? What were the biggest challenges? And the greatest rewards? Listen and find out.
If you're interested in finding out more about Jamie's BugPlug, check out his YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/c/JamieJones1985. You can also find his GitHub repositories for various bits of code and parts here: https://github.com/jamiejones85
Jamie and I are both hugely indebted to the OpenInverter community and particularly Johannes Hübner and Damien Maguire.