Post by Carsten Puls

Want to convert your car to electric power? Yes, you can! Last weekend, in the “Make Mine Electric” workshop by Switch Vehicles, Inc. in Sebastopol, Ca., I had the chance to learn how it’s done: My cousin, Christoph Puls, and I signed up for the workshop to support his interests and my own personal conversion project - more on that in the future! We spent hours crimping, wiring, and building a complete system with battery, BMS, motor, inverter, and more. We found the simple and robust approach using relays instead of a control unit/VCU particularly interesting - a great way to learn the fundamentals. We then installed the components directly into several different cars and got to drive them—crazy fun, especially the Willys Jeepster and the Lotus Super Seven! Switch Vehicles, Inc. specializes in teaching the technology behind electric conversions and has sold “Switch Vehicles” kits to schools and universities across the US and the world. With these kits, students build a complete electric car while learning the technical fundamentals. Other companies, such as EV West and Electric Motorsport inc., offer a wide range of components and systems for cars and more. There’s still room for improvement in the gearboxes being used—but my cousin's company, Pulsgetriebe Gear Systems GmbH (founded by our grandfather 99 years ago) is working on that! #SwitchVehicles #EVConversion #DIYEV #restomod #sustainability #electrification