Fossil Free Friday: Electric Honda Cubs [Updated for the DIY Crowd]

[Updates can be found in light blue at the bottom of the page.]

 

Here at Mesquite Hugger, our favorite electric vehicles are the ones that used to run on gasoline. Scooters, cars, trucks, boats...they're all welcome here. If the budget is low and the creativity is high, well, that just makes them better. So, today, let's talk about conversions of the most-produced gas burner of all time - the Honda Cub. Yep, the humble little Honda that has trod roads all over the planet is none too sexy, but it has been an amazing success and a durable workhorse.

The Honda Super Cub -  the most produced motor vehicle in history!

The Off-Road Version CT90
 

Groovy, baby! (Be sure to check out the rare cafe racer version at the top of the ad.)

And lately, it's also been a very cool platform for a number of electric conversions. Even Honda has gotten into it and has been been showing off an electric version they will apparently produce:

AutoEvolution: Honda E-Cub Concept

The electric Honda E-Cub is cool and sleek and all kinds of good stuff from the company that  brought the Cub to us in the first place. And, to keep me from burning any gasoline, I'd definitely ride it (and I'm sure I'd enjoy the ride), but it sure doesn't call to me on a deeper level. (Maybe that's a good thing.)

But there are some conversions out there that do light a little fire. Recently, a conversion from Shanghai Customs has been making the eco-news rounds. It's very minimalist flat-tracker cool. Check it out:

DesignBoom: Shanghai Customs

So clean and simple - that big rear hub is the electric motor.

The gauge cluster is now a smart phone.

The old petrol tank is now the battery pack

When I first saw the Shanghai bike, I thought it was the Australian Deus Electric Cub showbike that was making the rounds a few years ago. When the Deus first appeared I did a lot of drooling and dreaming. Sure, I'd want a substantially puffier seat, but, man, that thing is cool!

Look, Ma - no rear shocks!

DesignBoom: Deus Electric

Okay, I hear a few of you grumbling about living in the real world and all that good stuff, so here are a few more Cub and CT conversions from EVAlbum.com. They both give a better view of what us down-to-earth types might build if we found ourselves with a Cub, a hacksaw, and a dream. (I think these are pretty cool too!)

EVAlbum 2005 Honda Super Cub 50

 

 

EVAlbum 2002 Honda CT110 eMail
 

In case you are now feeling inspired, finding a hub motor for your build shouldn't be too hard...

Roughly the same as the Shanghai motor

...and somewhere near you there is a sad little Honda Cub or CT sitting in the weeds just waiting for an ambitious tinkerer like you to jump in:

Find it here

 

[Updated area 8-28-2017]

 

I should've done a little more research. For those of you who (like me) really, really want to build your own E-Cub, Inside EVs posted an article about the E-Cub last week explaining that Shanghai Customs will be starting a Kickstarter campaign to sell you an E-Cub electrification kit which contains a motor, a controller, wiring, a battery pack, and a custom-made swingarm. If you've never tried your own conversion project, trust me, this would be an awesome way to start your project! More details in the link below the IEVs logo:

 

Inside EVs: E-Cub - Some Assembly Required

May you get your motor running, and may it be fueled by wind and sunlight and electrons!

PS. Here're a few more things to inspire your electro-conversion dreams:

A few more electrics from Shanghai Customs

Another take on the Cub from the EmpiDog blog

Simplification (Almost) Railroaded by DIY Electric Truck

[Blogger warning: this one's a rambler.]

I fell off the wagon this week. I may need a new 12-stepper.

Proof that there are people who complete EV Truck Conversions

The summer of 2017, for me, is to be the Summer of Simplification. What that means is LESS by whatever means necessary. I scaled back on the gardening this year. I've been blogging less. I have lots of stuff up for sale. (Let me know if you're in the market for an old Vespa or two, an electric convertible, a half-finished electric truck project, a bicycle or several, my old high-school hot rod, or a whole bunch of Star Wars toys I've had since 1978.) It's a year to clear out the garage, get rid of some debt, and to try to find a way to stress less and live more.

A really big part of the SoS plan is to not acquire or create any new projects. (We all have our vices, and dreaming up and investing in new projects seems to be mine. Completing projects - that's not my vice.)

So, I've quit buying parts, bikes, and how-to manuals. I've quit going to swap meets, flea markets, and garage sales. I spend less time on Instructables. I try to shop only in places that offer food and the absolute necessities. I've even been steering clear of construction dumpsters. I've been really good up until a few days ago...

I was riding home from work on the mountain bike Tuesday and I wanted to add a (very) little terrain to the commute. I rode down a few alleys. And there in the middle of town sitting in the weeds outside of a backyard fence - a little 1939 Dodge pickup. Drool. Slobber. Yearn. Back when I was looking at vehicles to convert to electric, early American pickups made a lot of sense, and snagit, they're so cool!

So I remembered this electrified Dodge truck:

Click here to check it out

 

All I'd have to do is steal the motor and transmission out of this unfinished project I have lying around (and should probably sell).

Then I hopped on Craigslist to see if anything similar was for sale. Nope. But I did find this little guy:

 

The little Courier would make a great electric truck, it's here in town, and it costs about the same as a Sondors electric bike (which is still not in the Mesquite Hugger SoS budget).

 

While I had $800 1974 Ford conversion candidates on the brain, I went back and checked out the 1974 Econoline:

 

 

But I talked myself back out of it pretty quickly and moved on to early International Scouts and then back to the Courier and then back to the old Dodge and back to my original unfinished Mazda project which then brought to mind the unfinished Silver Pigeon scooter projects...

 

And now, I am worn out, but I'm back on the wagon and trying to get rid of stuff, ride the bike, and get life down to a simpler place.

 

May you finish what you start and may your wisely-chosen green projects benefit us all.

Texas Vintage EV Dork Alert: an ElCar in Keller!

I know it goes without saying, but my EV-geek heart leapt a little when I ran across this little beast hunkering silently on Dallas Craigslist. The armature in my brain started turning.

 



That's all, folks!

 

Okay, so there's not a lot of info to share, but there's a 1975 Zagato ElCar for sale in Keller,Texas for $1200. (And it needs some restoration work.)

Keller, in case you are not familiar with it, is in the DFW Metroplex just a little north of Fort Worth.

One thousand-two hundred dollars. Hmm. That's $399 less than a Radwagon or $105 less than a CrossCurrent AIR. (But both of those have free shipping.) Then again, I'll be headed to DFW soon with a small trailer, and the ElCar would fit on a small trailer. It would probably fit in the back of the pickup.

 

But it's gonna need batteries - they all need batteries. (Wait a minute, I have batteries that would get it going.) The brakes will need to be re-done - the brakes always need to be re-done. It's gonna need tires. The little guy is gonna need at least a gallon of Turtle Wax and at least three gallons of Elbow Grease.

 

And then there're all the unknowns - motor, controller, charger, wiring, contactor, potentiometer (throttle), etc.

 

And insurance and registration and inspection and...

 

Okay, I'll pass. The next electric vehicle I purchase (if there is such a thing) needs to be plug and play so that I can actually use it as low-carbon transport. Yep, the ElCar would be a restoration hobby, but not immediate (if ever) transportation.

 

So, okay, which one of you is up for the challenge?

 

Three ElCars on EVAlbum

 

May your green projects lead to greener living.

 

(But, snagit, that thing is dorkycool!)

Ebay Electric Cars: Elevated OddBall and a Beauty Queen

Ebay did not disappoint this week!

Elevator Company Goes Postal

I didn't know this until this week, but Otis, the world's oldest and largest elevator manufacturer, had a brief foray into electric vehicles. They made postal trucks. And it'll shock you, but I want one! This one showed up on Ebay this week (and glided away without a single bid):

What do you get when you cross an elevator with a Citicar? The Otis!

Lovely number 300!

15 mile warning and 1 mile warning - nice!

Do you think the passenger felt cheated?

An alternator - hmmm...

I don't think that a Radwagon will fit in there.

Not quite.

(Maybe it'll fit on the Radwagon.)

Maybe a RadMini would be a better choice in this case.

In case you're bummed that you missed the auction, Here's the Otis on another site where you may get your second chance at this odd and compelling way to think inside the box:

Downtown MotorCar Sales: Otis

Now on to the really good stuff! A Vanguard-Sebring Citicar

As I write this, the bid is at $2100, reserve is not met, and there's 12 hours to go.

Sigh.

Sigh again.

Okay, this one is a beauty. This Citicar is the nicest I have seen. The owner went to a great deal of trouble to restore this car to a point where it's probably nicer than it was new. Yep. This thing is awesome.

It still looks tiny in front of a tiny house!

A quick trip to southern Michigan with a small trailer!

Something new, something blue...

The bare bones

Learn all about it!

Learn even more about it here: It gets a little scary approaching 50mph!

May your dream Electric Vehicle be available soon, even if it's less dorky than my dream Electric Vehicle! Who knew that low-carbon cars could be so much fun? (Me)

Nat. Drive Electric Week: Buying vs. Building plus more Leaf Temptation

[I apologize - this one is a bit of a rambler.]

More about this Leaf further down the page

One of my favorite on-line places to hang out is endless-sphere.com. It's (mostly) a forum for people who are involved with electric bicycles. A really common thread on E-S is a newbie who asks which new electric bike to buy - the question is normally answered by a chorus of Build Your Own Electric Bike for Half the Price - and End Up with a Better Bike in ten-part harmony. For those of us who have more mechanical skill and time than money, it's a very valid piece of advice (for electric bicycles.)

Love this place!

I feel pretty safe in saying that you cannot buy a decent quality electric bike for less than $1500, and it's quite possibe to build a very competent electric bike for somewhere around $800. Also, it can be done in very little time. One of the plusses (to me) is the amount of knowledge you gain by building (and repairing) your own. (I rode my electric bike smugly yesterday because I had just repaired the charging port and spent about $5 doing so.)

Back on the road!

Another online place I love to hang out is EVAlbum.com. It is mostly for electric cars, especially the DIY conversions, but it, like E-S, has a little bit of everything. I love seeing the motorcycles, scooters, and bikes there. Lots of labors of love appear on there, and lots of shop-time epiphanies show up there too. And it links to EV Tradin' Post - dangerous stuff!

Love this place too - lots of Citicars!

For many years, if you were an average joe or josie and wanted to drive electric, you had to build it yourself. That's no longer true.

I mentioned earlier this week that I would go drive a new Leaf for part of my own NDEW pursuits. So yesterday I jumped online and found that our local Nissan dealer does indeed have a new one in stock, a white 2015. And it is deeply discounted. And it is eligible for 0.0% finincing and a possible $5000 financing discount. And it's eligible for a $1500 Texas discount and a $7500 federal tax break. When all is said and done, the Mesquite Hugger household could have a new Leaf and a fast charger in the garage for less money than almost any new car on the market. And it could replace our primary driver that costs us $50-75 dollars per week in fuel plus lots of maintenance. (Like me, its age and mileage have made it much higher maintenance.) We could fairly easily put a huge check mark on our Personal Carbon Reduction checklist.

Oh the temptation! But then I step back. Times are tight. There are educations to pay for. We have done our best not to create new debt, and the jobs become steadily less secure. It's really not time for us to buy a new car, and like I keep telling myself, the best way to avoid temptation is to avoid temptation. I guess I had better not test drive a Leaf this week.

Maybe I could cancel the internet at home and give up the smart phone (upon which I am writing this post), cancel Netflix, and quit buying a $3 coffee each morning. I could also sell Lucy (sniff). All of that combined could help make Leaf payments.

The conclusion? Yes, it makes good sense to build your own electric bicycle, but it does not work out the same way for a car in most cases. Used (and even some new) electric cars have dropped into the range of attainability for the common person and are often much less expensive than building your own. (It's not hard these days to find a lightly used Leaf for $9000-$12000 - you will be hard pressed to build a quality electric for less than $12000.) As an added bonus, you can be driving your car during the two years you would've spent building your own. And it may even have a warranty still attached.

An electric pickup? Now that's another story. Until Nissan or Mitsubishi offers one up, you are probably better off building your own. Speaking of which, does anybody out there want a Mazda pickup that's halfway there? I may need some down payment money for a white Leaf...

May you avoid temptation unless it leads you to a better place, snagit!

PS. If you want a really cheap electric car, look at buying somebody else's conversion. These low gas prices may be hard on electric car sales, but they do wonders for electric car cheapskates. (I hope you are a good mechanic/electrician/plugger-inner.)

More Funky Electric Vehicle Temptations - August 2015

Temptation, snagit!

Let me start this by saying that the budget is tight and that I have too much stuff already. So, I won't actually pursue any of this stuff, and I have the dream of one day riding an ElectroPigeon, so there's no need for distraction. But distraction, it keeps the brain a-hopping!

Tempting Suzuki on the right, cool old Triumph on the left

You may remember a few weeks back when I wrote about temptation that arose when I took a friend to a motorcycle shop. I conflictedly fell in love with a little Suzuki motorcycle, but the conflict came with the fact that it burns gasoline. And I have no plans of bringing home extra gas burners. I saw one this weekend in a parking garage in Arlington, and it was cool and very desirable for a gas burner, but...we already talked about that. The appeal of a small motorcycle is that it is an economical and highly enjoyable form of suburban transport. And this one, like me, looks old, but, unlike me, it's new and reliable and has a fairly significant range. But it's counterproductive to one of my main goals - personal carbon reduction. I don't need a Suzuki.

Converted Yamaha SRX 250

 

So, I went off and found myself an electric Yamaha on EVTradinpost.com. And it's a lot more like me. It's not too pretty, has been around the block a time or two, and it was worn out and resurrected a bit. And, at $1500, it's less expensive, but it's on the West Coast. And there's still the ElectroPigeon(s) to consider.

1979 Electric Toyota

 

While on EV Tradin' Post, I also ran across a good deal on a Toyota truck electric conversion, and it is located in Austin. It's always encouraging when they are closer to home. At $2000 (needs batteries) it could be a very good deal for someone needing to run around town in  a small truck.

Factory Electric Subaru microvan! (Ebay)

 

A few days ago I was discussing with my wife how I think that an ideal platform for a solar powered electric vehicle would be a very small van. And then it appeared on Ebay. A 1980 Electric Subaru - it's definitely more expensive than the other two, but look at the potential. And, if I could make the solar panels look like surfboards on the roof...The ElectroKahuna! (It's amazing I'm still married!)

Minty-fresh Citicar (Ebay)

 

While on Ebay, I also noticed this lovely Citicar with a really low bid so far. So cool.

 

May your temptations lead to funky, healthy things and places.

 

PS. Happy birthday, JG!

What's Better than an EV Microbus? A Solar EV Microbus!

 

If you hang around Mesguite Hugger long enough, you're going to see an electric VW or four. VWs make great conversion candidates. They are light, plentiful, and their rear-mounted transaxles adapt easily to electric rebirth.

Green Car Reports posted 1966 Microbus today that has a lot of appeal for me. It's a green, self-fueling machine. The article is pretty skimpy on details, but it's nice to see that we get closer and closer. (The article does mention a slug-bug that's getting the same treatment.)

Classic 1966 VW Bus With Green Drivetrain: Solar-Powered Electric Motor

May you end up with clean, green transport that feeds itself.

In case you are an EV van fan too:

1957 Volkswagen Single Cab Pickup

1978 VW Westfalia

Voltabus!