I have spent the last two days looking for a way to build a street legal EV (electric vehicle). After seeing my state requirements and pricing parts I found my design more expensive than a used car. After looking at conversion designs I realized I know too little on the subject to do it on my own.

Does anyone know what the cheapest DIY or conversion is?

Keep in mind the following:

#1 Street legal
#2 Price
#3 Range (I need to go pretty far)
#4 Easy to build

Shaggy

Price will probably be your biggest hurdle. General Motors lost millions of dollars on the electric vehicle program it tried to establish in CA in answer to CARB mandates for ZEVs. Even with the world's largest corporation subsidizing about 50% of the vehicle's cost, not enough people were interested and GM discontinued the program and cancelled all leases late last year.

The hybrid (I.C.E./electric) is a far more efficient solution, but it is still a rather expensive proposition. Ford will be introducing a hybrid Escape shortly, and plans to lose more than $1,000 on each one it sells.

Range on a pure EV is the biggest reason that they haven't been embraced by the public. Current battery technology can't provide a range of much more than 100 miles without requiring several hours of recharging.

And don't forget, even though there may be no emissions from an EV's "tailpipe", the powerplant that produced the electricity in the first place is quite likely "dirtier" than any internal combustion engine.