DIY or Zero? First EV

[BlastoTheRocketBoy]

How goes it guys! Just gonna dive right in here... For some time now (maybe 8 years+/-) I've been in love with the idea of building my own custom electric scooter/motorcycle with an 80-100m range and 60ish mph top speed, fit into a custom frame of my own altering (currently might be getting a nice clean '07 Ninja 250 rolling chassis) to resemble the sci-fi bike from the anime "Akira". All that aside I've recently found this forums and am greedily grabbing at the plethora of information here, but am utterly lost and have come down to a single decision: To either get the rolling chassis and begin my scratch build OR try for financing/payment plan on a 2014 zero s or something from a local dealer to eventually alter the frame of. My only real issue is finances as I am permanently disabled and on fixed income, no/awful credit, and this will be my first vehicle of any kind (28, live in Portland...if you know here, it's not weird ) So I guess it really is a matter of finding out if there is any way I can roll some sort of payment agreement with a local dealer, or slowly build my dream bike over the next few months on a meager parts budget. What do you guys think? Sorry for the wall of text first post and hope to become fast friends with everyone! Thanks!

-Mikey

 

[amberwolf]

You're gonna need a largish budget to do what you ask for.

Some of it you can minimize by finding scrapped out stuff (especially what you build the vehicle from) but the motor(s) and batteries and controller(s) are going to cost, for the speed and range you specify. Again, some can be saved by going with used stuff, but especially the battery won't be cheap.

There's plenty of other build threads you can read up on to get an idea of what costs are involved, as well as the EVALbum site where you can look up other people's builds and specs, some of whom have websites with more info, or budgets, etc.

 

[BlastoTheRocketBoy]

OK.... must find cheap 2013+ zero thanks! Any tips on how / where to look for one? Thanks again!

 

[SHiFT]

Brammos are common on eBay, and only run 3-4K...?

 

[Dauntless]

There's one near me for $1,400 that "Needs. . .?" If I felt good about spending right now that would be great, though who knows what it'll run by the time it's ready.

Don't be so quick to let them talk you out of your project. A Zero will cost you. . . .http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/mcd/4991385039.html