My revenge of the electric car started in 2006 when I decided to convert a car to electric. I believed there would be a reasonably priced kit that I could just fit on a car in a weekend then it would be happy motoring... wrong! But I am an Automotive Engineer and trained as an Electrician; I have always been interested in electronics and computers and any kind of modern tech. I was completely convinced that the petrol engine could be surpassed by electric and set off on my quest. To start with I was going to take an ordinary small car as my conversion, but my wife suggested I choose a car I can show off and be proud of. I like the Ford probe styling and handling and decided on this as a donor car. After driving it as a donor for nearly 3 years I had the finance to get the parts that I had researched and shopped for.

I am not an “all out” greenie, but more interested in the torque of electric cars drive and restoring modern classics as electric cars. I believe this is the future as there are many timely classics out there that people have loved, so these can be reborn and this is also greener as I have made a car like new, from an old car and recycled most of it. The rest I sold on eBay!

I have built my car with lead acid batteries and I am arranging funding now to upgrade to Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries. At the same time I shall get a new paint job and some scissor action door hinges. I am going for a bright metallic red with a gold flip effect on the paint. I am now working on a graphic display showing the battery condition, voltages and current in real time. This is quite an involved project and like all the work I do it will be blogged.

I am following the rollout of new electric cars with great interest. I work for Ford so I shall probably get an electric Focus at some point in the near future. I am really looking forward to the batteries being more affordable now. My car has appeared in the Ford News and Auto Car magazine. I work in the Ford research centre and everybody knows my car as it is parked right near the entrance where there are some special electric car parking bays with charge points.

My mum is about 100 miles away, so that is the range I want. I know this is possible now, but I believe I would still stop for a half hour recharge and a coffee if I could. I look forward to an infrastructure for recharging. I despair at the Nay-Sayers to electric cars. I also despair at those who say the electric comes from coal burning power stations. Whichever way up you hold a calculator, I still pollute less. My website is at http://www.probatron.blogspot.com