i just read in the AA magazine about rex nowland, in nelson, who has converted his 1971 VW beetle to be totally electric. surfing for rex also led me to the DIY electric car site - american of course but looks like lots of useful information & local links as well. rex's conversion cost him over US$11,000 - is not that much more than gav's which came in at just over US$9000. apparently rex's beetle's batteries, which cost around $3000, have a life of 3-5 years - that's quite a big cost every few years. maybe not if you're spending a lot on maintenance of a combustion engine, but the valiant costs me so little to keep on the road that the idea of having to put aside a grand every year towards batteries seems like a lot. anyway, right now i have NO money at all towards it - i'd put aside some to get the rust fixed, but that's all been swallowed up by a rot problem in my house.

first make sure the house won't fall down, then make sure the car won't fall apart, THEN think about converting her to electric (& somewhere in there i'd like to buy a scooter ... )