Car conversion course offered

Photo of Michael Golub by Tom Moran, courtesy of EPSCoR

The Matanuska Experiment Farm will host an electric car conversion course May 1-3. The one-credit course is taught by UAF mechanical engineering student Michael Golub.

Students will learn how to convert a gasoline-powered engine to one that operates on electricity. Golub has taught the class through UAF Summer Sessions and the Wintermester. He taught himself to do the conversion by practicing on his 1986 Toyota pickup. The work cost him about $6,000 in parts but price varies according to the vehicle, Golub said. A Subaru he converted cost only $1,000.

“I think anyone could do it,” Golub said. “It’s a matter of convincing yourself.”

The finished result is a vehicle with an electric motor that plugs in to recharge when not being driven. “It’s a cleaner way to drive a car,” Golub said. “And it’s more efficient. It puts you in a better position, or at least it’s a step in the right direction.”

Golub and the students will convert a 1985 Toyota Tercel during the weekend session in Palmer. This course is being offered through the UAF Bristol Bay Campus, with three ways to register. Call 800-478-5109 to get a registration form.

• To pay by credit card fax to: Front Office at 907-842-5692.
  
• To pay by check, fax the form to hold a seat, indicate a check is being mailed, and mail original with check to: Bristol Bay Campus, Front Office, P.O. Box 1070, Dillingham, AK 99576.
  
• By e-mail: bnmje@uaf.edu.

Total cost is $137 ($134 tuition and $3 UA fee). The Matanuska Experiment Farm is a research facility of UAF’s School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences and the Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station. The farm has already converted one of its tractors to electric power.

Further reading:

• "Charging ahead with nature-powered wheels," Bristol Bay Times, Jan. 22, 2009, by Tammy Judd
• "Fairbanks engineering students build award-winning electric snowmachine," Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, April 4, 2009, by Tim Mowry
• "New York native, engineering student builds electric car," The Alaska Post, Feb. 6, 2009, by David Bedard

Addendum May 8, 2009:
•"Gasoline-powered car now runs on batteries," Anchorage Daily News, May 5, 2009, by Rindi White