Registering my EV conversion: EV or not EV

[paul.schlie]

I am nearing the end of my '94 Saturn SC2 conversion.  I have a $500 bet with a friend that I can get the car done and legal to drive on the highway with valid plates by October 23rd.  I know that car will work performance wise.  I think (pray!) that the conversion will be done by then.  Now comes the hard part: the paperwork.

I purchased the car from a guy in my town in June of 2008.  It had the engine torn apart.  I got the title transferred but didn't do anything with the registration because it couldn't be driven.  I had planned on getting EV plates for it but with the horror stories I have heard and the apparent elimination for the special EV rate I am wondering if I should bother trying to even mention that the car is electric when I register it.

I live and Galesburg and we don't have to do any emission testing.  I doubt the local DMV has ever registered an EV before and I worry that if I try I will be wallowed in a sea of red tape as I watch $500 fly away because of some clueless bureaucrats.  Can I just keep my mouth shut, tell them I have had to work on the car off and on for the last year to get it road worthy again (all true) and get a plain old tag?  It still has the tag from the previous owner on it but I can't transfer that.

A very wise man here where I work is fond of saying "It is easier to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission."  I work for the government and around here truer words have not been spoken.  I am thinking I should heed his wise advice and keep my mouth shut when I register the car.  I think all I need to do is have someone verify the VIN number and I've never had anyone who does that look anywhere on the car besides in the front windshield.  No one will be able to tell the car is electric from the outside when it isn't running.

The other issue that comes up is the $4000 rebate from the IL EPA.  Does the car have to registered a certain way to qualify for that?  I'd rather lose $500 than $4000.  I guess I can take it in and re-register it as an electric in December, after "converting it" for two months.  They'd never know.

So any advice?  I've never done this before.

Thanks,

-- Paul

[rich.carroll]

These are separate issues.  The $4000 rebate comes from a different part of the state government than the licensing does, and the two are not connected at all.  I would, encourage you to submit your receipts, photos and paperwork as soon as possible for the rebate, as the state employees who administer the program will tell you there are no guarantees about how long the program will run. It should be your bigger concern.

The EL plates (used for full size electric vehicles, not NEVs) as a unique license are likely history as of 12/31/09.  My guess (but not everyone feels this way) is that the Secretary of State will require you to get regular passenger plates as of 1/1/10, and may be rather unwilling to issue new EL registrations when they have to have the registration revoked and a new classification issued in just a few months.  You can try it, but I might not expect to win.  The Secretary of State office will have little difficulty in issuing plates, since you said the title has already been issued to you.  With the title in hand, you can certainly walk out of the SOS office with valid plates in your hand on the day you apply.  The real question. is if the SOS balks on the EL series of plates, you need to be able to accept the $78 plates (or personalized plates) and win the $500 bet. The choice you may have to make is paying a few dollars more to waive the EL plates to get the $500 bet.

[paul.schlie]

I think I will just opt for the regular plates.  The SOS office here would just give me blank stares if I asked for an EV plate.

For the rebate I can't submit my receipts yet as I haven't spent $5000 yet.  I've been very frugal and I started with a controller that was given to me.  Even with the motor and chargers (the bargin bin at Sam's Club specials) I have only spent about $1500.  I am assuming that I can't count the cost of the donor vehicle ($900).  I'm going to spend about $1700 on batteries soon.  All of my fabrication has been done by me using stuff from the scrap bin.

Can I expense the cost of tools I needed to buy?  How about tires?  When I add it all up and see how much I need to spend to get to $5000 I will spend the rest on a BMS or other accessories I don't need to have just to get it running and win my bet.  It would be crazy not to take advantage of an 80% discount.

[rich.carroll]

They will want receipts for items used in converting the vehicle to electric.  I don't believe tires will be allowed, as you don't need tires to convert a vehicle to electric power.  You can submit the cost of the chargers you bought at Sam's Club, even if they were in the bargain bin.  You can submit the cost of your batteries, cables, cable lugs, DC/DC converter, chargers, electric vacuum pump to run the power brakes, electric power steering pump if you need one, contactors, relays, and fuses.  They will request pictures of the vehicle showing the conversion parts.  I suspect they will cover tools that would be specific to the conversion, but call them to make sure:

Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (217) 557-1441

or drop an email to Mary Cruse at the Ill. EPA:

Mary Cruse
mary.cruse@illinois.gov

or

Darwin Burkhart
darwin.burkhart@illinois.gov

I think calling is best, as you can get direct answers to your questions, and get interpretations as to whether a tool is covered.

[nathan.stowe]

If you have an receipts from a person (not an official business) be sure to have them notarized or witnessed or something official and pay with something traceable (check, etc...) .  IL would not reimburse me for part of my submission because I  paid cash and had a hand written receipt for the the controller.

As to EV plates or not, pay the regular price and go on with life.  My personal opinion is that the $50 bucks it was not wroth the hassle.

Nathan.

[rich.carroll]

That may not even work.  On my conversion, I had a signed, detailed receipt from the party I bought a charger and controller from, front and back photocopies of the check, and they would not accept it.  I offered to get the receipt notarized, but Mary Cruze told me the acceptable receipts were from businesses, with a printed sales invoice. Fortunately, I had replaced the charger with a newer one.

[geoffrey.pullinger]

I'm nearing completion on my project and I am wondering about getting regular plates as this seems to eliminate alot of hassel.  Do I have a problem because my registration will say I have a gasoline vehicle?  Will I have to go to the IL-EPA to get it tested - or lose my license and so on?  Will my car need to be insured as a gasoline engine car?  (can I even get electric car insurance?).  If I get gasoline car insurance am I perpetrating some kind of fraud which will get me in trouble?

[rich.carroll]

In answer to your questions, no, no, no, yes, and no.

Your car would be registered as a passenger car or light truck, whichever it is.  The registration will be the same for the vehicle, whether it is powered by gasoline, diesel, CNG, ethanol, electricity, or biofuels.  (You can get some tax breaks and rebates for certain alternative fuels, but that does not affect the way the vehicle is registered.)  The best plan is to get regular plates, but identify the power as electic.  Once your vehicle is tagged as electric, the state will waive your requirement to emission test the vehicle. BTW, the registration no longer has the power source, but your title sometimes carries that description.

If you register your car as a passenger car, and do not tell them it is electric powered, they will require you to undergo periodic emission tests.  If you fail to comply with the emission tests, they will start proceedings to suspend your license, so simply tell them it is electric, or even take it to the emission test facility, and they will certainly issue an exemption.

As to the insurance issue, there is no fraud in not telling your insurance company about the electric power, but I suggest you do, it saved me money.  My insurance company knew about electric cars and trucks, and automatically wrote a discount since I only drive it shorter distances.  It actually saved a substantial amount over normal pickup insurance in my case.  My agent says the savings on trucks is quite substantial, as they know most electric trucks are not used in commercial service.  There is apparently a savings for passenger cars, but not as big a percentage as trucks.

The registration (or licensing), and the rebate, and the emission test, and the insurance are four different issues, each with their own solution. None are terribly difficult, compared to building the vehicle.

[nathan.stowe]

Rich,

Who do you have for insurance?  I had A LOT of trouble finding someone who would insure the car when I told them it was electric.  I finally found progressive who said that EV was fine as long as it had a top speed higher than some number, like 65 or something.

How do you register the car as electric without EV plates?  I wanted to get the G changed to E on the title, but I already had enough fun with the folks at the DMV and they told me that this was not something I could do.

Thanks

Nathan.

[nathan.stowe]

I noticed in this thread that two of our members are about to complete their conversions.  Send a few sentences about the conversion and maybe a few pictures to editor@fveaa.org and I will put it in next months newsletter. 

[paul.schlie]

Since I don't live near Chicago (or St. Louis) I don't have to worry about emissions testing.  I'll just get regular plates since the EV plates are going... going... gone.  I don't think I am going to bother trying to getting different insurance anyway.  I just tell my insurrance provider how many miles I drive in the car a year and they adjust the rate based on that.  Initially I will only drive the EV a little but I plan to drive it a lot for commuting when I get everything in place.

Thanks for all of your help.  I have been lax in taking pictures of my progress.  I will take some this weekend and post them.

-- Paul

[rich.carroll]

My insurance on my S-10 is from Allmerica Financial Alliance.  My broker normally has all of our other cars and homeowner's insurance with Country Companies, but I believe Country did not offer a discount for EV's.  Allmerica (which is owned by Hanover Insurance) did.  If you want the particulars on my policy or my agent's name, contact me privately.