Your criterion may be different. You will have to decide if you
will be carrying passengers or cargo and how much. We do
recommend smaller vehicles for the conversion as they are
lighter and will give you more range per charge. The logic is
that you should choose the lightest vehicle that will meet all
of your demands.
That is because it will require less power and therefore fewer
batteries to perform the work of moving you and the vehicle
where you want to go.
You will also have to use a manual transmission
vehicle to do your conversion exclusively. This is a
must.
Today’s automatic transmissions are used with vehicles that
have the engine running constantly. It is needed to pump
transmission fluid and make the transmission work properly
all the time.
The electric motor stops turning when the vehicle is at rest
and will not work properly with an automatic transmission.
Also the points at which an automatic transmission shift are
much to high of revs to accommodate an electric motor.
Automatic transmissions perform better at higher motor
revolutions.
You will have to balance light weight with strength in your
choice of vehicle too. A lighter car may travel easier down the
road but it will not be able to carry heavier weights of
batteries. Of course, when you take the regular engine out, as
is necessary, you free up space and you free up weight for
your batteries.