Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Hybrid Vehicles

DIY Hybrids

DIY, or do-it-yourself, is a growing movement in environmentally minded circles because using your own resources to make exactly what you need is typically less draining on the environment. Now that principal is being applied in one of the most unlikely places – the DIY hybrid car!

Before hybrids were widely commercially available, many people made their own hybrid cars by taking their own low-range electric vehicles and increasing the distance they were able to go by adding a combustion engine that also used a little bit of gas.  Though you had to be rather technologically inclined to do so, these pioneers paved the way for mass-produced hybrid cars.

Even today, with so many hybrid options to choose from on the market, some people are choosing to build their own hybrids. Almost any make and model can be turned into a hybrid car. An article on Green Hybrid explains (in basic terms) how a standard-fuel vehicle can be turned into a hybrid car.

If a futuristic design is what you’re after, this hybrid DIY project on GreenCar.com could be a better fit than retrofitting that old Mustang.  The XR-3 is a plug-in prototype hybrid that seats two and boasts up to 200 miles per gallon. The plug-in technology means that it runs on more electricity than your normal hybrid, thus increasing fuel economy. It’s got just three wheels and a cute clamshell shape. Buyers can choose to have it sent to them in a kit form with loads of instructions or, if they are truly confident in their DIY capabilities, they can have just the parts sent. According to the brains behind the operation, Robert Q. Riley, anyone with “average” mechanical abilities or even no experience could piece this sleek piece of technology together. Like what you see and have $25,000 to spare? Order your XR-3 today.

Overall, it seems that DIY hybrids are gaining in popularity. It gives hobby mechanics a great excuse to go update their old jalopies or try their hand at something very 21st century all the while saving the environment and decreasing our dependence on scarce natural resources.