Electric Blue Auto Conversions

Electric Blue Auto Conversions is located in Walton, Kansas along Hwy 50 just East of Newton. The owner, Wayne Alexander was nice enough to grant an interview and give us some background on the business of converting gasoline engines to total electric power.

Wayne Alexander built his first electric car in Chicago in response to the Arab oil embargo of the 1970s. It was a small British made car called a “Morris Minor”

That first one took a while to complete, but soon he had people asking him about converting their cars and picking his brain for more information. He soon had many “EV Enthusiasts” calling him and wanting to collaborate on projects.

Wayne and his wife then moved to Florida in 1976 and began converting cars down there because in the retirement communities you can’t drive the golf carts on the street. By converting their cars to electric they could then be able to drive on the streets and save fuel.

A mechanic by trade, he and his wife moved to Kansas in 2000 to be closer to a business partner in Wichita with whom he entered into a military aircraft refurbishing business that ended with the hijackings of 9-11 and the imposition of new aviation restrictions. But that's another story...

In 2005, Alexander went full time into the business of converting gas-powered vehicles to electric power. He named his business Electric Blue Auto Conversions, because blue is the color of an electric spark.

Alexander has done more than 138 auto conversions which have gone coast to coast and overseas, some to Canada and the Caribbean.

Wayne is currently working on a Porche that will be delivered to Norway and he expects several more requests will be forthcoming from that area. The folks from Volvo in Sweden have been negotiating with Wayne over some new projects they’re trying to start but needed some direction. He may have to do some traveling soon!

He completed a special conversion for the “Discovery Channel” last year.

He’s a big fan of the documentary “Who Killed the Electric Car?”
Alexander says there were actually more electric cars than gas-powered cars prior to 1914, but the mass production of gasoline engines and automobiles changed all that. Electric cars aren’t popular politically because they eliminate gasoline use — and gas taxes — as well as routine maintenance at dealerships and auto repair shops.

When asked if it’s getting easier now to convert cars he said “No, It’s actually harder with all the new fangled parts in new cars”. He prefers older models and usually he works with small pickups. On a typical car or truck, he removes the gas engine and installs a smaller electric motor plus a vacuum pump to run power brakes and steering. The electric power comes from a bank of auto batteries (usually somewhere in the range of 24 to 45 of them) installed in a rack in the trunk or under the truck bed. The small pickups have good suspension and they can haul quite a few batteries. Sometimes he has to change out the springs because of the battery weight.

Battery technology will continue to improve, expanding range and reliability.

Alexander has to make many of the parts he uses or have some special ones made at nearby machine shops. Most of the conversions take 3 to 4 weeks to complete if all goes well. He says each job is different but they all have to have most of the basic requirements.

He’s been waiting several weeks to get a special lithium battery series from China that will power the Porche mentioned above. It takes approximately 45 of the small batteries to power the Porche, but he says he can stash some of the batteries in the wheel wells, under the seats and in the trunk.

I was delighted to take a ride in the blue El Camino with Wayne. Now stare at the photo and see if you can hear the engine running?? Nope, it’s that quiet! I was waiting to hear something, but I didn’t! We drove down a small paved road outside of Walton, Kansas.

As we moved towards 60 mph all I could hear was the wind rushing by. It reminded me of being in a glider and soaring without an engine. He then accelerated to 85 mph with little effort just to show me that EV’s are something to be reckoned with. He’s had a little trouble with the speedometer so he had a trooper help him check the speed a few weeks ago and was clocked doing 120 mph! No tickets were issued because it was tested on an abandoned stretch of highway. Wayne says there is a new amperage gadget that would boost this car’s speed and make it possible to use in races.

Wayne has completed more auto conversions than anyone in North America and claims to be the oldest EV specialist in the US.

Wayne Alexander was presented the State's award for Technology by the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development this year in Topeka and was nominated for the "Businessman of the Year" in late 2009.

Note:   Wayne will be displaying his Electric El Camino in the Newton Downtown Carshow this year.  Come and check it out!

For more information, call 620-837-3244.

Story By Dave Baughman

Here's a couple of Videos about Wayne's Conversion business....  Enjoy!