ICE Free: Electric vehicle technology for builders and converters

I purchased "Ice Free" and it arrived as promised and in "New" condition. I have read it thru once and I plan on reading it several more times. It provides explanation of electric car theory. Some of the illustrations are reminiscent of textbooks from the 1950's but the other photos are of current quality. Electric car fundamentals haven't changed much with a few additions for "Semiconductors" and new Battery Chemistries which have been added. A lot of the information was historical, and the sales description intimated that it would demonstrate an actual conversion from gas to electric but, it does not, it is an excellent companion piece to a conversion manual and belongs in every EV owner's library, and of course it is in mine.

Conversions are becoming a thing of the past but this book is required if you plan to convert your ICE vehicle to an EV.

For an introductory read on electric vehicles, this is great. Hits most of the high points. For a detailed idea on what it takes to build an EV in your garage, you are going to have to buy another book.

I was disappointed in this book mainly because it was not really a how to, what's available, how can I do it for the least cost book. It failed to rate battery systems, or to take into account successful applications of fifty-sixty years ago, like the UPS fleet and Glasgow garbage trucks.

Great book for getting an all around idea on converting a vehicle to electric, really specific on some parts, it's great for having a clear image on what's ahead for the DIY converter.

What a disappointment.There majority of this book contains little or no value.This book was written using double spacing and double columns for each page; I suspect just to produce a lot of pages.The books includes several chapters on very very basic electricity including ohms law.The majority of figures, pictures, and illustrations are useless.

Very well written and easy to follow. Gives a great explanation of the science behind electric vehicles.

John Hardy’s Ice Free is thorough and well managed book that I personally used innumerable times around the EVTV (electric Vehicle television) studio and shop keeping up with that wiley rascal Jack Rickard.Amps-volts-murphy’s law voltage variation discharge, all confusing jargon to a hot rod truck guy, Ice Free’s common sense technical conversion helped me immensely as the leds dimly went off in my formally Ice brain. Ice Free is my personally and long used sustainable energy guidebook, and everyone should read to grasp the future of energy.Richard Flentge Former Co-Host Electric Vehicle Televsion

I'd suggest reading the title closely for an idea if what the book is and isn't. It isn't a "how to" guide on conversion but rather it provides technical information that is useful for EV builders and converters. While a lot of this information is freely available online it is handy to have the info in book form too, and I don't think the price of this title is that expensive. Despite being an avid reader of this topic online I'd still say that I learn a lot from the book, especially about the pitfalls of various components. For example, this book firm up my understanding of how battery management systems work and provided some insight on the debate about whether the current systems are effective or not.Essentially it covers all of the components needed to build/ convert an EV which is great but a subsequent that details the conversion process would be a welcome addition. Example topics are: types of motors (AC/ DC), battery types (eg lead acid and lithium ion), battery management systems, charging/ discharging.The reason I chose this book over the others is that it seemed to jump into the juicy details without too much of the superfluous background info that other books of a similar nature have. It isn't really necessary to have a detail history of EV, nor is it necessary to have a list of political arguments as to why EVs are so great. It seems a little pointless to have that in such a technical book. Besides anyone that gets this far almost undoubtedly knows it. This is also broadly confirmed by the author's Amazon review of similar books. While I expect the other titles to be good I just wanted to jump into the technical information and arguments which this book seems to do.There are several citations and links quoted in the book that provide a way of verifying the information too. The quality of this publication is somewhat close to the amateur end of the spectrum, formatting of the text is a little bit strange as it is in columns like a newspaper rather that using the full page width. Some of the diagrams look like they were made in MS paint but they serve the necessary functionality, besides book is littered with pictures and diagrams which I like.I believe that anyone of a vaguely technical background should have no problem understanding this book. It assumes only modest knowledge of physics (high school level) such as voltage, current, power. All said, a solid effort from the author and worthwhile purchase for anyone that is interested in EV building/conversion.

Although not a book about the conversion process , it is still a worthwhile read for anyone looking to convert a conventional petrol or diesel powered car to electric. There were some good analogies used to get across technical subjects in laymen’s terms ; my favourite being the analogy of carrying partially filled water jugs to demonstrate battery balancing. There were a few areas that will require a re-read to fully understand and also some of the diagrams could have been a little better , but overall I’m not disappointed.

I do like the book but it could do with more drawings of a what if basis. I often think a lot of engineers are so caught up in what they build that they forget that people like me who is looking for to absorb the idea. Can not be them and read their mind. More explanation of building from the groound up to finished prototype might be a great idea

Out of date really.

Explains a lot, things that you should know if you are thinking of building or converting a car to electric.