What does it cost to build & run the solar van?

My van was built as a one off, for my own interest, so its not cheap!

The total cost of my vehicle and all the components was about £10,000. That doesn't include the hundreds of hours a project like this takes while you experiment and learn the best way to tackle things!

Here is a rough breakdown of the prices.

Base vehicle £250. AC motor £1000. Batteries £4750. AC Inverter £1000.

 Charger £500. Vehicle repair £1,500.  Solar cells £1,000. Sundries £750.

You can buy parts second hand of course, and I already had a number of the above items from much earlier electric vehicle projects.

Running cost are pretty good.

First off UK road tax is free!!!  Yes, electric vehicles have to have an excise licence, but its issued for free.

My vehicle is also exempt from the UK MOT test, as it fits into the same class as milk floats!

Secondly, recharging cost can be very low if you use off peak electricity and have good weather. Mains electricity recharging cost works out at about 2.5p per mile. The van consumes about 250wh/mile in use, and cover approx 4miles per kwh consumed.