One of the sticking points people have when deciding whether to do a conversion is worrying about if they’ll even be able to tag it upon completion. Will an electric vehicle conversion pass state inspection?
If you just bought your conversion candidate, the quick way around this issue is to get the car inspected before it’s converted. Once it’s street legal in the state you can carry out your conversion without getting it re-inspected upon completion. When you receive your emission test notice in the mail, simply check the box on the back that indicates your car is electric drive.
Of course, with the MR2 everything was done the hard way. An inoperable car was bought out of state and then converted, meaning it had to pass inspection as an electric vehicle. The process actually went well with only a few bumps. The first garage I took it to declined to do the inspection. Maybe I should have given them warning that I was bringing in a conversion, but I did put in a call to the MD State Police Automotive Safety Enforcement Division (ASED) to confirm that the only special consideration in inspecting an EV conversion was to cross through the inapplicable areas on the inspection form, like those pertaining to emission equipment and the exhaust system. Feeling a bit more hopeful, I got on the phone and after explaining the situation and giving them the number to the appropriate officer at ADEP, I found another station that was willing to do the job.
I spent a few hours the afternoon of the inspection talking with Scott the mechanic as he performed the inspection. He was very curious about all the aspects of the MR2 as he enjoyed modifying cars himself but never considered turning one into an EV. Unfortunately, the rotors were underthickness but after spending a Sunday afternoon doing a brake job, the inspection certificate was finally awarded.
So at least in Maryland, red tape isn’t a disincentive to performing your own electric vehicle conversion.
