Battery Technology / Electric Vehicles

[Qbranch]

I've been toying with the idea of building or converting a vehicle to run on pure electricity. No specifics yet, except for maybe an old '89 astro van I've had my eye on, but I think this would prove to be some interesting conversation for all you CD'ers and FIRST'ers in general out there.

First off, what battery technology is the best? The most economical? Longest Lasting? I hear NiMH is good, but whats your say?

What kind of transmission? Leave the auto in and find a motor with a torque curve to match? Manual tranny electrically actuated? CVT?

What type of motor? AC or DC? Brushed or Brushless? Whats a good system voltage?

Drive systems? Who knows where to get real high voltage high current H-Drives? Breakers n such?

Control System? Ditch the hydro and make a servoelectric assist? Electric braking? whats best?

......Anyhow, many questions posed... but whats your opinion? if you were building an electric car, or converting one to electric, what would you do?

-q