Carlton-Bates and other big wholesalers may have better prices.
Always better selection.
The places that specialize in big parts often have great used stuff.
Big business when a used part is worth $50,000.
You might have to ask around for an industrial place like that.
The ones I know don't advertise that part of the business.
You could just license it and use a battery.
The batcap seems to just be a very low impedance battery.
I don't know how it compares to optima, but that may be similar.
Ask LeChat and the contraptioneers about all this.
He can tell you about human power.
Attn: Folks with art cars built from golf carts
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Captain Goddammit
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- Camp Name: First Camp
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trilobyte
- Site Admin
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There is no question that the DMV has a big and important job at Burning Man, and that we all want to see and experience mutant vehicles on the playa.
But from what I saw firsthand last year, there was plenty of nepotism/favoritism going on, along with rubber stamp approvals on vehicles that had barely been mutated. My first trip to the DMV left me feeling like someone was judging my art subjectively. I spent 5 months and 3 times the cost of the vehicle on mutating it and building stuff for it, and was initially told to take it back to camp and try again next year. Meanwhile, 50 feet away day and night licenses were being applied to a flatbed truck with speakers and a couch on it. And in the distance, the big yellow articulated bus with a deck built on top could be seen cruising around the playa. Don't get me wrong, the bus is a fun ride and has two stories built on top, but it is very clearly a street legal vehicle with a bare minimum of modification.
But making an attempt to get back on topic and answer the original poster's question.....
My recommendation would be gas over electric. It's much easier to carry a gas can to a stranded vehicle than it would to try and push or tow a vehicle back to a charging station. That said, I have to agree with what many have said above... buy a cheap used car. Once you hack up/off the body you're removing a bunch of the weight, and the gas mileage will go way up. You'll have more space to play/design cool stuff and/or carry passengers.
All that said... good luck!
Trilo
But from what I saw firsthand last year, there was plenty of nepotism/favoritism going on, along with rubber stamp approvals on vehicles that had barely been mutated. My first trip to the DMV left me feeling like someone was judging my art subjectively. I spent 5 months and 3 times the cost of the vehicle on mutating it and building stuff for it, and was initially told to take it back to camp and try again next year. Meanwhile, 50 feet away day and night licenses were being applied to a flatbed truck with speakers and a couch on it. And in the distance, the big yellow articulated bus with a deck built on top could be seen cruising around the playa. Don't get me wrong, the bus is a fun ride and has two stories built on top, but it is very clearly a street legal vehicle with a bare minimum of modification.
But making an attempt to get back on topic and answer the original poster's question.....
My recommendation would be gas over electric. It's much easier to carry a gas can to a stranded vehicle than it would to try and push or tow a vehicle back to a charging station. That said, I have to agree with what many have said above... buy a cheap used car. Once you hack up/off the body you're removing a bunch of the weight, and the gas mileage will go way up. You'll have more space to play/design cool stuff and/or carry passengers.
All that said... good luck!
Trilo