Doru builds an electric car
Donation protected
Who the fundraiser is for
Hey, my name is Doru Tudose, I’m a Romanian DJ living in Saigon, Vietnam.
For those who know me, I won’t have many secrets to reveal but if you happen to have missed some of my life adventures, my Facebook page has plenty of evidence (oops).
https://www.facebook.com/drew.tudose
As you heard in the video, I have no engineering degree but I like to make things, usually from scratch: from film prop helmets (Storm Troopers are way cool, right!?) to rebuilding a classic Volkswagen Beetle at the age of 18, so I’m not a “mechanical idiot”.
How did I get here
In late 2017, I told some of my close friends that I could build my own electric car.
Obviously, it sounded unthinkable but after a few minutes of “presentation” most agreed that while hard, it would seem possible.
So, I decided to investigate what would it take to build a car.
As a motorsports fan, I realized many race cars are built in “sheds”, based on proven old principles (hence the “don’t reinvent the wheel” slogan) and any step up from a shed, would give me a fair chance.
The tricky part is to make a vehicle that drives well and there’s a lot more mathematics involved in this that I could muster, so around October, I’ve put a short add on an online freelance site…and in 30 minutes, I had over 30 responses!
This project officially started on October 13, 2017. Just like that!
The Research Phase
At the same time, I was gathering info about electric cars and bikes and like everything these days; most things are made in China.
The customer support was mind-blowing and within 2 weeks, I knew all the items I would need to order, and approximately how much it would cost.
It took another 100 emails but by June, I had the full powertrain in my apartment in Vietnam. Yes, that’s after weeks of dealing with the shipping and customs systems. I know it was a pain back then, but by now, just a blip in the long process of building a car.
The Propulsion Solution
Since the “heart” of an electric car is its battery, this was an important decision to make, and since I like to make things, instead of ordering 4-5 battery packs, already made in China, I chose to order 1000 small batteries and make my own packs. Yes, the same type used by Tesla…
It’s fun work. :)
Design and Planning Phase
The design took other hundreds of emails, decisions, hours of work but by April-May, I had enough info to start looking for a metal work company in Vietnam that would be interested in such a build. Little did I know…
Ever since, I’ve been in touch with companies of all sizes and I tried to connect with countless others in and outside of Vietnam, but I insist on having this car built locally.
A weird set of circumstances and reasons for rejection meant that my original target of driving the car by the end of 2018 was not possible.
Where I am now
So far, some 10.000USD plus an absurd amount of hours have been spent on this project. I expect a similar amount of both will be needed to finish this and the time frame would extend on many other months…
Now, to put this in perspective, at the time when this project started, the most expensive scooter you could buy was the Honda SH 300i at around 14.000USD and the cheapest car, the Kia Morning was about 20.000USD. Yes, google it. :)
I think, building your own car, for less money than the cheapest car on the market, is not such a bad deal.
Where is this happening
As I said, I want the car to be built in Vietnam so after a few months of trying, I found someone with the experience, means and excitement to work on this and as I’m writing this text, we should start seeing some mockups of the frame (or parts of it) in the following weeks.
This is not even a small company, it’s essentially an individual that has a network of other friends involved in some of the industries I will need: 3D, composites or CNC milling, so I expect to somehow build a team of skilled workers around this project and at the same time get more involved in the process and film as much of it as possible.
These videos will become updates so that any backers of this campaign will know where we are and what we’re doing with the funds.
When will we see the real thing
With metalwork expected to start in weeks, the next 3-4 months will probably be full speed ahead, not only on building the frame and the body but sourcing some of the other systems that need to be ordered or made.
If nothing catastrophic happens, (fingers crossed!) by May-June 2019 we should have a functional prototype available.
How the funds will be used
If you got so far, you would probably want to know what I’m going to do with any funds I’ll be able to gather.
The most important aspect of this would be speeding up the construction process as I could work (and spend money) on more things at the time…
I still need to order the AC/Cooling system, power steering, system monitoring electronics and programming, windows, seats, headlights and rear lights that will have to be designed and built and a million other wires, sensors, connectors etc…
I could order these now so I can get them when the frame is ready so I can start putting all together.
But by far, the biggest hurdle now is building the frame and the body…because they’ll take the longest.
Why GoFundMe
I never wanted to ask anyone for support but life had other plans and being a freelancer does not always go to plan so there’s always a chance that this could die if things don’t happen on time.
One of the important points of this concept was that it should happen quick, not in 5 years so as time goes, the idea gets “cold”…
It also gives me a better understanding of what the “large public” would think about the project…a cold shower if you wish…J
Since this is a donation based campaign, there is no direct reward but for those that will get involved, I’ll create a series of videos and “blog” entries that will keep everyone up to date with the project.
If you don’t know what to donate, let’s say the price of a coffee or a cocktail…imagine you wanna buy me drinks for an evening, or lunch…it really doesn’t matter but even just sharing this story will tell me that I’m on the right track and the project isn’t some crazy utopic dream…
Hey, my name is Doru Tudose, I’m a Romanian DJ living in Saigon, Vietnam.
For those who know me, I won’t have many secrets to reveal but if you happen to have missed some of my life adventures, my Facebook page has plenty of evidence (oops).
https://www.facebook.com/drew.tudose
As you heard in the video, I have no engineering degree but I like to make things, usually from scratch: from film prop helmets (Storm Troopers are way cool, right!?) to rebuilding a classic Volkswagen Beetle at the age of 18, so I’m not a “mechanical idiot”.
How did I get here
In late 2017, I told some of my close friends that I could build my own electric car.
Obviously, it sounded unthinkable but after a few minutes of “presentation” most agreed that while hard, it would seem possible.
So, I decided to investigate what would it take to build a car.
As a motorsports fan, I realized many race cars are built in “sheds”, based on proven old principles (hence the “don’t reinvent the wheel” slogan) and any step up from a shed, would give me a fair chance.
The tricky part is to make a vehicle that drives well and there’s a lot more mathematics involved in this that I could muster, so around October, I’ve put a short add on an online freelance site…and in 30 minutes, I had over 30 responses!
This project officially started on October 13, 2017. Just like that!
The Research Phase
At the same time, I was gathering info about electric cars and bikes and like everything these days; most things are made in China.
The customer support was mind-blowing and within 2 weeks, I knew all the items I would need to order, and approximately how much it would cost.
It took another 100 emails but by June, I had the full powertrain in my apartment in Vietnam. Yes, that’s after weeks of dealing with the shipping and customs systems. I know it was a pain back then, but by now, just a blip in the long process of building a car.
The Propulsion Solution
Since the “heart” of an electric car is its battery, this was an important decision to make, and since I like to make things, instead of ordering 4-5 battery packs, already made in China, I chose to order 1000 small batteries and make my own packs. Yes, the same type used by Tesla…
It’s fun work. :)
Design and Planning Phase
The design took other hundreds of emails, decisions, hours of work but by April-May, I had enough info to start looking for a metal work company in Vietnam that would be interested in such a build. Little did I know…
Ever since, I’ve been in touch with companies of all sizes and I tried to connect with countless others in and outside of Vietnam, but I insist on having this car built locally.
A weird set of circumstances and reasons for rejection meant that my original target of driving the car by the end of 2018 was not possible.
Where I am now
So far, some 10.000USD plus an absurd amount of hours have been spent on this project. I expect a similar amount of both will be needed to finish this and the time frame would extend on many other months…
Now, to put this in perspective, at the time when this project started, the most expensive scooter you could buy was the Honda SH 300i at around 14.000USD and the cheapest car, the Kia Morning was about 20.000USD. Yes, google it. :)
I think, building your own car, for less money than the cheapest car on the market, is not such a bad deal.
Where is this happening
As I said, I want the car to be built in Vietnam so after a few months of trying, I found someone with the experience, means and excitement to work on this and as I’m writing this text, we should start seeing some mockups of the frame (or parts of it) in the following weeks.
This is not even a small company, it’s essentially an individual that has a network of other friends involved in some of the industries I will need: 3D, composites or CNC milling, so I expect to somehow build a team of skilled workers around this project and at the same time get more involved in the process and film as much of it as possible.
These videos will become updates so that any backers of this campaign will know where we are and what we’re doing with the funds.
When will we see the real thing
With metalwork expected to start in weeks, the next 3-4 months will probably be full speed ahead, not only on building the frame and the body but sourcing some of the other systems that need to be ordered or made.
If nothing catastrophic happens, (fingers crossed!) by May-June 2019 we should have a functional prototype available.
How the funds will be used
If you got so far, you would probably want to know what I’m going to do with any funds I’ll be able to gather.
The most important aspect of this would be speeding up the construction process as I could work (and spend money) on more things at the time…
I still need to order the AC/Cooling system, power steering, system monitoring electronics and programming, windows, seats, headlights and rear lights that will have to be designed and built and a million other wires, sensors, connectors etc…
I could order these now so I can get them when the frame is ready so I can start putting all together.
But by far, the biggest hurdle now is building the frame and the body…because they’ll take the longest.
Why GoFundMe
I never wanted to ask anyone for support but life had other plans and being a freelancer does not always go to plan so there’s always a chance that this could die if things don’t happen on time.
One of the important points of this concept was that it should happen quick, not in 5 years so as time goes, the idea gets “cold”…
It also gives me a better understanding of what the “large public” would think about the project…a cold shower if you wish…J
Since this is a donation based campaign, there is no direct reward but for those that will get involved, I’ll create a series of videos and “blog” entries that will keep everyone up to date with the project.
If you don’t know what to donate, let’s say the price of a coffee or a cocktail…imagine you wanna buy me drinks for an evening, or lunch…it really doesn’t matter but even just sharing this story will tell me that I’m on the right track and the project isn’t some crazy utopic dream…
Organizer and beneficiary
Adrian Mardale
Organizer
Hai Phu Ha
Beneficiary