100% Electric Jeep CJ5 Stuns New York!

We've finally seen a 100% Electric Jeep roaming the streets of New York! But it's not what you think... While the FCA and Jeep might be considering releasing a diesel motor or a hybrid setup in the future, here's one fellow who didn't want to wait, and built his own version of an electric Jeep with parts he ordered through the mail!

A CJ5 Electric Jeep in New York

General Contractor Doug Manowitz of New York needed something to get around town in. He wanted to get from job site to job site in a vehicle that was small, easy to park, and best of all - a Jeep! ...Well, sort of. This electric Jeep is actually based on a Volkswagen chassis. Not one, but two bugs, since they were cut in half, shortened, and put back together. The Jeep body and drivetrain were then attached to that. We like that the Jeep was basically home built, using whatever parts were at hand at the time (save for the new electrical components). There's nothing like building your own Jeep, one way or another. This guy is pretty inventive. While the Jeep has been around for 75+ years, electric cars have been around for over a 100. All the way back to around 1881. The only reason we don't have more electric vehicles today is because gas is much less expensive to use, so that pretty much killed off electric cars in the early 1900s. Doug mentions that the Jeep is zero emissions, but the oil or coal burning power plants that make the electricity he uses are not (unless it's hydro produced power instead). While his vehicle is really nifty, and his ingenuity is admirable, if everyone had an electric vehicle, we would need hundreds of coal burning power plants just to juice them all up overnight. Still, it's a novel idea. And given that recycled parts were used when he could, that's a big positive advantage to us. And it looks like a lot of fun to drive. He could have gone with any car body, but it's cool that he went with the Jeep, and found a way to keep a CJ on the road just a little bit longer. Kind of reminds us of the 1975 AMC  Electruck DJ Postal Jeeps. I wonder if he has enough power to add some KC Daylighters... What do you think of this Electric Jeep? Have you ever built your own vehicle using two different chassis or other components to make your vision come to life? Tell us about it!