With a dream and golf cart batteries, Rick Pitts is doing his part for the environment.

Pitts, a retired plumber and Metchosin resident, is turning his 1989 Chevy S10 pickup into an electric vehicle. He will soon take his first drive in the truck that has no engine, gas tank or exhaust system.

He removed more than 450 pounds of weight in parts and added about 1,500 pounds with 24 golf cart batteries.

B次元官网网址淭here is always a trade off,B次元官网网址� Pitts said.

The idea of driving an electric vehicle has been on PittsB次元官网网址� mind for years. He has thought about the brown haze over Los Angeles and is concerned over smog and other air pollutants that people are breathing in.

On a walk through his Metchosin neighbourhood one day a car passed him, Pitts began to breath in the exhaust fumes and at that point he decided he was going to take his dream and make it a reality.

B次元官网网址淓verything I was breathing in was his exhaust,B次元官网网址� Pitts said. B次元官网网址淲ouldnB次元官网网址檛 it be a good world if everyone drove an electric vehicle?B次元官网网址�

Turning his old truck into a modern electric vehicle almost didnB次元官网网址檛 happen due to finances.

B次元官网网址淚 am retired, but I found the money,B次元官网网址� Pitts said.

He purchased a conversion kit from Canadian Electric Vehicles, in Errington. With the kit and alterations to his truck, he has spent about $18,000 on this process. The actual truck only cost him $500. He didnB次元官网网址檛 purchase the truck specifically for the conversion project.

B次元官网网址淚 bought it because I wanted a little truck,B次元官网网址� Pitts said.

He has been working with his son to install the kit and prepare the truck to step into the modern age of electric vehicles.

After removing the engine, Pitts made sure to install a heater into the truck.

B次元官网网址淥nce you remove the engine you have no heater,B次元官网网址� Pitts said.

When the truck is road-ready, Pitts estimates heB次元官网网址檒l be able to drive between 60 and 90 kilometres before it needs a recharge. His first destination will be downtown Victoria and then back home to Metchosin.

It will take about four hours to recharge the vehicle and Pitts estimates each charge will cost him about one dollar. That is a far cry from the $50 he used to spend to fill the tank.

B次元官网网址淚 can run this car for two cents a kilometre,B次元官网网址� Pitts said.

The savings from his conversation will also come in the way of vehicle maintenance costs.

B次元官网网址淭here are no tune ups, no spark plugs and no oil changes. There is virtually no maintenance,B次元官网网址� Pitts said.

Once the truck is up and running, Pitts plans of covering the entire box of the truck with a large liftable solar panel that will enable him to charge the batteries while driving.

B次元官网网址淚t will take my 60 to 90 kilometres and take it to an indefinite distance,B次元官网网址� Pitts said.

This is not Pitts first environmentally innovative project.

About 15 years ago he designed his own solar hot water heater.  He has a series of pipes and hoses in a special box on his roof that can heat about 60 gallons of water  up to 57 C.

The water then travels down a hose into a preheated water tank.

B次元官网网址淚 am an energy saving off-the-grid type of person,B次元官网网址� Pitts said.