Electric Powered 1985 Volkswagen Cabriolet

Converted from gasoline to pure electric power this is now a green machine. Powered by a 9" DC motor & 20 golf cart batteries she'll do 70mph, has a range of approximately 50 miles & can be fully recharged for a little over a dollar.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• ev
• electric vehicle
• electric car
• electric powered car
• electric motor
• car
• green
• green machine
• green car
• zero emissions
• plug in
• plugin
• plug-in
• 1985
• volkswagen
• VW
• cabriolet
• environment
• environmental
• conservation
• green power
• renewable
• renewable energy
• energy
• smog
• pollution
• gasoline
• oil
• petroleum
• chris evans
• nodd

[madelnthe80s]

Out of curiosity. What happens if you have your top down and it starts raining on your batteries?

[NoddSCIPIE]

@madelnthe80s well I'd probably put the top back up. I don't enjoy being rained on while I'm driving :-)

Besides, my understanding is, if you water proofed the electronics in the speed controller box, you could probably drive an electric car across the bottom of a lake with its batteries & motor full submerged. Electricity will always take the path of least resistance, which in this case would be its wiring. Water is actually a fairly poor conductor.

[ahoogaa]

can you give an idea of the price of the conversion?

and where could i find all the info needed to do this?

[NoddSCIPIE]

@ahoogaa I didn't actually do the conversion myself. I purchased it from a professor in Arizona who did the conversion. Still I did quite a lot of work to the car myself, upgrading & repairing where needed. To answer your questions...

Depending upon battery type, motor & electronics most conversions seem to start at around $8,000 US. Probably the best source of info on conversions can be found at the "DIY Electric Car forums".

[NoddSCIPIE]

The furthest I ever drove her was 38 miles between charges but on paper at least she should be capable of at least 50. Replace the lead acid batteries with lithiums & she'd likely do hundreds of miles.

[NoddSCIPIE]

I'd like to see more EV conversions for sure but now that production EVs are available I think most people will opt for those.

[clubcar98]

Sweet!

Ive seen now three Cabriolet's made into Electric Vehicles!

Seems like it gets up to speed pretty good and goes well.

[ivaniclixx]

Congratulations for the very nice work! I hope someday I will do my own conversion, and this Rabbit is just perfect -maybe except I's front wheel traction-.

Enjoy It!

[squizzoo]

One of the nicest and neatest EV conversions I have seen.

Great job.

Thanks for sharing.

What is the range?

[3089280288]

I think more used cars will be converted than new E cars.