I gave up cute or sexy or classy, and settled. Then I waited for average and imperfect to arrive.
It was Thanksgiving Day, but this blind date had been set into motion back in mid-June, when I was surfing the Internet looking for love. Rumblings of a disquiet in Burbank, made me more determined during the spring. By fall, I was committed.
Finally, the guy arrived with my 1995 Solectria Force from Vermont.
Okay, maybe it wasn’t exactly love, but I did notice a slight tingle after seeing the image of a bolt of electricity ending in a plug where the gas tank is normally located.
It wasn't the sexy AC Propulsion T-Zero. Nor was it the classic 1950s Henney Killowatt. It didn't have the sporty, lovable lines of a VW bug conversion.
My Solectria was a solid, four-door former Geo Metro that had been professionally converted to electric.
I began researching EV conversions at the millennium. The VW Bug seemed ideal — people loved them, conversion kits were available, and parts were easy to find.
I cruised OldBug.com and The-Samba.com, looking for a body to convert. On an EV Web site, I found a classy 1968 conversion by Don Bastin and started corresponding with him. His conversion used a kit provided by the Santa Rosa-based EV supply company, ElectroAuto.com.
Yet members of the Los Angeles Electric Vehicle Club, which meets at Caltech the first Saturday of every month, convinced me that a used EV was a better, cheaper option. I found a 1950s-era purple and black Bug at ZapWorld.com, but the dealership wouldn't email me any photos of the interior, so that deal was off. I then found an EV VW Bug converted into a truck, but the owner insisted that I fly to meet him. I didn’t, so that deal also fell through.
I then considered buying a funky CitiCar and finally found one with low mileage that was almost perfect for me. But again, I couldn't get the owner to send more photos and that deal also never materialized.
Now here I was with my Force, which, for all its faults, was something of a childhood dream come true. When I was a kid, my dad liked giving us wild rides in his Jeep and tinkering with motors in the garage. He also loved cartoons. I remember one of an oversized magnifying glass attached to the top of a car that directed beams of sunlight to the engine — the solar-powered car of the future.
Article comments
1 - Dave Nalle
Just wanted to say that I thought this series was fantastic. I'd done some research on Electronic Vehicles while researching alternative fuel vehicles for my own articles, but you've gathered more info here than I was able to find in much web searching. Great job.
Dave
2 - roark
I just saw the "Who KIlled the Electric Car" Documentary on Showtime... its was awesome!!! the movie that is... The decision of GM to "Shred" the cars, is for one just un-unexcusable. I just don't get it. How does a company like GM think they have the luxury of "shredding" products that people want to acquire. I suppose I just answered my own question, as GM is in serious financial trouble... and the "Brain Trust" who lives in the penthouses offices decides to Shred Hundreds of cars that people would probably kill for now that our Oil Interests have gone so well in the Middle East where the price of a gallon of gas is now, today, $3.65 a gallon. The most ever paid in this state for gas.
How did the American car industry go into extinction? They lost the ability to adapt and adjust, just like the dinosaurs, will go into the shredder of history.
3 - danny
i watch the movie,can't believe all the ev's were shredded.i FOUND THIS ARTICAL searching for info electric conversion kits,(oil $125.00 a barrel today $5.75/gallon here)i hope someone makes GM eat that choice.i would like to convert a car over to electric,can't wait to see them on the roads.
4 - Purple Tigress
Remember, the problem we now face was predictable. Fossil fuels and relations with the Middle East made them so. We had the potential to develop solar energy and make it a source of electrical energy. We had the choice in the US to go with EVs. In Los Angeles, we have the technical geniuses at Caltech working on projects and technical companies attempting to find the answer. The answer was there. Instead, now we are looking into biodiesel and hydrogen.
Remember how when the American auto companies were in trouble the government back them up and there were at least two waves of Japan-bashing focused on Japanese cars versus American cars.
America's industrial leaders made decisions that led us to this juncture.
We had the answer to the gasoline crisis in the US and in California. And our American industrial leaders dropped the ball as did our political leaders.
And look who picked up the ball and saw the future? Japan and the Toyota Prius.
Shame on GM. Shame on the oil companies.
5 - bliffle
The US auto companies and oil companies have an iron grip on the US government (and on the minds of US citizens, apparently) and have prevented an easy migration to alternative energy. But they, individually, are smart enough to know it can't last forever so they are just riding their sunset industries down into the dust, taking big dividends on the way. They will have their way since their lobbying and bribing make it possible.
But they know The End Is Near.
Just beware that they intend to dominate the alternative energy scene, too, when the time comes.
Beware, beware, beware.
6 - Phillip Winn
bliffle, that seems a bit too "conspiracist" for me. The U.S. is a freaking huge country, with a lot of cars on the road. It is nearly infinitely harder for the U.S. to do *anything* nationwide than it is for *any* other country, and I really think that's all there is to it.
Could we have done it? Sure. But it's an tough uphill struggle even without ascribing nefarious tactics to companies who would benefit enormously if they could pull it off successfully.
7 - Purple Tigress
Ask yourself why did GM insist on a paddle as opposed to a plug?
After all, older EV can be plugged in directly to the garage and do not require a special charging station.
Second, why destroy a car when you have buyers lined up?
8 - bliffle
As alternative energy systems come online the government will provide subsidies favorable to Big Companies and monopoly Intellectual Property judgements favorable to Big Interests.
It's in the nature of the kind of managed economy that we have developed in this country. Who, one must ask, is it managed in favor of?