Home-made electric Volvo

[Shannow]

http://renew.org.au/pdf/117_evolvo.pdf Story of a couple who wanted an electric Volvo for their commute. Got some interesting "rules of thumb" on battery capacity, weight and range, which while only rules of thumb give an idea on how the manufacturers have to compromise, and that certain rules of physics cannot be denied in EV.s

 

[ueberooo]

whoa! volvos are heavy enough as they are already (swedish bricks). I dunno how good of an idea this is. Then again, these wagons have lots of cargo space too

 

[rpn453]

Impressive project. I hope it was enjoyable for them, or they'd be disappointed that they could have just waited and bought a Leaf with better range, performance, luxuries, safety, and seating capacity for similar money! It sounds like they did enjoy it though, like someone who has resto-modded an old car, and they're likely very proud to have something unique, even if it's obsolete with all the recent advances in compressed air.

Quote:

We didn’t want a tiny, light-weight car . . . In a crash, there’s no substitute for crush space and a bit of weight . . . In the end, we settled on a trusty, and nearly indestructible, Volvo 240 station wagon.

I hope it's a lot safer than a 940!

 

[Shannow]

Volvo's no where near as heavy as Commondore wagon, with similar space, so it makes some semblance of sense...until you make it a 2 seater, but each to their own. Seen one made out of a converted Kombi, which made for a pretty practical thing. Leaf isn't available here, and the Holden Volt is available early next year at $55,000 Oz ($57k US). Can get one off converted Hyundai Getz for about $48k. As to doing it yourself, Fatty O'Barrel, our newly elected Lord and Master has decided that individually modified vehicles need to undergo crash testing...a bloke who restoed a late 60s mustang is looking like having to build one the same to crash test before registration.

 

[rpn453]

Base Leaf is $38k here. I just figured they'd be a little cheaper there since your dollar is worth more. But I suppose it rarely works that way.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Leaf is another subsidized wondercar.

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: rpn453

Base Leaf is $38k here. I just figured they'd be a little cheaper there since your dollar is worth more. But I suppose it rarely works that way.

FWIW, the Pontiac G-8 was $65k-70k here in Oz, when it's built here.