Back in 1993, eBay.de member goldlady77 imported the electric car you see above from Miami to Germany. Fast forward 15 years and the car is now ready for a new home. Similar to the old CitiCar, this boxy EV was designed for mail carrier duties (hence the right hand drive) and is likely the only vehicle of its type in Germany. One ironic angle is that the owner needed to install a gas heater in the car to defrost the windows thanks to motor vehicle requirements back in the day (all of this info is taken from the item description). There are 1,300 kilometers on the odometer, but the batteries haven't been charged in many years. Also, you'll need to inflate the tires.

There are two days left in the auction and the bidding is up to $1,490 U.S. Other details are available at the eBay site, and if you're thinking of buying this vehicle but can't read the German, just post a comment and I'll translate further. For now, I'll assume that if you're interested in this car, you're in Germany and can decipher the caveats. Actually, perhaps the former owner in Miami wants the car back now? Thanks to Max S. for the tip!

[Source: eBay]

Utah is a state that gets a lot of sun but not a lot of attention on these pages for their green transportation moves. Still, it does seem that the DIY crowd is strong there. Remember the homemade Ariel Atom? That's not the only homemade vehicle taking to the street in the state.

Kyle Dansie and Michael Mielke run ZEVUtah (Zero Emission Vehicles of Utah) and are two strong proponents of taking control of your transportation energy sources. The Salt Lake Tribune ran a story recently about the 1994 VW Golf that the two converted to all-electric drive with solar panels on the roof. They draw extra power from the solar panels deployed on the roof. This isn't an EV for everyone, but the 65 mph top speed and 40 mile range should be enough for most people to use on a daily basis - at least, people who can swallow the $10,000 price tag for the electric components on top of whatever it costs to buy the Golf. There's a multimedia slideshow of the converted car here and ZEVUtah contains detailed descriptions on what happened during the conversion and explains why decisions were made as they were. Very helpful if you're thinking of tinkering yourself.

[Source: Salt Lake Tribune]

Great Scott! An all-electric 1981 DeLorean DMC-12 is now up on eBay for the bargain price of $15,600. Well, it'd be a bargain if it could jump through time and wasn't under the reserve price. The one-off conversion was done by the seller and a friend and uses a WarP 9 electric motor that gets juice from thirteen 12 volt 100 amp-hour deep cycle Deka 9A31 Intimidator AGM batteries (they take up the trunk and underhood spaces. These can power the car for a 40-mile range and recharge in eight hours from a standard wall plug or 2-3 hours from a 220-volt outlet. The seller has put a series of videos about the car up on YouTube, including "Shifting gears in a clutchless Electric DeLorean," which we've pasted after the jump. Drawbacks to the home conversion are that the heater and A/C have been disconnected.

The seller promises that "If the Buy It Now option is used, I will include the custom build "Flux Capacitor" shown in the pictures." That BIN price is a cool $100,000, so you might just want to save your pennies for a Mr. Fusion. H/t to Mike for the tip.


[Source: eBay]

Zap's been having a pretty good last few weeks. There was the groundbreaking at the Kentucky plant and now we hear that August electric vehicle sales set a new record. According to a new release from Zap (pasted after the jump), the company sold $737,000 worth (unaudited) of vehicles in August, compared to $392,000 in August 2007. Back in April 2007, Zap announced a "sale" of $79 million, but we had questions about that.

Considering the earlier questions, I asked Zap for some clarification of the most recent sale numbers, including how many of each EVs were sold. I wondered if this was another "sale" to a partner, but Zap's response indicates that this is not the case this time: "Sales are mostly to individual consumers. Don't have a breakdown but most of the sales were for trucks," they wrote to AutoblogGreen. That's what we know.

[Source: ZAP]

click above for more of Eberhard and his Tesla Roadster

By describing the cost to charge an electric vehicle as "squishy," Martin Eberhard begins a post on his Tesla Founders Blog on the right foot. Seriously. That's because it's a very difficult question to answer and it totally depends on where you live, what company your power is coming from and when you charge it. There are other factors too, such as what, if any, alternative sources you have and how much power you usually use on an average day. To help explain all of these little details, Eberhard has made a spreadsheet based on Northern California's rates from Pacific Gas and Electric.

After doing all the math, Martin figures that it costs him 3.6 cents per mile to run his Roadster. That's more than he initially figured but still just a small fraction of what it would cost to run on gas. For instance, at $4.00 a gallon, a car that gets over 40 miles per gallon would still cost double per mile to operate. Of course, YMMV. To help figure it all out, Martin suggests that you create your own spreadsheet and share it with the rest of the class.


[Source: Tesla Founders Blog]

NOTE: If you missed them, you can read parts one and two.

High tech development, market launch and retreat

Because its 1,175-pound pack of 27 advanced lead-acid (PbA) batteries - 26 propulsion, one for accessories - held a mere half-gallon of gasoline-equivalent energy, the production EV1 would have to be an incredibly efficient teardrop-shaped two-seater to achieve even barely acceptable range. Stretching it to accommodate four passengers would have reduced its already very modest range some 25 percent due to added weight and aero drag.

"The fundamental variables are mass, aerodynamics, rolling resistance, accessory loads and driveline efficiency," says Bob Purcell, who was our Advanced Technology Vehicles (ATV) Div. Executive Director. "So the exercise was to ensure that we would meet all customer requirements using the least possible energy in each of those areas."

Continue reading after the jump.

click to enlarge

When Daryl Hannah sold her biodiesel El Camino on eBay earlier this year we didn't think it would herald a full-scale shift from biofuels to electric cars, but at the very least it moves her more into the hybrid zone (i.e., she supports multiple fuel alternatives, including this hybrid bike). Whatever the case, Hannah is currently in full-EV promotion mode and recently taped a segment for The Daily Show with new guy Wyatt Cenac (who doesn't know he's adopted).

The taping happened as part of the Electric Vehicle Rolling Showcase with our friend Paul Scott (the guy on the right in this picture) who is in Denver as part of the Democratic Convention happening this week. Paul describes how the Hannah interview went after the jump. Paul works with Plug In America, a tireless advocacy group that promotes electric vehicles and is working with Chris Paine on the sequel to Who Killed The Electric Car?

Aside from the Daily Show excitement, Paul was glad that, "the McCain supporters were there to supply some much needed humor." Sounds like a fun time.


[Source: Paul Scott / Plug-In America]

There has been a lot of noise in Kentucky recently as state elected officials work to bring a large electric car factory to the area. A month ago, Democrats and Republicans were fighting over just who could hold the earlier press conference with representatives from Zap. Then, two weeks ago, the governor issued an executive order to allow low-speed three wheelers like Zap's Xebra on the roads. On Friday, officials from the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority gave the green light to offer a $48m tax credit package to Integrity Manufacturing of Bullitt County for an $84m plant that could be used by Zap to build electric vehicles. A final deal is expected this week, says the Courier-Journal, and Zap could employ anywhere between 500 and 2,500 workers in Kentucky (or maybe Indiana, if the Kentucky deal falls through) some time after the plant is up and running in late 2009.

[Source: Courier-Journal]

People who insist that cruising the streets of London should be done in an electric vehicle like the G-Wiz (pictured) can't really complain that the city isn't supporting them them with ways to power their rides (see also here and here). The latest addition to the EV charging infrastructure in London will be in the southern and western parts of the city - in the buroughs of Wandsworth, Richmond Upon Thames, Sutton and Hammersmith & Fulham - and is made up of nine new charging stations. The devices go online tomorrow and will be open to unlimited used for anyone willing to drop a £100 annual fee. The exact locations of the charging stations is listed here. The chargers, called Elektrobays (others are known as Juice Points), are a joint project of SWELTRAC, Transport for London, the Energy Saving Trust, EDF Energy and Elektromotive. Thanks to Adam V.

[Source: Smart Planet]

Want an electric MINI? Click above to sign the petition online.

Awesome! BMW will be converting MINI's from gas to electric drive! Oh, wait... the vehicles sill be sold only in California? And the number is capped at five-hundred regardless of how many people actually want one? Yes, and that is not awesome. For this reason, a man by the name of Mike S. has created an online petition begging BMW to offer more of them for sale at a price of $35K or less. A worthwhile goal for sure, though one we can't imagine actually happening as a result of the support of a few hundred EV devotees.

So far, there are nearly one-hundred-fifty signatures, with many of the signers suggesting that they would purchase them if available. Honestly, this kind of thing happens regularly, and many of those who say they will make the purchase simply don't for any number of reasons. Still, the idea of a small electric vehicle backed by A BMW warranty and service department is a very exciting prospect. Maybe it's worth a signature after all. Thanks for the tip, Mike!

[Source: iPetitions.com]

Our friend John McElroy isn't the only person out there who thinks that General Motors should dust off the old EV1 program and re-release it for public consumption again. Apparently, a passionate electric car enthusiast copied Mr. Bob Lutz himself on a letter suggesting that the EV1 needs to be brought back with its original lead-acid batteries. Remember, though, that Lutz is extremely involved in the Volt project, so it's not too surprising that he had plenty to say in response to the letter. In fact, Lutz echoes many of the sentiments expressed by our own Sam Abuelsamid, who recently wrote about the difficulties of reviving the long-dead program. Lutz highlights the fact that the General lost one billion buckaroos on that program the first time around and balks at the suggestion that lithium ion batteries are not yet ready for primetime. According to Lutz's response, the Volt's battery pack will not delay its launch. For our part, we're content to see the Volt picking up the pieces left by the loss of the EV1.

[Source: LA Times]

While many automakers are getting a bit bullish about diesel cars in America (see Mercedes, Nissan and VW), a board member of parts supplier Continental AG told Handelsblatt (via Thompson Financial) that an overall downturn in diesel interest in the U.S. means his company is looking more toward electric cars than diesel-powered ones. Board member Karl-Heinz Neumann said, "Regarding diesel fuel, I'm more sceptical by now. There's not much happening in the U.S. The opportunities of the electrical car have surprised all of us."

Neumann's stance is bolstered by Ford's recent decline in diesel truck sales and, more importantly, by a recent Conti study that showed high consumer interest in zero-emission vehicles. Making the shift to EV support is not a problem for the supplier, because Conti is well into setting up advanced battery deals with some automakers. The lithium-ion battery in the upcoming Mercedes-Benz S400 BlueHybrid will be from Continental and then there's that whole Chevy Volt thing.

[Source: Thompson Financial]

How can we figure out how much potential electric car buyers are willing to pay for their battery-powered rides? Why not just ask them?

That's what Liberty Electric Cars did at the recent Eden Project 'Green' Car Show. Liberty conducted "in-depth interviews" at the show and found that green car fans are willing to pay up to 30 percent more for a car if it's powered solely by electrons. That's a huge premium that at least some in our little community are willing to fork over. On a $20,000, for example, that's six grand, and 65 percent of the people Liberty interviewed said the 30 percent extra is no problem. Forty-five percent, though, said that smaller, less powerful, "city" cars would not be acceptable. I guess that means that 55 percent think that the Th!nk City (pictured) would be OK, which is good.

Liberty Electric Cars is the company that's working to convert Range Rovers to EVs. More info after the jump.

[Source: Liberty Electric Cars]

Click on the image for more high-res shots

Up for auction today on eBay is an extremely interesting 1981 Ford Fairmont. It's not interesting because it's a Ford Fairmont... 'cause they're not all that interesting in and of themselves, are they? What makes this one special is that it's electric. While the seller claims that it was converted by NASA, we can't seen to find any evidence to support this claim via the internet, which usually at least sheds a little light on most any subject. We did, however, locate a DOE document which shows that the vehicle underwent testing by the Army Mobility Equipment Research and Development Command. Whatever the case, the seller also says that it has a "top speed around 65 to 85 easily," a claim we also find to be a bit dubious, especially considering that the current owner has never driven it or even seen it run.

Still, this car is so peculiar that it managed to make it onto Jalopnik's Project Car Hell series, which has to at least count for something right? Not only that, but the car it's up against was another one of our awesome eBay finds too, the electric AMC Hornet which, like the Fairmont, has no batteries. How very meta. Even if you have no interest in the car, you owe it to yourself to check it out just to read the description. Enjoy!


[Source: eBay Motors]

Driving a Ford-branded Th!nk Neighbor (NEV) around Pasadena wasn't good enough for Bill Provence. He wanted more speed, more safety and a little more protection from the elements. So, he did what any of us would do and teamed up some engineering and manufacturing friends in Michigan and built his own dream car. What? You don't have engineering and manufacturing friends in Michigan? Well, it appears you may be in luck because in a video telling us about his new sealed AGM lead acid battery-powered vehicle, Bill mentions that he's planning on building more to sell to those of us less well connected.

Potentially operating under the company name, Pure Electric Vehicles, Mr.Provence wants to offer his three-wheeler this Fall for a base price of $9,999. For that price he evens plans to throw in a radio, an iPod "connection" and a heater! Although we don't know what kind of range the EV has, it is claimed to go 65 mph. Bill says he will being making some more videos and posting them on YouTube to keep the world informed of his progress. Hopefully that progress includes windows. Hit the jump to see his machine in motion.