First Drive!

I spent yesterday running the last PakTrakr cable through the center hump, and cleaned up a lot of wiring, putting it in wire loom and zip-ties.  I also did a better job of mounting the mid-battery box's exhaust hose to the opening in the steering rack area.  I then bolted the steering rack area cover back into place.

I charged up the pack, bolted the wheels back on and lowered it down to the ground.  This is the first time it's touched the ground since I trailered it over to the Paso airport cars how in May.  I bolted the steering wheel back on, and realized that there is no clearance between the windshield control stalk and the steering wheel, so I'll have to get an extender of some kind.

I suction-cup mounted my GoPro camera to the top of the targa rail, and ....

It works!  I'm really happy with the acceleration too.  I noticed a clunking noise coming from the passenger-side shock tower.  I'll check on that when I get the wheels aligned.  Also, the clutch pedal definitely needs about 1" more travel because it's not smooth getting the gears.

Now, I just have to put the rest of the car back together.

How much will it weigh? How fast will it accelerate?

I wanted to know the completed weight of the converted car to get an idea of the net extra weight from the electric kit minus the weight of the removed gasoline engine, starter motor, fuel tank, etc.

Shari at ElectroAuto says the completed car will weigh about 3300 pounds.  I'll have the car weighed at a local scale once the project is complete.

According to the car specs, it has a curb weight of 2139 pounds, which includes a full tank of fuel.  This means the electric kit is net 1161 pounds heavier.  The US-125XC batteries are 67 pounds each, for a total of 1340 pounds, plus 140 pounds for the electric motor.  Not counting small stuff, this means 319 pounds of original 914 parts are removed from the car.

1161 pounds represents a 54% increase in total weight, which is pretty dramatic.  Luckily the original 1.7 liter engine is pretty anemic, with a 0-60 mph time at 14.0 seconds.  Given the extreme torque of the electric motor I'm hoping to match or beat that.  My traveling needs trade off acceleration and top speed for distance, so I'll be happy to just get up to traffic speeds in a reasonable amount of time.  We'll find out soon.