Another Porsche 914 gets the plug-in treatment
Back in the early 1970s when Volkswagen and Porsche collaborated to create the 914 sports car it's unlikely that either company imagined that the little roadster would someday become a popular platform for electric drive conversions. Nonetheless after reporting on a 914 battery conversion by a group of MIT students and their professor last summer, we now have found out about two more such tear-ups. Ross Cunniff of Fort Collins Colorado picked up a rusty 1975 914 a couple of years ago. He then installed an EV conversion kit that included 1,200 pounds of deep discharge lead batteries. He now has a Porsche that cruises easily at 65mph and can reach up to 90mph. Ross has a blog where he's tracking the progress of his project that you can check out here. Then there's this blog covering a similar conversion in Oregon. Given Ferdinand Porsche's pioneering efforts with electric cars and hybrids, it's probably only fitting that people are going back to electron fuel with somewhat more modern Porsches.
[Source: Colorodoan, via GermanCarBlog, thanks to Christian for the tip]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dave 10:37AM (1/23/2008)
The "HUGE center divide" in a Fiero housed the gas tank.
It could probably house several batteries without harming the center of gravity.
I think the majority of Fiero's were automatics, so that means using the direct drive kit:
http://electroauto.com/catalog/ackits.shtml#ldirect
Not necessarily such a bad thing since the heavy transmission is eliminated for a lighter more efficient unit.
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Anachronda 3:26PM (1/23/2008)
914s have been converted to electric for years. Google "voltsporsche" for a kit that's been available as long as I can remember.
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stevejust 2:36PM (1/22/2008)
I had a 914 back in the early 90s, like 92-94 ish, and even back then people were converting them to electric cars. That's like 16 years ago.
Just sayin' is all. If anyone is interested in tracking that info down, there was a magazine (pre-internet) called "Mid Engine Views" that did a whole issue on electric 914s, probably about 1993 ish.
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Dave 7:13PM (1/22/2008)
As a fan of lightweight cars, it hurts me to read about a 914 with a 1200 lb battery pack.
Lets hope that EEStor or some similarly cost effective lightweight technology materializes.
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philmcneal 8:08PM (1/22/2008)
hahahaha the jetson type of sound makes me laugh. Currently near my school there is a EV conversion course for 300 bucks plus 700 bucks deposit which you will get back once you built the car and sold it. The course is only two weekends worth so its not that bad in terms of learning how to build one yourself!
at least my prius electric motor sounds quieter than that ;)
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VicksBehrG 10:36PM (1/22/2008)
Hum...1200 pounds seems alot for the air cooled 914. I'm a long time VeeDuber...so not opposed, but just this gets me thinking about all the Pontiac Fieros out there. The Iron Duke engine had to be heavy, and there's a HUGE center divide....for whatever....
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