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Electric Bugeye

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I've gotta say I admire the work he's done.
It seems he has really thought out some of the issues and is building in some extra safety, and it works too!

Hope he never needs a defroster though.
 
That is really cool...I hope Kim gets a look at this! I would really like to know more about it, such as OA weight, top speed, range, how smooth is shifting, how long to re-charge, etc., etc.!:thumbsup:
 
Somebody at the LotO banquet was thinking out loud about doing exactly that to a Bugeye - can't remember who though....
 
That had to be Kim, Tony!!! :thumbsup: I think he already has a tub that he wants to use for that purpose!!!
 
Nope, it was the guy that had the Vespa.
 
Well there you go Tony!! I wasn't there and was just guessing since Kim has posted about doing that a few times!
 
I do Like that setup. Looks like Trojan 1205 Batteries. (Nice amount of capacity) Im sure that on Flat ground that things gotta be cabaple of nearly 100 miles at no load. Through in some hills and some stop and go traffic and you may get 40 good miles out of it. Surely enough for around town driving.
 
Hey, this looks cool. I would want to weld a pan and get those batteries as low as possible in the frame though, so it is more stable. Got 3 ideas right now. Electric, electric with a small motorcycle engine for highway and recharge, or steam power. Just consideration. Of course, those weiland blowers on a 1275 look real fun too. First things first. Got to go with an electric fan for my midget that is on the road. I learned that it pulls good and rides well at 2300 rpms @50 mph, but in a hot climate like MO the fan does not pull enough air through with the lower rpms. Also I am going to experiment with some extra cooling by running 1/2 inch tubing to the rear and adding some type or small radiator up in the differential area. This should help with cooling and remove some of the heat from the engine compartment. Also still thinking about an A/C unit of some kind for the midget.
 
NICE! :thumbsup:

I especially like that the plug-in is located under the fuel cap! :laugh:

My only concern would be the weight & the CG. I'd be curious to know what the new weight of the complete car is, & whether or not the CG has moved higher.
I'd love to know what the 0-60 time now is, & I'd like to see if handling has been impacted.....

There are more modern batteries now available that would be smaller & lighter. This would allow the CG to be lowered & should help to retain some storage room. (I'd try to locate the rear batteries as low as possible in the trunk, like where a fuel cell would be...)

These next-gen batteries are being aggresively developed by Johnson Controls & others, in support of the Hybrids and other next-gen cars. Right now these batteries are a bit pricey, BUT once they begin to be mass-produced the price should drop considerably!

Overall a very nice update to an old classic. It will be good to see how it progresses over time.

One more thought....
Kind of ironic that a car originally plagued by "Lucas, the prince of darkness" is now completely electric!! :winner1:

-Bear-
 
A/C for a Spridget?!?

Isn't that supposed to be accomplished by installing a couple of cupholders for your ice-cold cans of British beer??

(of course, I'm not suggesting/endorsing Drinking & Driving...)

:cheers:

-Bear-
 
Thanks for the nice comments. Since I live in Idaho, I do need defrosters. I mounted two electric defrosters (used in semi cabs), one under each defrost vents.

Also, I am going to install electric seat heaters in the seats when I refinish them.
 
Hi,

I didn't show it in my first video but I did take the original Sprite gas tank and cut it into four sections. Then I spaced out the piece to make a pan large enough for the batteries and rack to fit into. Then I cut a hole in the trunk and welded the "gas tank" on to the bottom of the trunk so that the batteries sit as low as possible and the tank looks almost stock from te back.

Similarly I cut the top of the axle tunnel to lower the batteries behind te seats as low as possible. I also lowered the trany and motor as low as possible.

So far it seems to ride pretty nice with the "rally" springs on the front and rear.

One final note, I extended my frame reinforcements back to the rear bumper mounts so that in the future I can install a trailer hitch to pull a small trailer with a propane powered DC generator for extended trips. Then it would be a "plugin/hybrid"
 
Hi Bear,

I think the total weight increase will be about 400-450 pounds, mostly towards the back. So far it rides better than I thought.

I did go with the lead-acid batteries for my first battery pack mainly because of the price, but also because they are currently the most enviromentally friendy. I hope that when I need to replace the battery pack, about 5-10 years from now, there will be better options. My battery racks are modular so that I can remove some of them if I don't need them in the future.

I also had the same thought as you about the "electrical history" of the Lucas systems! I hope that all gremlims have been designed out.
 
So, what is your break even point? I been looking into it and for straight electric I think I could convert for around $3000 total. Even at today's gas prices I figure I would have to get 30,000 miles out of it just to go the same miles as a regular gas spridget averaging around 30 mpg if I bought gas with the 3K. What is the life span of the batteries? That is one question I have, also I know some batteries are able to be cleaned out and reused, like th big batteries in submarines that pretty much last the life of the boat with the proper treatment.
 
Mark - Welcome to the forum!

It's great to have you here as a member, I'll bet you know a lot about the car now that you have gone as far as you have. Do you have any prior history with Spridgets?

Like I said before, I admire your work and the thought you have put into some of the challenging aspects of the conversion. Like the ride height and the weight distribution.

I agree, the future should bring lighter more powerful batteries. It's great to see people like you using what is available now though.
 
Hi Kim,

There definitely will be no break even point on my project. The conversion part of my project totals about $7000, batteries included. Building a car out of the tub and few pieces I had to start with is costing me much more than the conversion.

Building an electric car has been a dream of mine since I was a teenager in the 70s reading Popular Mechanics and Popular Science, during the last big gas crisis.

I got the pieces of the Sprite in the early 80s in exchange for some work I did on a friend's car. I tried to start the project many times over the years but school, family, work, money, etc, kept it on the back burner. I finally got the car out of storage, and into the garage about a year ago.

The batteries should be good for about 1000 full charge cycles. I do know if they can be "rebuilt" by an average user, but they are definitely fully recyclable.
 
EVSpriteGuy said:
Hi Kim,

There definitely will be no break even point on my project. The conversion part of my project totals about $7000, batteries included. Building a car out of the tub and few pieces I had to start with is costing me much more than the conversion.

Building an electric car has been a dream of mine since I was a teenager in the 70s reading Popular Mechanics and Popular Science, during the last big gas crisis.

I got the pieces of the Sprite in the early 80s in exchange for some work I did on a friend's car. I tried to start the project many times over the years but school, family, work, money, etc, kept it on the back burner. I finally got the car out of storage, and into the garage about a year ago.

The batteries should be good for about 1000 full charge cycles. I do know if they can be "rebuilt" by an average user, but they are definitely fully recyclable.
Click to expand...
Hey, that is great. You never know, with the way gas is going up you may break even yet. We all got more in these things than we admit, gas or electric. I got a junker rubber bumpered midget to convert into something when I get a chance, just not sure how it will be powered yet.
 
Mark, if you don't keep us updated, inclucing pics, we are going to have the next meet in your front yard.
 
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