Saturday, May 14, 2011

Standing on Shoulders

No path breaking here. PT Cruiser EV conversions have been done before. Here are some that are my inspiration:
At some point, I'll add a page on  evalbum.com for this project. I think it's a bit early just yet.

When deciding on any vehicle for conversions, there are always pros and cons. For the PT cruiser, here are a few of each:

Pros
  • Room for batteries beneath the floor. That means the entire cabin space is still available for passengers and cargo. (See Joe & Tom Huemann's conversion above to see how it is done).
  • Seats four adults comfortably - lots of leg and head room in both the front and back seats.
Cons
  • A bit on the heavy side ~3100 lbs. More weight means a bigger motor and more batteries, all else being the same. Chrysler isn't know for producing the most svelte of automobiles.
  • Aerodynamically challenged. CD = 0.40. Compare that to the 2011 Prius (0.25). All those fat fenders disturb the