ESCONDIDO: Converted VW 'kicks gas'
Firefighter turns aging Beetle into electric car
By COLLEEN MENSCHING - Staff Writer | ∞
Escondido resident Jeremy Good converted his orange 1971 Volkswagen Super Beetle into an electric car. (Photo by Colleen Mensching - Staff Photographer) 
Jeremy Good's electric car is equipped with a 72-volt battery system. (Photo by Colleen Mensching - Staff Photographer) ESCONDIDO ---- Jeremy Good hasn't paid for gas in two months.
Just as gas prices were hitting record highs in San Diego County, the Escondido resident was converting his orange 1971 Volkswagen Super Beetle into an electric car.
"It's been like getting a pay raise," said Good, who estimated the project cost less than $5,000, including the price of the Beetle.
Going electric is just one way motorists are coping with high fuel prices. Even with recent decreases, the national average for a gallon of gas is nearly a dollar more than it was a year ago.
Good's electric car is equipped with a 72-volt battery system that is connected to a 40-horsepower motor that quietly clicks on when Good turns the key.
Fully charged, the batteries power the car for about 50 miles at an estimated cost of 2 cents per mile, Good said. He said he expects to spend about $1,000 to replace those batteries every two or three years, a cost that is far lower than the price of gas needed each year to power a large truck.
Over the Labor Day weekend, the average price for a gallon of unleaded gas hovered around $3.85; it peaked at $4.65 cents per gallon in June.
The Beetle has gone up to about 55 mph, but it was never intended to be a freeway vehicle after the conversion, Good said.
He said he has a truck for longer drives, but only filled it up two months ago because he was afraid gas prices would rise even higher. He hasn't paid for gas since.
The only thing behind the fuel door of his Beetle is a three-pronged plug that fits into the average wall socket.
Good said he was inspired by the movie "Who Killed the Electric Car?" The 2006 documentary blamed political influences for keeping electric cars from drivers, even after General Motors released an electric model in the 1990s.
"It really opens your eyes," Good said of the movie. "They had electric cars in the '90s and they could have produced them, but they didn't."
Eventually, Good turned to the Internet to help him make his electric car. He said he paid $3,000 for a conversion kit from the Web site http://e-volks.com.
After spending an additional $900 on the car, $700 for the batteries, and the cost of a bumper sticker that says "Electric cars kick gas," Good finished the job in just three days.
A firefighter, Good said he took an auto shop class in high school, but has no special mechanical or electrical training.
"It's even more ironic that I, with no special training, can do this myself, but that car manufacturers are not making this available," he said.
Joseph Gottlieb, head of Escondido-based Electra-City Motors, said he isn't surprised.
"If you're waiting for the big manufacturers to make you an electric car, you're going to be waiting a long time," said Gottlieb, whose company has sold electric cars and now focuses on gas-to-electric conversions.
Gottlieb said manufacturers have no strong financial incentives to make electric cars.
Even for drivers, the economic benefits may be limited, Gottlieb said. Buying a new electric car, or converting to one that is large and powerful, can cost as much as some gas-powered cars ---- a cost that driving gas-free isn't likely to cancel out, he said.
But even a pricier electric car will appeal to someone who is concerned by hazards to the environment or dependency on foreign oil, Gottlieb said.
And Electra-City customers still appear to be influenced by the costs at corner service stations.
"Our business pretty much ebbs and flows right with the price of gas," he said.
Good said he knows his Super Beetle isn't for everyone, but it's perfect for people who mostly drive on local city streets.
"There are whole families that work here and live here and never have to leave the city," he said.
Contact staff writer Colleen Mensching at (760) 739-6675 or cmensching@nctimes.com.
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Excellent wrote on Sep 2, 2008 4:23 PM:I am converting a VW RAbbit which will have 18 batteries for a total 144 volts, trust me, it flies, no problem on the freeway. The motor in the car shown is not 40 hp, but HP means little in the electric car world, they rate them in torque pounds. Reason you do not need a high horsepower motor in an eletric car is because you get max torque at 0 RPM, something impossible in a gas engine. It takes very little to move a car down the road once it gets going, and electric cars need very little to get them going because of the high torque at stall. Electric cars make a lot of sense, their time is coming
Bill wrote on Sep 2, 2008 4:34 PM:Way to go Jeremy!
EPiC wrote on Sep 2, 2008 7:11 PM:I wonder when they will make these conversions illegal. Get it while you can.
Bill One wrote on Sep 2, 2008 8:15 PM:I think this is pretty cool. I mean the car doesn't go far enough for me, but I like the idea. Also, what does it cost to charge it up?
Gasirita wrote on Sep 2, 2008 8:21 PM:Must be great. I get gas regularly. I didn't know that it was worth so much.
Ask wrote on Sep 2, 2008 8:47 PM:Thats all we need, cars in the slow lane going 50
Greg in Oceanside wrote on Sep 2, 2008 9:36 PM:'Excellent' is completely correct. While it's expensive and is built on the Lotus Elise chassis, there's a car on the market, that's 100% electric, and manufactured here in CA by Tesla Motors that proves the point. In fact it'll do 0-60 in 3.9 seconds, costs less than 2 cents per mile, and can operate for about 220 miles between charges.
I have faith in American ingenuity and resolve and feel we're ready, willing, and able to move this technology into mainstream auto markets.
Doing the same thing wrote on Sep 3, 2008 8:53 AM:I'm gearing up to convert my '74 Super Beetle to electric, too. I just need it to get from home to the train station. From there it's Metrolink to work.
The only catch is that I'd like to modify mine to charge using the Magna charge system used in the old Rav4 EV days.
Billy wrote on Sep 3, 2008 9:18 AM:The period was 1960-62. My job was Flight line supervisor of a crew that did Line Maintenance of eight F8U Fighters at Naval Air Station Pax River, MD. We tested just about every new product that might be used in Naval Aviation.
There came a time when I was to perform a test on my own. I was assigned to test a Cushman electric powered flatbed. At that time the flat beds we used were gasoline powered. I was to use the flat in my daily duties as I would a gasoline powered flatbed, the difference being I had the electric flatbed for my personal use. Nobody but me was to use it, and I had to write a report once a week on its performance.
It was a honey. the power never dropped off. I plugged it in during lunch usually. I hauled equipment and personnel around in it for about three months if memory serves.
There came a time that Ike, the president of the United States, came to Pax River to play golf. I was ordered to surrender the flatbed to the base golf course personnel for the weekend so Ike could use it. That was the last I saw of it, except now and then when driving past the golf course I would see a high ranking officer using it. It was no longer bright yellow, the color of flight line ground support equipment. They had painted it Navy grey and it had a blue stripped canopy. It wasn't so much that it was electric, I don't think. They had to have there Butts setting on the seat where Ike had sit. Yes, they are that way. I felt good about it because even Ike was driving a second-hand cart.
The point is that the technology has been around for than 50 years and we just ignored it until now. I wonder if the axiom that auto manufactures and oil companies kill off any new product that might impact their bottom lies is true.
Scotticus wrote on Sep 3, 2008 9:39 AM:Ask: Maybe you haven't noticed, but most people have slowed down, with the majority of people driving 55-60 mph in the slow lane now in an effort to save gas. Driving slower does save a lot of gas and money, with the addition of just a few minutes more of travel time added to the average commute. A slow lane for efficient vehicles may well be an excellent idea.
Umm.. wrote on Sep 3, 2008 10:20 AM:I want to convert an '87 Mitsubishi Mighty Max. Someone keeps trying to talk me out of it, the truck has a blown motor. I can get a replacement motor for about $600.. it's just a beater. The question I've yet to find facts for is how much is your electric bill, how long can the vehicle sit between charges if it's not driven. Etc. the thing wouldn't go too far out from the coastal North County area, and you always need a halfway point unless you have a power point someplace. What about a trickle charge solar panel on the roof? Is it actually worth it?
Yeah Ask wrote on Sep 3, 2008 11:41 AM:That is exactly what we need. You can always just pass them if you're in such a hurry.
Ask wrote on Sep 3, 2008 12:54 PM:Scotticus: Driving 55-60 is only going to endanger lives and back traffic up.
If a car cannot maintain the legal speed on the freeway, it cannot and shouldnot be on the freeway.
QUESTION TO JEREMY wrote on Sep 3, 2008 1:53 PM:Jeremy, what have you done to safely vent your batteries when recharging. Batteries give off hydrogen gas when rechaging.
I have seen 3 batterys explode in my lifetime. they start with a little sissel at first followed by big bang, throughs asid allover everthing. I would not want a bunch of them go off in my home garage.
Interesting you should mention General MOTORS EFFORT IN THE 90'S.The saturn dealer in Escondido had one on display for several mounths,It was there for so long I wondered it it had found a permanent home at the dealer.
We have a consumer driven economy.If enough people want an electric and are willing to the price, some manufacture will bring them to market.
to ask wrote on Sep 3, 2008 2:55 PM:Most people would think that slower traffic would slow things down but if common sense serves right.. we would probably have less fatal accidents because people will have more time to think before slamming on their brakes and so less congestion due to more cautious drivers means less accidents, and we know how much we love sitting in bumper to bumper traffic when some knuckle brainiac speed demon gets too impatient and hits someone.. So i praise all those folks who are concerned with their gas gauges.. Bring back the old speed limits to 55 i say.
Come on... wrote on Sep 3, 2008 4:10 PM:What a loser!!
Gas prices will go below $3 in the next year and we'll be running this guy over in our XL SUV's!!!
Ask wrote on Sep 3, 2008 4:23 PM:Your logic is faulty. Speed limit will never go back to 65. Better odds on Chargers or Padres being a championship team than reducing highway speeds.
Just to let you know, wether you are going 65 or 55, there is no time to think, its about reaction.
Since you're so gung ho on electic cars, when are you going to let us build more power plants to charge up all the cars?
Julie wrote on Sep 3, 2008 6:52 PM:I think this is genius! If only more people took the initiative to make a difference we might have a fighting chance!
burt wrote on Sep 3, 2008 10:01 PM:This is the way of the future. Thanks to those brave enough to take the heat from the portion of the population like Ask who can't think past their own boundaries and self interests.
San Diego has Sun like other places have oil. Solar power to drive electric cars makes good sense in enough cases to make a difference in our dependence on oil we don't own. It doesn't have to work for everyone to be a good idea.
Dave wrote on Sep 7, 2008 11:53 PM:Ask: I don't know if you've ever noticed this thing called a speed limit sign? It says: Maximum Speed 65 mph and then another shortly after it which says Maximum Speed 55 mph for trucks with 3 axles or when towing a trailer.
So there is already a lot of LEGAL traffic on the freeways today in California travelling at 55mph (and often slower going up hills).
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