Electric Car Conversion Robert Bucy Style

Enlarge Image Image Gallery Pictured is Fred Busy's electrically converted auto.  The conversion changes nothing of the outside appearance and the car is fully functional. PHOTO: MOTHER EARTH NEWS STAFF

OK, we've heard all the jokes about electric cars not having long enough extension cords, and listened to so-called authorities who pooh-pooh battery-powered commuter vehicles as "impractical". But down in the Lone Star State there's a man who's taken all the jibes in stride and come up with a truly viable means of converting any standard economy car — Vega, Volkswagen, Pinto, etc. — to electric power. Electric car conversion has come to Texas.

Robert G. Bucy started four years ago with an old Renault (junkyard variety). The first thing he did was to take out the car's engine — along with associated hardware, such as the radiator, muffler, gas tank, and so on — but he left in the transmission and kept the flywheel. Next, Bucy went looking for a suitable heavy-duty electric motor and found just what he needed in a 36-volt 200 ampere unit from a forklift. To provide power for the rig, Bob rounded up 16 used golf cart batteries of the 6-volt, 190-ampere-hour type.

After laying plywood down in the trunk and under the hood to hold the batteries (each of which weighs a hefty 60 pounds) Bucy then mated the motor to the salvaged flywheel, welded up some engine mount brackets, bolted things together, and in no time was driving the only electric-powered Renault in Dallas. (Or for that matter, all of Texas!)

Bucy's downright proud of his little automotive creation — because, among other reasons, it's truly road-worthy. "Most electric cars are actually golf carts with bodies molded to resemble an auto," Bucy maintains. "But with my Lectric Kar you have full suspension, gears, a clutch, and standard brakes.

How does the Bucy Kar perform? Well, it won't "burn out" at a stoplight, and the vehicle's range is limited to 30 miles at present, but the machine can cruise at up to 50 mph and it will carry Bob to work at a total fuel cost of only 1/2 cent per mile. With a 10-hp motor that's nearly always being run at capacity, the Lectric Kar is comparable in efficiency to a motorcycle (hence doesn't cost as much to operate as even the "ordinary" piston powered version of the same car).