# VERY rare SAAB -> EV conversion vintage videos



## BenNelson (Jul 27, 2007)

Cool videos!

I had never heard of a Saab Sonett until a few weeks ago.

Somebody contacted me about the forklift I was selling. (The one I bought to steal the electric motors and controls from)

When I told him what I was doing for an electric vehicle conversion, he said he might have a car for me - a '73 Saab Sonett!

I didn't think much of it at first (he sounded kinda crazy on the phone...) but I looked up some info on the car. Very cool looking and very light! Perfect for an EV.

This guy did tell me that his is stored in a pole barn, and part of the roof fell in on it. I have no idea where I would get a new windshield for a Sonett.

I have settled on a Geo Metro for my first car EV conversion, but I think I will have that Sonett in the back of my mind for a while.

-Ben

PS: I am watching the longest of those videos right now. At 33 minutes 45 seconds into the video - the one guy says "converting that into dollars, it gets 300 MPG."
That's the same way I have been calculating a MPG equivelant for my motorcycle - and I also got 300 MPG!


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## demolay rules (Feb 28, 2008)

On the tesla roadster site (www.teslamotors.com) it states that the car is 120 mpg equivalent, but I don't think they do it by cost. I always thought they used the energy densities of electricity/lb and gas/lb and compared them.


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## Wirecutter (Jul 26, 2007)

When I was a kid, someone in my neighborhood had one of those Saabs. IIRC, it's a great candidate for an EV conversion for another reason...

Early Saabs had 2-stroke engines! Filthy! Remember the blue smoke from those old outboard motors? Not to mention chain saws and weed whackers. Yuck.

I don't know if that particular car was old enough to be one of the real stinkers, but it's possible.

-Mark


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## saab96 (Mar 19, 2008)

Wirecutter said:


> When I was a kid, someone in my neighborhood had one of those Saabs. IIRC, it's a great candidate for an EV conversion for another reason...
> 
> Early Saabs had 2-stroke engines! Filthy! Remember the blue smoke from those old outboard motors? Not to mention chain saws and weed whackers. Yuck.
> 
> ...


They were definitely off of the 2-stroke engines by the 70s. They were using the oddball V4s (ironically also used for forklifts like EV motors). I intend to convert a silver model 96 that looks almost like this one:

http://www.saabhistory.com/2007/12/17/a-1972-saab-96-electric-vehicle/


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