Long Distances in my Legacy Conversion?

by Photodoc
(Illinois)

I have a '94 Subaru Legacy L wagon with right hand steering, all-wheel drive and an automatic on the floor. I use it on a 70-mile mail route with about 100 stops and several good size hills. I would LOVE to convert this car to electric. Is it practical? Anyone ever do it?

Hey, Doc -
Is it practical?
Well, with a 70 mile mail route that includes hills, you're pushing penny-pincher EV technology to the limit. Probably past the limit; )
This doesn't mean you can't do what you want to do, it just means you'll have to spend some money.

This Toyota pickup has an 85-mile range, including a few hills, and manages to do this with lead-acid golf cart batteries. It's got an AC system, lots of volts (320 volts), and uses 8 volt golf cart batteries, which are lighter but have to be replaced more often.

The automatic transmission...most experienced EV converters, but not all, would discourage you from using a donor car with an automatic transmission.
If your AT is computer-controlled, like all late-model cars tend to be, you can teach it to adjust to its new electric motor, and shift efficiently so that you don't lose a lot of range.

Nobody on the EV Photo Album seems to have converted a Legacy, but that doesn't mean it's not a good choice!

Cheers,
Lynne