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Corolla Conversions
http://www.sahkoautot.fi/eng:summary
A coworker sent me an article about this program today. It is nothing really new, buying old cars, coverting them to electric or hybrid and then resell them at an elevated price. Not exactly ground breaking. But, they claim that the cost with a late model Corolla bought in bulk can be converted for roughly the price of a brand new vehicle. That is cool.
Regrettably, I've never been to Finland, and definitely do not know the car buying process there, but assuming it is similar to the process here, the trick that I could see would be to work with a financing group to ensure that you can get the same payments as a brand new vehicle. From my experience, it's the monthly payment, not the end price that is the big issue when purchasing a vehicle, so if they are able to get the financing to work, then they have the ability to truly compete with regular buyers, not just those of us who are willing to pay a premium for electric vehicles.
Financing aside, it's a great project. Personally, I love converting and maintaining electrics. I enjoy working on cars anyway, but electrics offer some really interesting options that ICE's can't even consider. Concepts like traction control, ABS and all-wheel drive become software functions, with hub-mounted motors. Weight and balance can be adjusted on the fly rather easily, and the layout we currently know and love in a car, hood - passenger compartment - trunk , is no longer a necessary design element.
I'm very excited to see electrics beginning to be recognized as a viable option in other parts of the world. Unfortunately, I believe that they will be slow to move on this side of the pond. We love our big cars that we can use for everything. People are not interested in multiple cars, they want the one large SUV that is capable of hauling the family, pulling the boat and, out of pure ego, being able to climb Kilimanjaro - just in case.
A coworker sent me an article about this program today. It is nothing really new, buying old cars, coverting them to electric or hybrid and then resell them at an elevated price. Not exactly ground breaking. But, they claim that the cost with a late model Corolla bought in bulk can be converted for roughly the price of a brand new vehicle. That is cool.
Regrettably, I've never been to Finland, and definitely do not know the car buying process there, but assuming it is similar to the process here, the trick that I could see would be to work with a financing group to ensure that you can get the same payments as a brand new vehicle. From my experience, it's the monthly payment, not the end price that is the big issue when purchasing a vehicle, so if they are able to get the financing to work, then they have the ability to truly compete with regular buyers, not just those of us who are willing to pay a premium for electric vehicles.
Financing aside, it's a great project. Personally, I love converting and maintaining electrics. I enjoy working on cars anyway, but electrics offer some really interesting options that ICE's can't even consider. Concepts like traction control, ABS and all-wheel drive become software functions, with hub-mounted motors. Weight and balance can be adjusted on the fly rather easily, and the layout we currently know and love in a car, hood - passenger compartment - trunk , is no longer a necessary design element.
I'm very excited to see electrics beginning to be recognized as a viable option in other parts of the world. Unfortunately, I believe that they will be slow to move on this side of the pond. We love our big cars that we can use for everything. People are not interested in multiple cars, they want the one large SUV that is capable of hauling the family, pulling the boat and, out of pure ego, being able to climb Kilimanjaro - just in case.
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