Calendar Girl!

Now, I've never specified a gender for the Karmann Eclectric, but with those graceful curves, consternating circuits, and ten-year meandering path towards every day realiability, could the car be anything but female? If so, it's entirely appropriate that she's featured in the new wall calendar of the National Electric Drag Racing Association!
Not being a record holder, the Karmann Eclectric doesn't get a month to herself, but has the privilege of sharing June with the most exciting new conversion in the Northwest; the Delta Secondary School drag-racing electric pickup, built by high school students, and Canadian ones at that! (No offence there Casey, my favorite mother-in-law is a Canadian, and BC'er at that, eh!)

Buy my i, but why?

I've been enjoying the little i for a month now, and have put just below 1000 miles on 'er (including one week of zero use due to an ice storm). At that rate, just running errands and commuting at an average of 47 miles per day, i'd be on track for 17,000 miles per year! Pretty impressive for a grocery-getter. That's exactly the mission i and Mitsubishi intended for the i, but i want more... With the Electric Highway rapidly becoming a reality (DC Level III charging stations up and down Interstate 5 in CA, OR, WA and even BC), i'd really feel left out to have a car not capable of ChadeMo quick-charging for the odd excursion to Seattle.
SO, the little i-car is on the block, available for purchase to anyone, whether down the block or across the pond. I'm hoping that a cordial Canadian, a comely Carribean creature, or even a chilly Chicagoan who otherwise wouldn't have local opportunity to purchase this vehicle for many moons yet will step forward. I'm no tax advisor, but this may be a great opportunity for someone with less than $7500 in federal tax liability, such as a retiree or a nonprofit organization to get a nearly-new and entirely proven EV for way less than dealer cost. Interested parties are encouraged to send questions (or offers) to jray3 at aol dot com. The car is also listed on EBay, item# 190635141816.

duh-i-ssection

Okey dokey, there's plenty of pretty pictures of the i-car online, but nearly none of the business parts. So I'll hereby lift the lid to show what makes the car go.

Here's detail of the rare rear DeDion suspension, also used on the 1990's Ford Ranger EV. I don't fully comprehend the concept yet...

Next is a look at the motor and gearbox. Check out that big aluminum torque arm with vibration damper! The sealed boxes above are the battery charger and dc/dc converter. Notice the hose? I believe they're water cooled. You can hear the pump cycle during charging, a very different sound from the battery box blower.

Under the front hood, everything's neat, tidy and CLEAN.

Check out that easy-access brake system manifold over the electric booster. Just crying out for a line lock on the front circuits, eh? Nothing like a bubble-car burnout machine!

(also notice that formatting blog posts hasn't gotten any easier over the years. Thanks Google!)