On 16 Jan 2013 at 19:54, Jukka Järvinen wrote:
> soon. ;)
Wait, I've seen that word somewhere before.
Oh yeah, now I remember.
"When can you buy a Voltair? Soon. [Robert] Aronson plans to make 300 EFP
Electrics by June; they'll sell for $10,000. The Voltair will come after
that."
-- Joseph Zmuda, Popular Science, February 1971
Bob Aronson was the man behind the Mars Electrics (Renault-based lead
sleds). The EFP Electric was a converted AMC Hornet. As for the price,
$10,000 was a pretty substantial chunk of change 40+ years ago. A 1971
Corvette sold for $5,496.
Aronson got PS to do an article on his Voltair, based entirely on a clay
model of the car. The Voltair was actually a nice-looking idea - a swoopy
EV coupe. It was supposed to deliver a 20 minute recharge, 300 miles of
range, and 90 mph top speed. It was to be fitted with tri-polar lead cobalt
batteries and a fuel cell range extender.
The quotation above notwithstanding, it never got beyond the clay model
stage.
Nor has the Silver Volt, which he still advertises, ever been produced in
serious quantities. The Silver Volt was based on thinly disguised GM
gliders. He built 14 of them in 1980. Last I heard, he still had 5 in his
warehouse. I'm sure he'd be glad to sell you one, if you you really want a
30+ year old converted Chevy Malibu and you cross his palm with silver.
BTW, if the Voltair's features - fast-charging "tri-polar" batteries and
fuel cell range extenders - sound familiar, it's because Aronson is still
talking about them over 40 years later.
Aronson is one of the venerables in the EV world. But for all his dreams,
from what I can tell, the Mars Electrics - sold to utility companies - are
as close as he's ever gotten to a real commercial product. Pity.
David Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA
EVDL Administrator
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