I had my Fiat 500 Electric until 2017 when the lease was up, and it was hard to part with that mighty golf cart. In hindsight, I probably could have afforded the Tesla, instead of the Fiat, because I spent a fortune on tires over those 3 years on that torque-steering little devil. Well, it would take another 2 years of saving and waiting for me to start looking for another EV to replace the Fiat.
Don’t Leave Just Yet
My search for an EV started in an interesting way in May of 2019. I originally started inquiring about the costs and timeline to convert my 1963 Dodge Dart to an EV. Haha, wait! Don’t leave my blog yet, bear with me. It’s not quite as sacrilegious as it sounds. I’ll write about my Dart in another post and lay out some details for you. My Dart is a little different than your average Dart, I added a lot of tech on it in the early 2000’s (remote start, Bluetooth stereo, power trunk, 2-way transceiver alarm, etc.) but it looks completely stock inside and out.
Al Bundy Would be Proud
I was fine with the idea of converting my Dart because it would allow me to keep my 2011 Dodge Challenger and range really wasn’t a concern for me. If I could get around 100 miles per charge with it, it would be perfect for me…and it would be way faster, reliable and just awesome than the 130hp built-out slant 6 I currently have. So, it wouldn’t be a step backward, it would be a way to really set my Dart apart. Sounded like a cool idea at the time.
“Bwahahaha!” Click!... “Hello? Hello? Hello?”
I reached out to several companies here on the West Coast and the response to my conversion questions were about what you’d expect; either raucous laughter on the other end of the phone after they hung up, or just straight dial tone. Not quite what I was hoping for. I assumed that, with all the rolled Teslas and Bolts out there, it wasn’t an entirely crazy request, apparently, I was wrong. I did get one solid quote, it would cost a minimum of $75k and they couldn’t get to it for at least a year. Needless to say, it’s a Dodge Dart…haha, investing $50k in my $3k car wasn’t something I could sell to my wife, no matter how creative my math or convoluted my logic.
A Schmo Like Me
Well, I officially gave up on my ludicrous idea of turning my classic Dodge Dart into a 500hp EV powerhouse. I tried at least. After that brief interlude with insanity I decided to go a more practical route. I looked into leases for Fiats, Bolts, the newly redesigned Leaf and a few other options. As I looked around I realized they weren’t as economical as they were when I leased my tire hungry Fiat for $100 a month. I could get used ones on the cheap, like less than $8k for a used Fiat, but it just didn’t appeal to me. I was concerned that Karma would deal me a used Fiat owned by some tire shredding schmo like me and I’d end up with a 3,500lb lawn ornament when the batteries died, or the motor blew.
The search would have to continue.
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