eBay find of the day: restored Solectria Force. Now with video!
Filed under: EV/Plug-in
You might look at the above picture and say to yourself, "Hey look, it's a Geo Metro!". You'd be wrong. Or at least, partly wrong (or partly right depending on whether you're a glass-half-full kind of person) because this, my friends, is a rare Solectria Force. Restored and upgraded with 11 Deka sealed gel cell batteries, a new Zivan charger, a PakTrackr monitoring system and way too many other items to list. This vehicle has about a 40 mile range and is capable of 55 mph - though the seller doesn't consider it a very good highway car because of, well, "modest" acceleration. On the plus side, it has air conditioning so traveling about town would be comfortable in the summer heat. Bidding starts at $9,000 if you want to say goodbye to gasoline.
Hit the jump to take a guided video tour of this piece of automotive history.
[Source: eBay / YouTube]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-19-2008 @ 8:05AM
Phil L. said...
Hmmm - What happened? The eBay link is dead. It didn't show up after some quick searches, either. Something happen to it?
However, there is a nice conversion of a Nissan 200SX that still has a few days left. It's eBay item 140216013865
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3-19-2008 @ 8:19AM
Domenick Yoney said...
Aaack! That's not supposed to happen. It seems as if the offer has been withdrawn. I 'll look into it. In the meantime, here's another nice Solectria in the form of a pickup truck.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Other-Makes-Chevrolet-S-10-convert-144V-1994-Solectria-E-10-electric-truck_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ6472QQihZ006QQitemZ160219070358QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW
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3-19-2008 @ 9:06AM
Phil L. said...
Sadly, this isn't the first time I've seen "funny" things happen with EV auctions on eBay. If the car sold locally before the auction ended, it'd at least be nice if the item said so.
The Solectria trucks show up for sale far more frequently than the cars (fewer of them were made). Small pickups make for an easier conversion project - but lack of passenger space means I'm still hoping for a small EV sedan.
Reply
3-20-2008 @ 2:46PM
Phil L. said...
Wait: It's back!
Apparently, eBay didn't like the way the vehicle's salvage title was handled in the original auction. Here's the new auction:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Other-Makes-Solectria-Force-Electric-Car-Solectria-Force-Electric-Car-Restored-Updated-RELISTED_W0QQitemZ250227458520
Reply
3-24-2008 @ 1:15PM
Phil L. said...
Oh well...
After 9 bids peaking out at $9600, the auction closed without meeting reserve (which wasn't disclosed - and likely well above the final bid).
The Nissan 200SX auction I noted above ultimately met the same fate - but the starting price must have scared everyone away: no bidders.
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3-31-2008 @ 9:23PM
Arvind said...
Just came across this. What a find-this may have been one of the first cars we ever built at Solectria--it predates me, and when I started at Solectria there were only 4 of us and we had shipped a total of 10 cars.
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