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Electric 1978 Super Beetle Convertible on 2040-cars

Year:1978 Mileage:37750
Location:

Boulder, Colorado, United States

Boulder, Colorado, United States
Advertising:
Body Type:Convertible
Vehicle Title:Clear
Fuel Type:Electric
Engine:Electric
For Sale By:Private Seller
Year: 1978
Mileage: 37,750
Make: Volkswagen
Model: Beetle - Classic
Trim: Convertible
Drive Type: Electric
Condition: UsedA vehicle is considered used if it has been registered and issued a title. Used vehicles have had at least one previous owner. The condition of the exterior, interior and engine can vary depending on the vehicle's history. See the seller's listing for full details and description of any imperfections.Seller Notes:"Excellent condition"

1978 VW Beetle Convertible converted to electric power!


This car is in excellent condition. It was a California car when I bought it with no rust or body damage, and since then I've had it painted and put in a new interior, all in two-tone black and tan.  It has a new top, new tires, rebuilt front suspension, upgraded rear suspension, and 10 new batteries. It is a very cool-looking, sharp car that gets compliments from everyone--college guys to housewives, everyone loves this car.


I bought the electric kit from e-volks.com. It is a 120 volt system, and I just put in ten brand-new deep cycle marine batteries--I have receipts and have only driven it about 10 miles since. There are eleven, 12-volt batteries total. One of them works all the electrics--(headlights, etc.), and the others power the motor. 8 are where the back seat used to be and 3 are in the front trunk. I've had the suspension upgraded to handle the weight, and the car drives and handles well. The main batteries are deep cycle marine type lead acid. It has two on-board chargers--one programmable for the main battery pack, and a smaller charger for the accessory battery. Plug the car in and all batteries are charged at the same time. I plug it in at night and in the morning it's ready to go with a full charge.



Range is about 20 miles or so until you're down to a 50% charge. Top speed is about 60 mph, but the car is happiest in the 40-50 mph range. This car really works well as an urban runabout--I feel like it has better power and pickup than it did when it was gas, at least up to about 40 mph or so. I've had a lot of fun driving it since I built it a few years ago--until recently it was my daily-driver. It's given me 5000 trouble-free miles, but keep in mind that I built it in my garage from a kit and therefore don't guarantee or warranty anything. I'd like it to be sold to an electric-car enthusiast who understands what this car is about and how to care for it.


I've put about $15k into it, but am willing to sell it for much less. I'm only selling it because I bought a new Chevy Volt. Ask me anything and I'll do my best to answer!




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Auto blog

VW makes $23K on every Porsche sold, more than Bentley or Lamborghini

Fri, 14 Mar 2014

It's a good time to be in the luxury car business. In Volkswagen Group's financial report for the 2013 fiscal year, it is revealed that that Porsche enjoyed an operating margin of 18 percent. That means the Stuttgart brand made on average about $23,200 per car sold, according to BusinessWeek. Bentley wasn't far behind, and Audi (which was combined with Lamborghini) posted a 10.1 percent margin. This compares to only around 2.9 percent for the Volkswagen brand.
"Luxury brands are on fire," said Dave Sullivan, an industry analyst at AutoPacific. He said that the average profit margin is between six and eight percent. Brands like Porsche and Bentley have the benefit of competing in rarefied markets. Buyers looking at one their vehicles have fewer models to shop against and don't care as much about price. They can also charge more for options, which further boosts income, according to BusinessWeek.
In a way, we should be more impressed by the continued success from Audi. Its models generally have direct competitors in every segment from the other premium automakers. Plus, their buyers aren't the captains of industry who are shopping for a Bentley. Still, the Four Rings is leading rivals in sales so far this year.

VW gets help from Daimler to deal with VW scandal

Sun, Oct 18 2015

Volkswagen has hired Christine Hohmann-Dennhardt, a compliance officer, away from Daimler. Normally, this wouldn't be particularly big news. The reason you might care is summed up rather succinctly by Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, director of the Center for Automotive Research at the University of Duisburg-Essen, who said that Hohmann-Dennhardt is being tasked with helping the entire German automobile industry "clean up the collateral damage from the diesel deceit." Hohmann-Dennhardt had to be released early from her contract with Daimler in order to take on this difficult role with an inter-country rival. VW Chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch thanked "Daimler AG for agreeing to our request to the early termination of Dr. Hohmann-Dennhardt's contract." What makes this move even more interesting is that Daimler and Volkswagen have had a terse relationship in recent years due to the poaching of important employees from one side to the other. According to Bloomberg, Hohmann-Dennhardt's contract with Daimler had been secured through February of 2017, but with her early release, she will start her new role on VW's board of management in January of 2016. Daimler, for its part, released a statement suggesting the decision was made "in the interests of the good corporate governance of the German automotive industry." Prior to her employment at Daimler, Hohmann-Dennhardt served for 11 years as a judge. Reading between the lines, it seems VW's massive corporate scandal has rocked the German auto industry to its core. Enough so, in fact, that Daimler would be willing to let go of a highly talented and well-respected executive – the first woman ever appointed to the German automaker's board – who had served since there since 2011. Feel free to read through VW's entire statement, below. Related Video: Dr. Christine Hohmann-Dennhardt to move to Volkswagen AG in 2016 as Board Member for Integrity and Legal Affairs Daimler AG agrees to move of Board Member for Integrity and Legal Affairs to Volkswagen AG The Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen AG, Hans Dieter Potsch, has requested the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Daimler AG, Dr. Manfred Bischoff, to agree to the early termination of the contract with Dr. Christine Hohmann-Dennhardt, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG for Integrity and Legal Affairs, which runs until February 28, 2017. She is to join the Volkswagen Group as of January 1, 2016 as the Board Member for Integrity and Legal Affairs.

VW's Winterkorn tells 20,000 staffers of big cost-cutting plans

Thu, 24 Jul 2014

During a gathering of 20,000 Volkswagen Group employees at company headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany on Wednesday, CEO Martin Winterkorn dropped a bombshell. The boss stated that the automaker isn't operating efficiently enough and admitted the company needs to radically start cutting back to raise its profit margins. To right the ship, Winterkorn has proposed killing off less profitable models and spending less on research and development.
According to Reuters, Winterkorn wants to raise the VW brand's profit margin from about 2.9 percent in 2013 to a target of 6 percent. To make that possible, his plan amounts to increasing cost cutting until Volkswagen reaches about 5 billion euros ($6.7 billion) per year to get things back in order. "Over the short-term, we urgently need more efficiency and higher profit," the CEO said during his speech, according to Reuters.
However, Winterkorn can't make these decisions unilaterally. Volkswagen's works council also has a seat on the supervisory board to represent laborers, and it isn't likely to take the proposed cuts sitting down.