Moving forward, now that the MEVP is practically finished, we are working on upgrading Azul’s car. His car is a 1980 Renault LeCar, also known as “The Lectric Leopard”, whch is an early production electric car, converted by U.S. ElectriCar, Athol, MA. This car never had a gasoline engine, so it can be considered a true EV.

From the factory, this car has a  Prestolite MTA-4001 Series Wound DC motor driving the original 4-speed manual tranny and has no Controller. It actually has a 2-step contactor (24/48 Volt). It’s powered by 16 6 Volt, Flooded lead-acid batteries, for a total system Voltage of 48 Volts. The charger is the original 110 VAC 48 VDC with manual timer. Very cool old stuff and it all works. He gets good range (50 miles, but he has done up to 60) but it need more power to safely ride Miami’s highways…. that means without getting rear ended.

This is a really cool car, and Azul has restored it to a near mint condition. He helped us A LOT in the development of the MEVP1, so now we are helping him upgrade his car. We are going to advance the motor to put more voltage though it, put a new battery setup, a Curtis controller, pot box, new charger, DC-DC converter and a new vacuum pump. This is going to be a cool restoration/update project.

Stay tuned for updates!!! Let the MEVP2 begin…..