I drove a Citicar for many years, could get 38 miles on a charge carrying a passenger and usually several pounds of stuff. Once I took two adults who needed a ride. That was with heavy lead acid batteries which are becoming obsolete for EV use. Before thinking about ruining the whole concept of the Citicar you might want to look into upgrading to lithium ion batteries, reduced weight with more power. I am attaching an old clipping showing some of my Citicars. They were what I drove in Las Vegas, worked great except in very cold weather. I don't know where you live but if you plan to drive on local streets you likely have to license the car. Since some of the small engines are highly polluting you might not be able to pass emission testing. Also, an ICE would reduce the value of the car if you want to sell it as most buyers want these cars as collectibles as well as for driving. The closer to original the better.
If you want more speed, get a different car. These are scary at anything more than 40 mph, as I discovered going downhill with a tailwind. Not much chance you could safely stop at a higher speed. Brakes are a weak point in these cars, they pull to the side even at slow speeds. Don't forget that these cars do not have new safety features like air bags and are much lighter than most cars on the road. If you crashed in one or were hit at high speed we would not hear from you again.
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On 3/18/2018 12:03 PM, Twongls twongls@... [C-Car] wrote:
I agree, what's the point of a gas burner? ?Over 20 mph is really a rough ride, I think one might need to completely redesign the suspension for greater velocity.
FYI I only ever got around 24 mpc on a new battery set, not sure if the high speed gears reduced my mileage, it's pretty hilly around central PA.
The Commutacar makes a good NEV but if your commute is more than 5 miles each way and you dont have a good network of secondary roads in your vicinity, these just aren't going to be practical. ?Instead of wasting time, money and a dwindling resource of cvi vehicles just get a used car and customize it to your heart's content.
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On Sun, Mar 18, 2018 at 13:46, toocool60608@... [C-Car]
<C-Car@...> wrote:
I have a 1975 Citicar electric that I am looking to convert to an
Internal Combustion Engine.? This should greatly increase the
driving range.? The batteries only last about 30 miles round trip.
I saw a guy that lives about an hour away replace his citicar motor
with a gas engine and it runs faster and longer.? I am wondering if
it would be fairly straight forward to replace the electric motor
with either a 16 HP electric start - air cooled lawnmower engine.? I
got a great deal on the brand new lawnmower engine, but was not sure
if heat build-up would limit the run time for an air cooled
horizontal lawnmower engine?
I have not yet done this, so wondering if anyone has suggestions for
greater range.
Would it be better to go buy a water cooled motorcycle to replace
the electric motor?? The car is in good condition, but the range is
still an issue if I want to drive 80 mile round trips.
Thanks in advance if anyone else has tried a swap to a gas engine.
Tyler