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Hi. I'm new to the list, but have been reading it for a while as a non-member. And, yes, I am the guy with the Electric Festiva (at least one of them. I know of at least 4 others out there, all different from mine). I found some references to my actual car and two of the others in the archives from over the years. People saw it on various web sites. Anyway, I have had this car since 12/06. It was converted to battery power by some people at BYU. I didn't build it. Ever since I have had it, I have had one major issue - rear suspension. The suspension is all original as is most of the car. It only has 13,700 original miles on it. But, it has had a lot of weight on it. When I got it in 06, it had 2 batts in the front and 11 in the rear. We are talking 60+ lb golf cart batts. That is a lot of weight on an old Festiva. No way, it could handle the weight with the stock suspension. So, I put in smaller 12 V batteries to take some weight out. It worked well. High performance, but the range was poor. That was about 2.5 years ago. I only got 10-15 miles range and the batts died in a year. I was mad at the car, so I decided to sell it. That was sometime in late 07 or early 08. I never did sell it. So, I put back in a new set of golf cart batts (6/09) - too much weight. This time, I put 9 in the hatch area and 4 under the rear seat. Seriously way too much weight. The car was a total low rider. Probably put a set on the springs leaving it like that for the past year. The only mod I did to the suspension was adding 2 custom coil spring spacers on each side. None of the stock parts would fit, so I machined my own to fit. Last week, I took out the 4 batts under the rear seat. Now, I have 9 in the back and 3 under the hood. Only 72 V. The speed isn't as good, I don't know the top speed as that I am a little worried about taking it on a highway at only 72 V. Probably right around 55 MPH, but I need a low traffic day to test it out. Acceleration is worse than a stock Festiva. It used to be better at higher voltage. Anyway, I've got to get around this suspension problem. If I could get it to carry more weight I could put back the 4 batts and be up and cruising highway speeds with no problem and have pleanty of range 30-35 miles. But, I've never managed to be able to fix up this suspension problem.
I've searched the archive, but no one seems to have thirteen 60-65 lb golf cart batts in the back of their car, except me. Most of the other Festiva EVs are 72 V (12 batts), 84 V (14 batts), or 96 V (12 eight V batts). There is one at 128 V (with 16 eight V batts), but I don't know how he got it to work exactly. So, I'm looking for advice on how to make this better. I need something a backyard mechanic can do - I'm talking about a bolt on solution - true bolt on solution. And, it can't break the bank (or my back installing it). I'd spend maybe $750 if I had a guaranteed way to improve both the front and rear suspension and make the car handle better. Don't know if anything can be done for that kind of money. Hopefully, you guys can help me out. My other alternative is to just get rid of the car to someone who doesn't care it only goes 55 MPH and 20 miles and move on to a bigger car that can hold more weight. My old electric car could hold 20 batts, did 60 MPH, longer range, and had seating for four. The Festiva was supposed to be better because it is smaller and lighter. Also, it isn't 30 years old, so I can get parts. But, even since 06, this suspension has been giving me grief. I hope you guys can help with some good advice. I really don't want to strip it for parts. There has to be a way to make it take that weight and still handle the road decently. It probably needs suspension work both front and rear to make this happen.
Steve
Atlanta, GA
I've searched the archive, but no one seems to have thirteen 60-65 lb golf cart batts in the back of their car, except me. Most of the other Festiva EVs are 72 V (12 batts), 84 V (14 batts), or 96 V (12 eight V batts). There is one at 128 V (with 16 eight V batts), but I don't know how he got it to work exactly. So, I'm looking for advice on how to make this better. I need something a backyard mechanic can do - I'm talking about a bolt on solution - true bolt on solution. And, it can't break the bank (or my back installing it). I'd spend maybe $750 if I had a guaranteed way to improve both the front and rear suspension and make the car handle better. Don't know if anything can be done for that kind of money. Hopefully, you guys can help me out. My other alternative is to just get rid of the car to someone who doesn't care it only goes 55 MPH and 20 miles and move on to a bigger car that can hold more weight. My old electric car could hold 20 batts, did 60 MPH, longer range, and had seating for four. The Festiva was supposed to be better because it is smaller and lighter. Also, it isn't 30 years old, so I can get parts. But, even since 06, this suspension has been giving me grief. I hope you guys can help with some good advice. I really don't want to strip it for parts. There has to be a way to make it take that weight and still handle the road decently. It probably needs suspension work both front and rear to make this happen.
Steve
Atlanta, GA
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