What would the curb weight of a Festy would be without gasoline related items?

[harpon]

I think we're at 1700/1800 lbs on a standard Festy curb weight. I'm just musing about electric power and what the chassis would weigh if the gas stuff were gone and a ready to electrify.

So I guess that would mean the motor, the standard tranny the radiator and starter and fluids- coolant, gasoline, oil, transaxle fluid etc. Anybody got a clue ? 1200? 1000?

[firebush357]

Probably closer to 1300-1400 would be my guess.

[harpon]

300 or 400 for the motor and full radiator, and fan assembly and fan? I failed to mention the alternator. I would have thought more.

Anyway- I'm envisioning two separate levels- just mental fantasy, not really gonna do anything, although I've wished for years I had a small auxiliary motor on the back axles with some smaller kind of lipo battery setup. The first level is the actual electrification of a Festiva- I guess it's probably been dome- and the second level is speculation of electric or hybrid car/s built from the same or similar framework. Maybe a Geo metro would be more aero and lighter just thinking. I, m an old bicycle racer and weight obsession has been a lifelong sickness maybe- it puts me outta step with most of you motorheads, but my endeavors with electric bicycles has been illuminating and inspiring as well.

The other weight factor is a little hidden here, because it seems that once you start dropping significant weight in general, that then also allows the use of other lighter peripherals- lighter rotors and brake pads etc.Lighter shocks and struts and smaller lighter aluminum hardware all around. Cars have pushed this aspect a little bit, but always with still rather large and powerful motors driving the overall philosophy.. And admittedly, my concept thinking is geared more toward more of a Mediterranean appropriate urban/ light touring machine and not so much a North country backwoods gravel roads vehicle.

I think a gallon of gas weighs about 6 pounds and not familiar with the weight of the tank itself, the nozzle the charcoal cannister, fuel pump sender etc> It adds up to with more gas. The helicopter crash that took Kobe had 800 lbs of fuel left- about 135 gallons by my rough calculations, or slightly more than a fill-up for each of the 9 people on board. The crash was probably fatal anyway, but 135 gallons of volatile copter fuel seals that aspect..

Yet on the other hand, although the Prius and other hybrids have been around for a long time, I never much explored them because of the cost and my love for micro cars anyway. After seeing how they work and the great mileage they get, it makes me wonder why it hasn't been done with cars of smaller dimensions like Festys and Geos and Aspires?

I know the answer but won't harp it here again yet- gasoline sales- but can you envision even a car like that? Less than a ton with a hybrid system? If a Festy can do high 40's, mpg it must be able to get 75-80 maybe more with a hybrid electric assist. Or think even smaller- say a gas motor of 700 ccs for mostly higher speeds- ie "normal" freeway urban speeds and more attention to weight- and 100 mpg is probably not that out there.

If the weight is more like 1200 or 1000 or under, the tires could even be more like 12" x 100- 4 inches wide, because they'd be capable of supporting that weight at not so breakneck speeds- This is Mediterranean urban car mind you. Anyway, my own personal breakthrough with the electric bike- after years of gas bike fidgeting- came when I started using hoverboard batteries in series- each one about 6-7 miles worth of range. To really keep a car light - this might work here too- not ONE big battery with the range of a current fill-up, but a modular "pod bank" wired in series where you could have the same potential range with maximum battery pods, but you could also carry more appropriate levels- if you commute 20 miles each day you could have 50-60 miles worth of battery pods- 1, 2, 3? to cover that distance or plug in more on a longer trip-

instead of charging stations- POD Stations- fuel cells? where they "rent" charged pods out like propane cannisters- and test each pod when so doing so to weed out those reaching the end of their viability. In the meantime you could charge the car at home and maybe work, or even just the pods if they weren't excessive- plug them in to power their own dolly or scooter etc.

They are starting to make car motor wheels the same as they have made electric bicycle wheels- so you may see an electric car that has virtually no "under the hood" aspect to it and motors that can be swapped as easily as wheels.- How much chassis weight and aerodynamic drag could THAT cut out?

Anyway I'd sure like to see what a Festy or Geo would weigh without all the motor stuff just to fine tune the ideas.

[harpon]

Ooops- also left off the ENTIRE EXHAUST SYSTEM - manifold, pipes resonator muffler, frickin 02 sensor nonsense -probably what? 40-50 pounds ?

Surely somewhere at some time somebody' weighed the chassis with at least the motor out.