Ben's Citicar

[toyobug]

maybe do a craigslist search of the areas you will be traveling through. just a thought.

[dremd]

I hate to be mr buzz kill; but have you crunched the #'s for driving?
4200 miles round trip?
say 25 mpg? (towing 1/2 way)
So 168 gallons
@ 3.50?
$588
+ wear and tear
+ Time
+ eating out
+ that big gift you will owe your wife

might be getting close to $1100

However I didn't factor in
The adventure

[groar]

Originally Posted by bennelson

OH, and in another e-mail, she said:
YES - YOU ARE INSANE!"

Isn't it the reason why woman love man ?

Want to see something really crazy? This map!

Great trip to do with your wife Every night in a different city

Denis.

[toyobug]

The adventure would be priceless!

[SuperTrooper]

Originally Posted by bennelson

$1100 was the price that I got a couple times. Most of them charge you extra if they can't just drive the car up the ramp too.

The $925 quote was from T&T Auto Transport, Inc. 800-679-7606

An interesting e-mail quote from Webster Services. It sounds like they'd work with you on the price:

"Here at Webster Hauling(DBA Webster Services), Webster Services we are a Christian family owned and operated business and we take care of our customers in a way that insures their future business will be with us. We have been moving cars successfully for more than 8 years. We offer competitive pricing and the highest quality service. Give us the opportunity and we will exceed your expectations!

Our price is a suggested price, if you have a different price in mind we will work with you on the cost. We will post your vehicle at the price for your move that you request and work with you directly until the move is complete. We will coach you on the price as the vehicle is posted and get the job done safely and at the lowest dollar amount possible. Most of our vehicles are moved within a one to ten business days at the price quoted, although some do move more quickly than this. Also the rising price of fuel will effect the final cost. Your vehicle move is also insured while in transport and door to door. We would like your business and we always want to remain competitive in this ever changing market.

As a reminder, the price quote to ship your 1977 Citycar EL from Los Angeles, CA to Milwaukee, WI is $975.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to call us at 888-333-6343, or email waw84@hotmail.com."

[Tango Charlie]

Originally Posted by greenitup

damn ev hoarder.

Ha ha ha!

Got your bags packed yet, Ben?
Go Ben, Go!
Go Ben, Go!

[Christopher Jordan]

Originally Posted by bennelson

Must be insane! This will be my third EV! (The first one I didn't just build from junk though!)

We are almost all insane The VeloKit EV was a bolt-on, the E-Pod was a home built velomobile kit trike destined to get an EV hub motor, then I just could not resist the German made City-EL 3-wheel EV micro-car. Easily licensed as a motorcycle and insured dirt cheap.

So 3 EVs here too. My neighbors think I have totally lost my sanity!

[bennelson]

My wife can be brilliant.

Or maybe I am so dumb she just looks that way when compared to me.

Get this....She works at a large furniture store - with a big loading dock..... and trucks that come in and out all day.......Some of them from California...

You thinking what I am thinking?


She gave me the phone number of a logistics guy that lines up trucks for the company. I spoke with him on the phone briefly about what I was trying to do. He said that it probably shouldn't be too hard to arrange to get the car brought out on a load of furniture. It would just be up against matresses and dressers and covered with packing blankets!

Then, I would drive out to my wife's work with my lil' pickup truck and a borrowed trailer and pull it home.

The rest of it would just be to figure out how to get the car onto the truck in the first place. It would have to be a residential pickup (no loading dock or forklift!) so that might be slightly tricky. As long as the truck had a good ramp, the car could be winched or possibly even pushed? up the ramp. I have heard that they can run on as little as 24V, but that might just be the contactor controlled ones. This one has a PWM controller. Most of the PWM controllers are 24-48 or 48-72V, so maybe it COULD just run on 2 car batteries?

Still would have to work out the details and wait for a call back from this guy next week, but it's the most promising lead I have so far!

PS: He said the estimated cost would be $450-$500 - less than the price of gas to drive it myself!

[TomEV]

If the truck has a lift platform, a Citicar (without batteries) may be light enough, and maybe just small enough to put up sideways. (not on its side!) It could then be 'bounced' in. (or just lift the front end - they are fairly light without all the lead.)

If the truck can pass by someplace with a loading dock (origin and destination), it could be rolled straight on to the truck... You may want to refer to it as an electric golf cart without batteries. For some reason, shippers get expensive when you mention 'gas powered' or 'car'.

[bennelson]

I just got a call from my brother earlier tonight.

He said he and his wife went out and picked up the car. They didn't know anyone with a trailer they could borrow, so they rented a U-haul car carrier. This is one of those trailers where you roll all four wheels up onto it. But the middle of the trailer is open! They said the car was BARELY wide enough to fit on both tracks!

I got the call from them in their driveway with their cellphone set to speaker phone mode. She couldn't stop laughing. Said they already had people coming over looking at the car wondering what it was. Another neighbor said he was looking forward to seeing it driving around the neighborhood.



I tried using "Uship" to see if I could find a shipping company to move the car cheap. I got a bid from a place for $500 to move car. I think it would be an enclosed trailer pulled by a truck. Sounds like a pretty good price, especially considering that it is residential pickup AND drop-off.

[toyobug]

I like it! I can't wait to here what you do with it. Any idea what the registration process is or what insurance companies think about the Citicar?

[Ryland]

I have collector plates on my commuta-car and they called me up when they got the paper work asking what this car was, they wanted to know that it was not home built, and most of all they wanted to know that it had the vehicle safety label (it does, on the drivers side of the dash, open the door to see it), it will basically say that it complies with all vehicle safety requirements of the date of manufacture.
I got insurance from progressive, around $200 per year for liability, no other insurance company would touch and electric car other then collector insurance and they would only if I trailered it to car shows.

[bennelson]

I got "hobbyist" plates for my electric motorcycle.

They are similar to collector plates and have the advantage of only having to buy them once (No annual renewal!)

I plan on pestering Ryland a whole bunch about getting this thing registered right.

I also met a guy yesterday who is a Milwaukee area C-car owner. He offered to let me come look at his any time and ask any questions I want.

[Tango Charlie]

Your networking skills absolutely amaze me.

[bennelson]

I talked to the freight company this morning.

Looks like the car is going to be picked up on Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning and be dropped off at my house on Friday or Saturday!

All for less than the cost of gas to drive there and back.

[dremd]

Way To Go Ben!

[toyobug]

Originally Posted by Tango Charlie

Your networking skills absolutely amaze me.

DITTO!!



What kind of deal did you have to make with your wife for her coming up with the idea?

[bennelson]

The additional cost of this entire project is that I have to buy my wife a recumbent exercise bike!

Hey, better than a new TV!


(Plus, you know I am going to want to at least TRY to hook a generator to the exercise bike!)

[toyobug]

Originally Posted by bennelson

(Plus, you know I am going to want to at least TRY to hook a generator to the exercise bike!)

I would love to see that

[MetroMPG]

I just found this thread. Congrats on the purchase, Ben. You're a nut. (OK, I'm jealous.) Looking forward to following this.