It’s easy to forget just what a huge leap EVs made starting in the first few years of the 21st century, with the groundbreaking AC Propulsion T-Zero and some other early lithium ion battery EVs. Meanwhile in the early 1980s, when there was a quite a boomlet in EV conversions due to the second energy crisis, the best one could hope accomplish is something like this Fairmont wagon conversion, with a heavy load of lead acid batteries and probably about a 35-45 mile range, when the batteries were fresh, which didn’t typically last long.
Finding this one was a bit of a surprise, as I just assumed it was a plain old Fairmont wagon until I got closer and saw the badge on the grille.
Here it is, and that piqued my interest more than another Falcon six powered Fairmont. Time to raise the hood.
No Falcon six here. More like seven 6V golf cart batteries, at least visible. Are there more under the middle three? The electronics (controller) sit behind them, and the motor is under them, attached to the the bell housing of the original transmission.
Which was of course the manual four speed stick, as an automatic wouldn’t exactly be wanted here. So this Fairmont must have started out life as 2.3L four powered, as I’m pretty sure the six only came with the automatic. One could use all four gears, but typically only used two or so, given the torque of the electric motor. Which was none too great, as we’re not talking about a Tesla S with Ludicrous Mode. These conversions were slow, and barely freeway usable, with a top speed commonly about 55-60, and a drastically shortened range at those speeds.
Of course those handful of batteries wouldn’t have been enough to get any decent range or speed out of them, so I’m pretty sure this is another battery compartment where the gas tank was. it seems to hang lower than the tank w would, and that was the typical arrangement: some batteries in the front, and more in the rear.
And what’s in the back seat? A battery charger; what else?
Yes, it’s electric. Assuming the batteries are still holding a charge and not totally fried. Lead acid batteries are great in some applications, but not in cars, as they hate to be discharged too deeply or quickly. Just a few overly deep discharges can fry them. And that happened all-too often back then.
What? As-Is and no dealer warranty? I wonder why?
Note: a rerun of an older post.
The original post has an interesting comment from the person who bought this car. In summary, he loves it.
I bought a ’78 Fairmount station wagon. Worst car ever. Anytime two or more Fairmount owners would get together, they’d drunkenly tell Fairmount horror stories.
For some reason, our particular car came without the “interior lighting option.” That is, the only way the interior lights came on would be to open the driver’s door. So when buckling up a child’s seat, unloading groceries, clearing out the rear area, we’d crack the driver’s door first.
Here’s the really annoying part: for years afterward, even though all subsequent cars didn’t require that step, we found ourselves cracking the driver’s door to “turn on the interior lights.” Took us forever to get out of that habit.
I had a 78 Fairmont wagon I bought years ago as a $500 dollar crasher 6cyl 3 speed on the floor (Factory) and it would grab a nice 2nd gear. The car came from the original owner an older woman, I thought it was a great useful car.
How interesting. I never knew something like this existed.
I’d think there are better batteries available now .
-Nate
The disadvantages of the EV conversion would be exacerbated by the car’s weight. If I were going to do something like, which I wouldn’t, I’d start with a smaller car.
There was a company that did Escorts that I think had a similar if not the same “electric” badge, so maybe the same company that did this.
Jet Industries of Austin, TX converted Mercury Lynx cars, along with assorted other makes, for a total of 1400 vehicles during a brief period in the late seventies/early eighties when the price of gas was high.
I concur that it wouldn’t be surprising if the feature Fairmont was one of them.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_Industries
Deep cycle batteries would be better in a conversion like that but you can likely get a better EV out of China new for a lot less hassle with a warranty now, why were EVs popular in the US with such cheap gas?
I filled my Hillman on gas discount day last week only $10 per gallon, it goes 30+ miles on each one so not too bad.
The majority of the batteries shown in the engine compartment are 6V deep cycle golf cart batteries.
They are wired in series.
Yes; I don’t know why I said 12V, when they’re clearly 6V.
This e-fairmont or fairmont-e is clearly a sign of the times and shows us the limited battery technology available at the consumer level. The construction of the electrical system appears to be well done and has lasted many decades largely intact. Never having to change the oil, spark plugs, air filter or timing belt is a huge money saver. For people that don’t ever need to drive more than 20 miles at. a time or simply don’t like to driving, owning a BEV is a total no brainer.
Never having to change the oil, spark plugs, air filter or timing belt is a huge money saver.
I used to think so a long time ago until I started hanging out at forums for lead acid EV conversions. The percentage of folks who stressed these delicate batteries and killed them by driving too far was huge, and the expense of a complete new set of batteries was very significant. Most owners found this out the hard way, and that’s why typically they were parked all-too soon.