(first posted 1/6/2018)
A specimen of an endangered species: will it be eviscerated and crushed?
Who would have thought of running across a Renault LeCar in Iowa in December 2017? Wait a minute! That does not say LeCar on the side but Lectric Leopard! I did not even know such a thing existed.
According to “All about RENAULT 5” the Lectric Leopard is a LeCar converted to electric drive by the US Electricar Corporation in 1979 and 1980 complete with its own charger and a set of 6 lead-acid batteries.
Other than the graphics and the ELECTRICAR emblem there is little to distinguish the Lectric Leopard from a regular LeCar (Renault 5) on the outside.
Inside I noticed 2 gauges to the left of the steering wheel, an exposed heating element for windshield defogging purposes and the Lectric Leopard logo on the steering wheel.
The big differences are under the hood. The engine has been replaced with an electric motor that is mated to the 4 speed manual gearbox. Above this combo sits a frame of steel angle for an array of 6 lead acid batteries. The remaining space is occupied by an additional battery for the lights, wipers, horn and maybe a radio, a battery charger and a power controller.
This car is in remarkably good shape. Obviously it helped that it was driven locally wherever “local” was. Too, most likely the owner realized soon enough that the vehicle was not providing sufficient creature comfort in the winter time and therefore it did not get pickled by road salt. For these reasons the few remaining Lectric Leopards maybe the best preserved variants of the the Renault 5 entirely.
I hope this Lectric Leopard will be revived by someone like this kid who rescued a red one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NVhkXNPtH0
See the sparks fly on this white Lectric Leopard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIP5YZDbgL4
And here is a yellow one on the road: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O51CTryNdx4
I have no clue if it had been lowered or only weighed down by the batteries.
It may not be a Tesla in “insane mode” but it’s enough to make me crack a smile: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tgS4oYvc-w
What a fantastic find and survivor. I bet the electric conversion is the only reason it is still around.
I think I may still own it. I ‘all mux all router’d’ it back in 1980 Lots Decisions transition year
To echo David, outstanding find – thanks for this post.
Among other things about this car that intrigue me, there’s the name. Maybe “Electric Eel” was in the running, but wasn’t available due to some trademark. “Lectric Leopard” does actually have a ring to it.
I’ll bet the “Le” part was the big draw relative to the name…Should have made it LeLectricLeopard to be more correct in marketing-speak…
I was wondering about the naming as well and googled a bit. I could not find a direct proof but I was happy to peruse the search algorithm when this popped up: Betty Page in a leopard suite of her own design. Now if that isn’t electrifying!
A friend of ours bought a Tesla Model S last summer. He’s named it Bettie, after Bettie Page, and there’s a small plastic figure of her in a leopard skin outfit hanging from the rear view mirror.
Hah! There is a connection after all!
If you removed the door handles and trim, would that be a Lectric Shave? 🙂
Comment of the day!
What are those ignition coils good for in an electric car?
Those are probably large capacitors to smooth the chopper controller’s output.
There is a “wrecking” yard about 25 miles from my house that rarely advertises but when it does advertise a vehicle that is a (possible) runner it is always something unique like this car. Unfortunately, I’ve only found the entrance once, in my many trips to the area, and signs said it was closed.
This is one of the few French cars here in the U. S. that hasn’t rusted into oblivion. It might almost be worth restoring to it’s pre-electric condition
In other words, no drivetrain at all. These were not a conversion, but were built as electrics. Period. Never had a gas or diesel or anything else in them. Just because there were other Renaults out there that looked the same, doesn’t mean they were the same critter. Those were built with gas motors. To convert the electric one to gas, you’d need to entirely rebuild the car from the ground up, from the brakes to the steering box, to installing motor mounts.. etc.
An amazing find! There is surprisingly little on the web about these.
Only 400 were produced according to a pinterest posting. US Electricar had engineless rollers shipped from France, so this car has never been tainted by petroleum ;-).
A number of DIY EV hobbyists have these, as listed in the EV Album, but most of them have installed a higher voltage modern DC motor and controller electronics. Apparently the original motor was a Prestolite, and six batteries would be 72 volts.
If someone put in some deep cycle golf cart or marine batteries they’d have a nice little town car and a real collector’s item. Probably around 30-50 miles range depending on speed, and maybe a 50 or 60 mph top speed.
Great find, thanks!
I hope you used the Youtube links I provided.
Yes of course, thanks. I just took a closer look at the schematic diagram we get a glimpse of in the second “sparks” video. It’s much more primitive than I imagined! There’s no electronics at all, just switches, like the 1917 Detroit Electric Brougham CC. I haven’t puzzled out the schematic in detail, but it looks like there are switches for series/parallel, maybe with battery pack taps, to get a few different speeds. Stone age.
Schematic shows ten more batteries in the back, sixteen total. Almost certainly six volt batteries for 96 volts altogether, which is typical for an old lead-acid DC motor EV.
All this explains why so many Lectric Leopards in the EV Album were modified with electronic controllers and modern lead-acid batteries.
If you wanted to keep it stock and just replace the 6V lead-acid batteries, you could spend around US $2K for a fresh set of deep cycle golf cart batteries. Or ask around for an old set like the high school kid in the first video. That’s worthwhile and it would be really neat to keep it on the road in original form.
Upgrading to lithium batteries and modern electronics costs too much now that you can get a low mileage 3-year-old Leaf, Spark or 500e for less than $10K.
All-mechanical-no-electronics was state of the art in electric cars back then. The Sebring Vanguard CitiCar was three (?) lead acid batteries and a set of relays under the seat. You you drove it, you could hear the relays clicking as they added and subtracted batteries powering the motor.
I often would like to find one of these electric cars and restore it with a more modern controller and batteries – although that would turn it into as much of a ‘resto-rod’ as any car hacked with a small block Chevy, I suppose.
The 6V batteries were wired in a variable series-parallel combination. Relays operated by the 2-position foot switch put either 24V or 48V on the motor. 24V gave high-current for initial acceleration, then 48V for cruising.
Some years ago I did a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment of a large warehouse located in Ft. Lauderdale. There were a whole bunch of collector cars and motorcycles inside. Amidst all this was a prosaic-looking white Dodge 024 coupe. However, a closer look revealed “Electrica 007” badges and “Electric Vehicle” decals. Apparently a number of these cars were made in the early 1980s. Here’s an Autoweek article. http://autoweek.com/article/car-news/1980-jet-electrica-007-more-things-change
Chrysler did their own in-house one as a concept in 1979 as the ETV-1:
Far more advanced controller and charger technology in this GE EV than the Leopard. But it’s still stuck with those big heavy lead-acid batteries, thus the low speed and mediocre range. Modern EVs really couldn’t happen until lithium-ion batteries came along.
The biggest stumbling block for me regarding this project has to do with the timing. Chrysler is on the verge of bankruptcy right about now and they whip up this? Desperate times call for desperate measures? It’s clearly based off the Omni coupe, but one has to wonder; expected life is 500 charges. That’s approximately 41,000 miles if you can average 82 miles per charge. Who would realistically go for that when the basic Miser models were dirt cheap to begin with is my question here.
They built it under a contract with the DOE, so why not? They got paid to do it. And GE was the main contractor.
Take a closer look: that’s no Omni coupe. Most likely a fiberglass/plastic body to save precious weight.
These kind of projects were done every time there was an energy crisis. Everybody went bonkers, especially during this time, to try to build a viable lead-acid EV. It couldn’t really be done, without major compromises. It’s a good thing the crisis was over after a few years, because cars like this one is what everyone was afraid they’d have to be driving in 5-10 years. EV’s were the car enthusiast’s nightmare.
And look how it’s turned out: a Tesla Model S can beat any production car in a drag race an go 300+ miles on a charge, and get a 200 mile charge in 20-30 minutes. Nobody would have believed it back then. Things don’t change in linear fashion: there are sudden technological phase transitions that are almost impossible to predict.
Update: I just watched the video. It apparently shared some structural aspects with the Omni sedan, but the body was designed for optimum aerodynamic efficiency and the whole thing built out of aluminum.
Heating or A/C? Fully opening windows? Who needs that?
Paul you are very right, and the video link I posted below clears up it was clearly a funded project. Still begs the question, why Chrysler? Maybe part of the loans they received? That said, they use an Omni sedan as a test mule in the video. Draw your own conclusions from that.
I found a very brilliant 16 minute video of the ETV-1 on YouTube:
I saw a Voltsrabbit electric Rabbit conversion at a car show. I’m not sure if that was a kit or a factory conversion.
Wow, how cool! You should take this orphan home with you.
I am not quite there yet. One son in college and the garage needs upgrading…..
But think of the savings on gas! 🙂
Great find, I’d never even heard of it before this.
I have not seen any Renault 5 here in New Jersey since at least the mid to late 1980’s. Great find!
Good find! Ive never heard of these cars. I wonder if its worth the effort of putting it back on the road in its original, electric powered, condition?
This would be a great CC for one of those planned communities (The Villages in Florida comes to mind) where residences are in walled, gated enclaves, and golf courses and paved golf cart paths proliferate, particularly for getting attention at one of those weekly local car shows (not too far away, of course).
OTOH, for something much more practical (and likely around the same overall cost), one of those recent, unlamented Mitsubishi i-MiEV cars would be a better choice.
The earliest family car I can clearly remember was a white Renault 5, I’m moving to the midwest in a few weeks and I need this!
Wonder how much they want for it.
Give them a call: 515 265 7509
As a former Le Car owner, it makes me smile. All those little dents in the upper passenger side fender (5th pic) are due to leaning on the car when it’s being worked on, which happens a lot. Super thin-gauge metal. So did the factory sell them cars sans engines?
Sans moteur. And probably without the fuel system.
Electric conversion was something of a cottage industry in the 1970s and early 1980s. I even remember seeing electrified AMC Hornets for sale at a garage over 40 years ago. Found this info on them:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrosport
IIRC, gas prices during the early eighties were among the highest in the US. That went a long way in promoting the fledgling EV industry at the time. Of course, when gas prices subsequently dropped, so, too, did nearly all interest in EVs.
There was another electric Renault built in 1959-1960. Around 47 examples of the Henney Kilowatt were built based on the Dauphine.
Great find Wolfgang. World Cars 1979 lists the Electricar Lectric Leopard with the following text:
‘C.H. Waterman, who gave his initials to the CHW electric cars, presides over the US Electricar Corp. Their 3-door 4-seater hatchback sedan, already in production, is designed for short haul driving and claims to be virtually maintenance free. The compound wound Prestolite 48 V dc motor is regulated by voltage switching control. 16 6 V lead-acid batteries developing 440 Ah are mounted in 2 packs at the front and rear. Maximum speed is 50 mph (80 km/h) and range is from 60-80 miles (96-128 km), depending on the driving conditions. Weight with batteries is 2,580 lb (1,170 kg). Price $ 6,995.’
It is one of 48 electric vehicles listed (commercial, prototype, passenger, van) for that year and includes the Henney Kilowatt tonyola shows above as still available in Dauphine skin.
Excellent information, thanks! 48V, not 96V as I had guessed.
2580 lb weight for a lead-acid EV is not bad. That’s because the Renault 5 was so light, 1600-1800 lb according to Wikipedia.
To put that price of $7K in context, NADA says the ’79 Honda Civic sedan MSRP was $3649.
There are several used Nissan Leafs on Portland CL at $7K in today’s dollars. A far superior EV in power, speed, range, safety, comfort and every other way of course. How far we’ve come!
That wasn’t the only early 80s electric conversion, as people were wigged out about paying $1/gallon for gas.
This conversion got lost and landed at the Lincoln show at the Gilmore a couple years ago.
The card in the engine compartment gives some info on it.
The electric showed up at the Orphan show in Ypsilanti last fall, but I was utterly blown away by the immaculate Lynx survivor parked next to it.
The late seventies and early eighties saw a burst in electric concept cars, startups like US Electricar, DIY conversions, and how-to-books. “The Complete Book of Electric Vehicles” from 1979 is on my bookshelf. State-of-the-art was lead-acid batteries, DC motors and crude electronics or none at all. Low speeds and short range. Too soon, we had to wait another thirty years.
Nice find, saw one on craigslist a while back.
June 1979: Thinking about a factory in Burlington, NC:
March 1981: pertinent numbers. LeCar = $5K; Leopard = $11K:
That “Lectic Leopard” decal on the doors is pretty cool. I wonder what font it is?
Seems like an example that must be rescued. Maybe we could try to contact electric car fans?
On the “sparks flying” video, the car appeared to have been in Grand Rapids, Michigan recently. That dealer sticker is has been around for a few years now, I’ve got a similar one on the back of my van…
I’d be interested to know more about the travels of that particular Leopard…
Wow, I don’t recall ever hearing about these, though I remember the Citicar quite well.
With so few of these, you would think that there would be some kind of small but enthusiastic group of fans which would keep a car this nice out of the junkyard.
Image if these had sold well. Surely we would have seen follow up models like the Power Panther and the Juice Jaguar. 🙂
I was working at a Chevy dealer in the 80’S that was considering selling these. The owner drove one for about a week and it seemed to be on a charger all if the time. It had a hard time making the 17 mile round trip to his home. Reportedly he told them to ” get that POS off my lot”.
My dad had one of these, but I think an 1981, or possibly it was a 1980 sold in ’81 as ‘last years model’ for a steep discount. I think he only paid $4,000 for it brand new. He got it after wrecking a year-old LeCar in a rollover accident (you couldn’t corner those at speed. The electrics had more weight to them, at a lower center of gravity and drove BETTER.) Now, at the time, he lived 50 miles from town, so you can’t tell me the range was less than 100 miles, if you drove it properly (as in, on downhills, shut it off and coast. On level rural ground, get up to speed, put it in neutral and coast. Get it up to 50 mph… put the clutch in and coast down to about 20 mph, get up to speed… Etc. If it’s a no-passing zone and people want around, well why are they in such a hurry anyway? Let them wait.) And people are STILL in too much of a hurry. We’d get better mileage out of even our gas cars if they were not built to go 70 or 80 mph, which we really don’t need. Build them with top speed of say, 55 mph and reduce the horsepower down to below 100 and you’d have trucks getting 40 mpg.
Eek! I understand why this was probably done—for an easier 1:1 swap from the engine—but a transmission is thoroughly counterproductive with an electric motor.
Not necessarily. These conversions typically used basic (cheap) permanent magnet dc motors that had a more limited operating range than most modern EV motors. They required 2 or 3 gears to operate satisfactorily from rest to low speed operation and for higher speed operation. Some folks commonly used three gears (2-4).
The Porsche Taycan has a two speed transmission, which gives it certain advantages at consistently high speeds vs a Tesla. And the original Tesla Roadster was designed to have a two speed transmission, but they couldn’t source a reliable unit and had to significantly re-engineer it to get by on one, requiring higher voltage and a new motor.
Electric motors do have some limitations, especially at very high speeds. Tesla did some very clever engineering on the motors in the new Model S Plaid to allow it to operate at very high speeds.
Ah, okeh; I was thinking about EV motors of the last two decades.
Great, it’s the forerunner of the factory R5 E-Tech, for sale sometime this year.
I know old thread, but I hope this wasnt crushed. Would have made a great addition to the Lane Motor Museum if they didnt already have one. They have a bunch of weird “energy crisis” era electric cars that are a good reminder of how far technology has come.
Would also go along well with the museum’s french “voitures sans permis” cars, but the lectric lepoard is a far more substantial and faster thing then those doghouses on wheels.
Would be a good candidate for “Mr Bean” to replace that little “Morris” car.
I still saw it a few years later. Then pushed towards the front and into the building with a FOR SALE sign in the window. I don’t know the current status. I haven’t had a reason to frequent the junk yard.
Regarding the comments about it being mechanical, meaning relays, not electronic, the technology was around in those days. In ’86 I had the misfortune to work at a door factory, worst job I ever had, and they had about 15 electric forklifts. I don’t recall what years, but they had nothing new. With the exception of a high speed, pedal to the floor, relay to relieve the load on the SCRs, they ran off SCRs, not relays. Big SCRs, powered off a battery that to my recollection was a 3 foot cube that would run a 10 hour shift working hard. So, electronic controls were around in that era, even if they didn’t use them.
A second generation Daihatsu MOVE was built under license in China, as a fully electric vehicle, and fleet sold in North America, under the “Miles Electric” handle. NASA has even bought a bunch of these:
Image number two:
Image number three:
Image number four:
Lectric Lepard! LMAO😀😀😀
Seriously though this would be a great car to just clean-up visually and not necessarily get into running condition. This is a great example or transitioning technology that history often overlooks but is critical to understanding how we viewed electricity prior to integrated circuits. One would think any car museum interested in documenting the transition to electric vehicles would benefit greatly from this example.