Saturn Sky electric conversion now available

Posted Sat May 24 2008 6:07 AM by Viknesh Vijayenthiran

Rather than go through all the associated development costs of building an electric car from the ground up, Cincinnati-based Advanced Mechanical Products (AMP) has decided to replace GM's four-cylinder petrol engine in its Saturn Sky roadster with its own electric motor. This effectively turns the Saturn Sky roadster into an all-electric vehicle you can charge up at home.

Running on lithium phosphate batteries, the electric motor pushes the car to 60mph in 5.7 seconds but the trade-off is a lower top speed of 90mph. The car’s acceleration is significantly faster than the petrol Saturn Sky thanks to the electric motor's ability to utilize maximum torque instantaneously but by the same token top speed is hampered in order to maximize driving range.

According to AMP, the car can be charged to give a range of 150 miles - significantly more than GM's upcoming Volt which has been set a target of only 40 miles of electric-only driving. Production of the electric Saturn Sky will be limited to just 300 units and will set you back around $50,000 - about double the price of the base petrol model.

AMP now plans to carry out its engine-replacement approach in several other Saturn models, including sedan and SUV models.

Reader Comments

Sat May 24 2008 7:43 AM
Tom Foral says

I can't believe that we have to wait for mass production of the electric vehicles. I think the public is willing to re-invest in American made vehicles. Please, let's get going! We are tired of supporting oil company record earnings! Build these GM and Saturn cars and make them affordable for the middle class. Thanks
Sat May 24 2008 11:40 AM
Gus says

If you have a 401(k) you have stock in these oil companies you would like to see brought to their knees...

But back to the topic, 90mph is more than adequate in this country, but I'm wondering where the batteries are stored. This isn't exactly a car with a ton of free space. Is replacing the gas tank area with battereis enough?

And I can't imagine that many people willing to shell out $50,000 - yet - to convert a good car with decent mileage to an electric one.
Sat May 24 2008 12:35 PM
CarFanaticsUnleashed says

Interesting concept, but it seems like it would be pretty limited in range and performance, despite the fact that you wouldn't have to shell out $100,000 for a Tesla
Mon May 26 2008 8:12 AM
Jim says

Advertised 150 mile range is more likely a real world 120 miles when you run the HVAC/defrosters & audio systems, but still enough for many commuters. But where would you put a bag of groceries?

MotorAuthority