original article http://www.news-record.com/content/2008/06/21/article/local_man_builds_all_electric_vehicle
Local man builds all-electric vehicle
Saturday, June 21, 2008
By Dioni L. Wise
Staff Writer
Accompanying Photos
Jerry Wolford (News & Record)
Photo Caption: Lawrence Feir drives the battery-powered 1980 Triumph TR7 convertible that he built through the intersection of Walker Avenue and Elam Avenue on Thursday.
GREENSBORO - When gas prices began soaring a year ago, metal sculptor Lawrence Feir took matters into his own hands.
"I decided I just wasn't going to wait for a big car company to build an electric car and put it up for sale," Feir said.
So the founder of Innovation Robotics converted his 1980 Triumph TR7 sports car from a gas-powered car to an all-electric car.
He removed the original gasoline engine and transmission to replace them with two electric motors. The car doesn't run on gas, but his Dodge pickup does: it requires $136 to fill the tank with fuel.
Feir plugs the electric car into a standard outlet to charge. Its nine golf cart batteries take 4 to 6 hours to refresh, he said.
His days of waiting for the hydrogen car of the future are over.
"I'm driving this car today - right now," he said. "It's a practical solution for a real problem right now."
The car, however, is built just for everyday commuting around town. It runs for 45 miles between recharges and reaches a top speed of 45 miles per hour.
Feir has a knack for building. He learned a thing or two from his father Jack B. Feir, an aeronautical engineer, and worked as an auto body mechanic before starting Innovation Robotics eight years ago.
"When I was a kid, I always tinkered around with stuff," Feir said. "I'd take my toys apart and fix stuff."
He took the same approach with building his new creation.
Feir bought the car online for $200 last year, then he removed the engine and sold it for the same price.
He researched other manufacturers' methods online and built additions to the car from salvaged parts, testing the car along the way.
"It takes a little experimenting to come up with the 'Goldilocks solution,' - not too hot, not too cold, but just right," he said.
Two weeks ago the car wouldn't pull out of the driveway, he said.
Feir slept through his frustration, woke up the next morning and switched parts around until he found the sixth and final configuration.
Roy Nilsen, a carpenter, worked with Feir during the construction of Sticks and Stones pizzeria at 2200 Walker Ave.
They divvied up the labor on the electric car in Nilsen's garage.
"It was very exciting to see it roll out of the garage," Nilsen said.
Feir said the next step is to build custom electric cars for others who want a green machine.
Now, he's helping Nilsen convert his 1962 MG Midget into an all-electric car.
Nilsen said, "I got the bug, too."
Contact Dioni L. Wise at 373-7059 or dioni.wise@news-record.com.
[8 whole cylinders worth of punch to ram the world through the windshield and out the rear view mirror. Car & Driver]
1981 Grinnall TR7 v8
1981 Black FHC
1979 & 1980 Black Premium FHC(laid to rest) Sorry
John
