A Visitor

Since I finished the car, I've had a number of people either visit me at my house, or who I've met up with.  Each visit has been a lot of fun and I've written about most.  Last week, a man from Tucson named Wes stopped by to see the car.  We'd been trying to schedule a time to meet for a couple months and our schedules just didn't quite work out.  But as it happened, we both had time the day before Thanksgiving.

Wes rolled up in Ford Ranger. He'd purchased the truck a few months back with the intent of converting it to an EV.  Who can blame him, it's a good choice.  Then he happened across the EV Z3 on the web and thought it was a great idea.  He's now reconsidering the Ranger in favor of a Z3.  The ranger has a lot of advantages over the Z3: more room for batteries, it can carry more weight, parts are likely cheaper and it has way more room to work with when locating and installing components.  But you have to admit, a Z3 is a tad sexier, and I can attest that its way more fun to drive. 

Wes and I stood around the car for an hour or so talking about different elements of the construction.  He had a lot of good questions and I could see his mind spinning as he was filing it all away.  We went out for a ride, and took it on the freeway near my house.  Of course the car did just fine, and Wes had an opportunity to see just how fun riding in an EV is.  We got back and I shot this picture of Wes next to the car.

I needed a bigger flash.  I don't know if Wes will sell the Ranger and pick up a Z3 to do the conversion, but I hope he does.  If he does, I hope he figures out better ways to solve some of the problems I encountered.  I offered to share anything I'd learned with him, but I think it would be fantastic if he builds one that puts mine to shame.  Leave a comment with some encouragement for Wes.  How great would it be to have two EV Z3s on the road in Arizona?!  Thanks for stopping by Wes.