When Lefteris, a professional photographer in Los Angeles, says his other car is a gas guzzler, he's talking about the icon of environmentalists, the Toyota Prius.
Lefteris is part of a grass-roots movement of people who are fed up with the auto industry for not offering affordable all-electrical vehicles and who are building their own.
"It is possible," say Lefteris, who goes by one name. "I didn't do it for the cost savings, though it turns out to be an inexpensive way to transport myself. We must stop sending money to countries that are often hostile and repressive, and do something to save our fragile planet."
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Friday, July 04, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 25 words Type of Material: Correction
Electric cars: An article on a homemade electric vehicle in Wednesday's Highway 1 section listed the developer's Web site address as www.Lefterisphot.com. It is: www.lefterisphoto.com.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday, July 09, 2008 Home Edition Highway 1 Part G Page 2 Features Desk 1 inches; 27 words Type of Material: Correction
Electric cars: An article about a homemade electric vehicle in the July 2 section of Highway 1 listed the developer's website address as www.Lefterisphot.com. It is: www.lefterisphoto.com.
The personal license plate on his blue Porsche makes the point: LKNOGAS.
If a photographer with some basic electrical and mechanical knowledge can do this in his garage, why can't the best engineers in America do something similar? Where are the modern-day Henry Fords, mass producing vehicles that will keep the air cleaner, create manufacturing jobs and reduce the economic stranglehold that foreign oil has on our nation?
To be sure, the global auto industry is responding. Honda this month began producing a fuel-cell vehicle in Japan. But with its $600 monthly lease, it is no Model T for the masses. General Motors is working on the Volt, an electric vehicle with a backup gas engine, but it will not be available until 2010.
Lefteris' vehicle, built on the frame and body of a 1971 Porsche 914, is not a hobby car. It's his daily transportation for getting around L.A. In the last 12 months, he has put on 8,000 miles, making frequent business trips from his downtown L.A. studio to the Westside.
"My wife drives the gas guzzler, the Prius," he said.
His car is packed with 22 lead acid batteries, a power controller, a charger and a 150-pound electric motor. The batteries are wired in series to produce 132 volts of direct current, and the motor puts out 20 horsepower, though the rating is calculated differently from a conventional gas engine.
The range is limited, but practical. Lefteris says the car can go up to 60 miles between charges, though running down the batteries shortens their useful life. The dashboard has electric power meters that he designed to provide information about the voltage of the battery array and the amount of amperage the motor is drawing. "You learn to coast a lot," he says of his power-management driving style.
