Saab

Saab History Interviews Electric Saab Expert, Mark Ward

Photo Credit: Mark Ward

I got the chance recently to briefly chat with Mark Ward of St. Charles, Missouri about his accomplishments on the new electric Saab NG900 briefly and here is what he had to say:

Thank you Mark and again, congrats!

Saab History: What inspired this project?

In 2005 Gas went over $2.00 a gallon. We have all seen what has happened since. I became determined to reduce my need for gasoline. The project proves that we can can choose not to be slaves of the oil industry by using alternative energy sources. There are a lot of ways to make electricity. Not so with fossil fuels.

Saab History: How long did this project take you to get this far?

About 2 and a half years. It could have been faster, but I made the mistake of relying on someone else for work I ended up doing myself later. I have taken breaks from the project along the way, so it could have been done about a year sooner if I had hurried. I like the results I am getting and don’t regret the time I spent.

Saab History: How much $$ do you think this would cost someone to by an exact duplicate of this setup?

I don’t think you could exactly duplicate all of it. Some of the main things I suppose, but a lot is hand made and designed on the fly. However the main items, motor, controller, batteries & charger can be purchased. Total cost of the conversion is about $7000 and I did most of the work myself and got a lot of material donated. Kits for other more common cars can be purchased, but you still have to do a lot of design yourself. There is no kit or instructions that will work for every car and Saabs are very complicated.

Saab History: Do you think this...

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