[daniel1948]

UPDATE: I had a long phone conversation with Paul, during which I raised, and we discussed, all my concerns:

1. The shoddy way the A/C condensers & their fans were fastened in front.

He expressed surprise. He said that the straps he used were extremely strong, and are used in race cars, and he could not imagine how they had broken. He insisted that the fans were originally held in place with plastic clips, and that his straps were stronger. He had nothing to say about the fact that the rims or frames of the fans had been cut off.

But he agreed to pay for the work to put all of this right.

2. The loose lug nuts on one wheel and loose transmission mounting, including one bolt not tightened at all.

Again, he was surprised, and said he would strengthen his procedures for checking such things in future.

He agreed to pay for the work of fixing this as well.

3. The missing underbody panels.

Again, he expressed surprise. He wondered if they could have been removed en route, but I said I thought this was vanishingly unlikely, and he agreed to replace them. He said he would either find my panels, if they are still in his shop, or get others used, and ship them to me. I insisted that if he gets used ones, they must be in perfect condition, because my car was impeccably cared for, and anything less would not be acceptable.

4. The controller. Our contract specified a 1,000-amp controller. He substituted a 500-amp Curtis controller when the Logisystems controllers were having problems. I found a guy locally willing to sell me and install a 2K Zilla. I asked Paul to pay for half of that, since it's twice the size of the one we contracted. I also do not believe that a 1,000-amp controller would have given the car the promised performance.

Paul replied that our contract was not for a Zilla, which is a lot more expensive than a Logisystems for the same amperage. He offered instead to either send me a Logisystems 1000-amp controller or send me the money one would cost, in return for the return of the Curtis. I had to agree that our contract was for a 1000-amp controller, not a Zilla, and I accepted his offer to send me the money a Logisystems controller would cost. I'll pay the balance myself for the 2K Zilla, which is a lot more, but a lot better, than what the car would have had under our contract.

5. The contract promised "approx. 125 miles range." I extrapolate 80 miles range to dead empty driving gently, based on my wh used. 125 miles of range would require half again more batteries than I have. Installing these batteries would require removing the back seats, and while I'd be willing to lose the back seats, the job appears daunting. So I asked Paul to refund me half of what I paid him for batteries in compensation for the failure to achieve the promised range.

He replied that this was the first late model (i.e. heavier than 1970's-era) Porsche to ever get LiFePO4 batteries, and was therefore "experimental" and the contract had mentioned only an approximate range, not a promised range. I replied that as the builder, he had made representations to me on both range and acceleration, and that the actual car did not come anywhere close to either. I said that as the builder, he should have known what the car would do, or else told me clearly that he did not really know, because I would not have paid what I did for the car if he had told me that the range would be "something between 80 and 125 miles." I also reminded him here that I had told him very clearly that one of the big reasons I paid extra for a late-model donor car, rather than saving money by selecting an older one, was that I wanted the safety features: air bags, ABS, and stability control. He never told me that I would lose the ABS and stability control in the conversion. I am quite sure that he simply didn't know. But he never told me that he had never conveed a late-model Porsche before. All his prior experience was with older cars. So he was not entirely open with me. And as a result I entered into a project that I would not have, at that price, had I known that there were so many unknowns.

He said that he could not refund me the money I was asking for batteries/range.

The phone call was getting long, both of us had other things to do, and we agreed to end the phone call without having yet resolved the issue of batteries and range. I made it clear that I was not satisfied, but that I was willing to put off further discussion until a later time.

I paid him $36,000 for the battery pack. I asked him for $18,000 back, due to failure to achieve the promised range. I now believe that he charged me far more than the pack was actually worth, but at the time of the contract, I was paying for range, not for a set number of batteries. Therefore I feel he owes me $18,000. He says he does not because we agreed what I'd pay for batteries, and the 125 miles range was an approximation, not a promise. I feel that 80 miles is not "approximately" 125.

So this issue remains unresolved.

All in all, I would describe the conversation as strained but cordial. We ended by agreeing that we share a committment to electric vehicles, and we'd both like to find amicable solutions and remain friends. He agreed to pay for fixing the mechanical issues and we agreed about the controller. Only the battery/range issue remains unresolved.

The Zilla should get put in next month, and I'll report on the results.

Daniel