[ndplume]

I've been reading about the Amp Electric Vehicle conversions out of Ohio. They are advanced converters using dual Remey A/C motors with Lithium formula batteries. They have been doing the Sky and Solstice for a while. Are now converting Chevy Equinox.

Any owners out there to comment on the conversion, performance, satisfaction?
Experience from others?

There are few reviews out but I haven't seen any user forums or comments from users.

Thx,

 

[dtbaker]

I asked how many they have done, what their production capacity is... got no response. It's a pretty expensive deal; costs $25,000 for them to convert AND they keep proceeds from re-sale of the ICE parts which for an almost new vehicle is probably another $5k for the motor and a/c.

An interesting marketing concept to go after the large SUV market, but obviously not the most efficient all-electric. The sports car options are an interesting 'poor-mans Telsa', and I wonder what the actual performance is. I'd love to see Road&Track test them!

ohhh, the other thing they I asked was about how one would go about getting any service on conversion components. i.e. if there were a failure of the electric a/c, controller, bms.... stuff the local dealers would not be able to handle. Answer was, 'by next year we hope to have trained/certified mechanics at Dealerships'. hhhmmmm.

 

[efan]

all I know about amp electric is what ive read on their web page...and the specifications the give are somewhat interesting.
they say that both the Equinox SUV conversion and the sport Sky conversion use the same motors, they have the same top speed and despite the weight difference they have the same 0 to 60 under 8s...
does anyone know whats the reason behind this?

 

[ndplume]

This is one of the better articles I read on the Sky.
http://green.autoblog.com/2010/03/02/quick-spin-driving-an-amp-sky-shows-theres-real-potential-here/

This is on the equinox, not too technical...
http://ecogeek.org/automobiles/3266--amp-equinox-carries-more-and-goes-farther-with-15

I'm mostly wondereing about the quality of the car and the owners experience. The 1st article says they made 300 conversions on their 2 seaters (Sky and Solstice). Maybe they sold... 100? or 150? if so, WHERE are those owners and how do they like their purchases? Anyone seen a users group for them?

As far as direct contact -

I called them at their factory. Asked 2 things -
1) Can I bring in a Saturn with a blown engine (makes the car cheaper) - Answer Yes. As long as I get it to them, they are happy. They'd still remove the ICE and dispose of it keeping any resale funds. (Which is fine for me)
2) The $7500 tax credit. - Answer, in order to qualify for the $7500 tax credit, I'd need to deliver an untitled car to their factory. Then go thru the conversion process (yes they remove and sell the ICE, keeping any proceeds).

I agree that $25K is pricy, but after considering whats in the conversion, I'm not sure that its unexpected nor out of line. In the article above, it says they have a 37KW battery pack. Lithium Iron Phosphate. Looking at the cost of the dual A/C motors, the controllers, the BMS, chargers and batteries and some profit to stay in business, their conversion charge may be just fine until battery prices come down (if ever).

I'd like to find where some of those Sky/Solstice owners are talking/writing....

 

[dankspeed]

I live right around the corner from amp in blue ash. Honestly other than having their company signage up and one banner facing the highway it's hard to tell there's a live business there.

 

[ndplume]

I saw an artcle in Dec news saying that AMP landed a 1000 vehicle order of converted Chevy Equinox. It was a multi-year contract and should keep them busy for a while. I thought it was good news for them. Hopefully, that will help bring the costs to consumers down a bit. It would sure help if they could convince Chevy to sell them Equinox gliders...

http://ampelectricvehicles.com/blog/2010/11/default.aspx That is the news link on the 1000 vehicle order.

I still wonder how many roadsters they made and where their customers are blogging (if at all)

 

[dtbaker]

this whole thing just smells like Venture Capital smoke and mirrors to me.....

 

[ndplume]

this whole thing just smells like Venture Capital smoke and mirrors to me.....

If you look at their announcements, they are definitely stacking their management with Detroit experience. The 1000 car order will build their experience and maybe the goal IS to convince GM to buy them and put out a LEAF eater?

Toyota has a stake in Tesla, why wouldn't GM consider a stake in Amp? Or just a buy out? Of course, if AMP really wants to make electric conversions, maybe they won't accept a GM buy out, but would accept gliders.

However Tesla managed to get gliders from Lotus, If AMP could acquire gliders from GM (or another mfgr), it would make the total conversion costs less expensive for everyone.

The question I always come back to is : Whats in it for GM?

 

[dtbaker]

The question I always come back to is : Whats in it for GM?

having somebody else do the initial R&D, testing, production lines and avoid brand name smear if it doesn't work out....

 

[ndplume]

having somebody else do the initial R&D, testing, production lines and avoid brand name smear if it doesn't work out....

I understand AMPs strategy of converting the best of GMs cars, Amp gets to leverage the reputation of the cars. The sales figures of the buying public is honest testamony on which ones to select. In that strategy, they don't want to lose the original appeal of the car. So if a conversion flops for some reason, the reputation of the original Mfgr will likely take a hit as much as AMP. When you see a car on the side of the road, it looks like a Chevy, not an AMP. That may be a negative in GM's view and reason enough to not sell gliders.

With Tesla, the lotus gliders are totally rebranded so a flop will sit squarely on Tesla.

Another thought - If AMP is acquired, how do they integrate with the Volt team?

 

[dtbaker]

In my first conversion I use a 1975 Chevelle Coupe and remove the entire
suspension, engine, transmission, drive line, differential, wheels, tires,
dash, seats, wire harness and upholstery. Store these items and 10 years
later I had the original lacquer paint remove and had it base coat, clear
coat which was color sanded. Reinstall the original items and store the
vehicle when I had by 2nd EV on the road. I was offer three times of what I
paid for it at the time which I did not sell yet.

what does this have to do with the 'AMP conversion service' thread?

sounds like a nice build though, do yu have a build site or pictures in 'the garage' here?

 

[Tesseract]

Hey dt.. I searched on this anoop characters other posts and noticed that all of them seem strangely out of place, with different "tone" and yet oddly familiar. I then Googled some Statistically Improbably Phrases from his posts and lo-n-behold, they turned up as posts elsewhere. I can only conclude that this is a curiously clueless spammer.

This post, for example, was originally written by Steven Lough on the EVDL: EVDL post.

 

[dtbaker]

Hey dt.. I searched on this anoop characters other posts and noticed that all of them seem strangely out of place, with different "tone" and yet oddly familiar. I then Googled some Statistically Improbably Phrases from his posts and lo-n-behold, they turned up as posts elsewhere. I can only conclude that this is a curiously clueless spammer.

This post, for example, was originally written by Steven Lough on the EVDL: EVDL post.

weird, why attempt to waste our time with stuff like this? perhaps we can ask the Moderator to ban the guy...

 

[Tesseract]

weird, why attempt to waste our time with stuff like this? perhaps we can ask the Moderator to ban the guy...

I did, and he did! Another spammer bites the dust!