Vehicles by AC Propulsion

---

This converted Honda CRX was built in 1991 by AC Propulsion founder Alan Cocconi in his driveway to prove out the drive system design concept still found in AC Propulsion technology today. Shown here in the snowy San Gabriel mountains north of Los Angeles, this car features the first ever AC-100 drive system. Fifteen years and 160,000 miles later, the car is still being driven by AC Propulsion vice president of R&D Dave Sivertsen. A second CRX conversion was built shortly after this first one, and it can still be seen on the streets of Silicon Valley.

After the CRX, AC Propulsion started converting Honda Civic hatchbacks.  The car shown here, from 1994, was the first to feature the 150 kW AC-150 drive system. AC Propulsion vice president Paul Carosa still drives it every day, with the odometer now topping 135,000 miles.  In total, six Civic conversions were completed from 1994 through 1997.

The first tzero, built in 1996 and introduced at the 1997 Los Angeles Auto Show, brought fame, if not fortune to AC Propulsion. With breathtaking power and looks to match, the tzero has attracted attention from around the world. The tzero beautifully demonstrated how electric power achieves high efficiency and extreme performance. Here, tzero 1 tows the Long Ranger range-extending hybrid trailer on a tour of the San Gabriels in the summer of 1997. The car was re-bodied in 1998 including new windows, roof, and doors, and a new yellow paint job.

This red Volkswagen Golf III, converted in 1997, marked the beginning of a seven-car EV conversion deal with Volkswagen.  In this picture, the vehicle is fitted with fender skirts and a mock under-car battery during aerodynamic testing at Volkswagen's Arizona Proving Grounds. 

The second car built for Volkswagen was this black 1998 Volkswagen Golf IV.  With this car, AC Propulsion began to move away from mounting batteries in a central tunnel in favor of locating more batteries underneath the car.  This was the first of three Volkswagen conversions sent back to Wolfsburg, Germany, for evaluation by Volkswagen engineers.  This car debuted at the EVS-15 (the 15th annual Electric Vehicle Symposium) in Brussels, Belgium in 1998.

We built three NiMH battery conversions for Volkswagen. This blue 1999 VW Golf was equipped with Saft liquid-cooled batteries. This was also the first car we built with air conditioning. The A/C cooled the cabin and the battery coolant. The battery cooling system, though complex and costly was effective in keeping the NiMH battery temperatures within operating range.

This white 1999 Golf was the last of the series of 5 that we converted for Volkswagen.  This car used prototype Ovonic NiMH batteries that gave high power with low weight.  Although range was reduced due to lower battery capacity, this car gave us the first demonstration of the benefits of lightweight batteries; benefits that are more fully realized now with lithium batteries. 

The second tzero was built in 1999. In this picture, the doors, windows, and new body styling can all be seen. Fitted with a 165-kW "AC-165" version of the AC-150 drive system, tzero 2 set a then-unprecedented 0-60 mph time of 4.1 seconds. tzero 2 can be recognized as the only tzero with a black dashboard. It is most likely to be seen on the roads in and around Santa Cruz, CA.

In 2000, AC Propulsion built a New Beetle conversion for Volkswagen.  This was the first car equipped with the AC-150 Gen 2.  With Gen 2, the vehicle can send AC power out through the charge cord to power electric tools, appliances, accessories, or even houses.  The power can also be sent out into the grid in a function known as V2G (Vehicle-to-Grid).  With V2G, the vehicle can serve as a "battery on the grid".  This car took part in a CARB-sponsored demonstration of V2G in 2002. 

In 2001, by request of the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (LADWP), AC Propulsion upgraded two AVS electric buses that were in service on the city hall shuttle route in downtown LA. The upgrade included installing two AC-150s in each bus, new battery packs, new battery management, and new instrumentation. With the upgrades the buses had more power, more range, better driveability and better reliability. The buses continued in service until 2004, when LADWP disbanded its electric vehicle program.

The third and final tzero, tzero 3, was completed in early 2002.  It featured improved weather sealing, larger diameter wheels, and the new AC-150 Gen 2.  tzero 3 is likely to be found zipping around the Berkeley hills or blasting across the Bay Bridge into San Francisco. 

In 2002, the last Volkswagen conversion was completed, but it had an exhaust pipe. In a program sponsored by CARB, South Coast Air Quality Management District, and Volkswagen, AC Propulsion developed a 35-kW trunk-mounted hybrid power unit turning this black 2000 Jetta into a plug-in hybrid with a 35-mile electric range.  The hybrid Jetta is shown here on track at the Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA during the 2003 Michelin Challenge Bibendum. 

In 2003, tzero 1 got a new battery. AC Propulsion pioneered the assembly of small Li Ion cells (in this case 6,800 of them) into a large battery for an electric vehicle. Compared to the original Optima lead-acid batteries, the lithium-ion battery packed four times more energy and carried 500 fewer pounds. The result was a 300-mile range and 0-60 mph in 3.6 seconds. The tzero Super Light versIon is shown here on the drag strip at the California Speedway.  Two weeks later, it was driven 500 miles to Sonoma, CA, where it took first place in the 2003 Michelin Challenge Bibendum.