David Hazen of Eugene, Oregon, had a dream: to build an electric car in the same manner as you would a hand-crafted wooden boat. And on October 22, 2008, he achieved this dream — mostly. The XP-Humm-E is still missing a few niceties, like doors and carpeting, but it runs and drives, and he’s even got a VIN from the state.
Here’s the 7-minute video of how Hazen constructed the car, which ended up as a Frankenstein of VW, Saab, and Kawasaki parts with glass-backed cedar body panels. It will even have removable gullwing doors; Lamborghini, eat your heart out! The 400 pounds of batteries and 12-hp electric motor propel the XP-Humm-E to a top speed (so far) of 39.5 mph. Normally, according to the video, Hazen can tool around at 35 mph for about 35 miles on a charge.
The video includes an in-car, driver’s-eye-view camera, so you can hear the wind and the road noise, but no engine. For those of you new to the EV experience, that’s a pretty good approximation of what you get. As the car gets more complete, those noises will be lessened, too.
Tags: batteries, electric cars, hand-built cars, Oregon, videos
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