AMP test drives all-electric Saturn Sky on video

Remember that Ohio-based firm that planned on converting 300 or so Saturn Skys into all-electric roadsters? Advanced Mechanical Products ring a bell? At any rate, said outfit has just hosted up a video of its fourth test drive of a prototype, which is shown sporting an "Electric" badge on the front fender and a whole mess of batteries and wires underneath the hood. Oh, and then there's that unmistakable whizzing sound as it cruises on by. Check out the video after the jump.

[Via AutoblogGreen]

[phanbouy @ Aug 4th 2008 2:56AM]

and by the way, adding "who cares!" isn't helping your cause

[grull27 @ Aug 4th 2008 1:03AM]

That car is beautiful! Saturn hit it right on the head when they made the design for it. It's great that they're going green as well.

[Casper42 @ Aug 4th 2008 2:19AM]

The Skyy is a nice looking car, but did you not pay attention to the article?

The car is being CONVERTED by a third party company called AMP.
Saturn, AKA GM had nothing to do with this.
So your comment about going green doesn't apply to Saturn.

And now a days it seems anyone can make an electric car out of a gas one for around $5000 to $15000 depending on components. Instructions and demos all over the net.

[Metkis @ Aug 4th 2008 4:46AM]

I really wouldn't mind that sitting in my driveway. I wouldn't even miss the rumble of the engine if I knew it would save me 60-100 dollars at the pump.

[tcc3 @ Aug 4th 2008 9:55AM]

You mean Opal hit the nail on the head...

[ds @ Aug 4th 2008 10:59AM]

@tcc3

Not normally one to defend GM, but you realize GM has owned Opel for about 80 years now right? Also, both vehicles are based off a Vauxhall concept car.

[tcc3 @ Aug 4th 2008 12:02PM]

Point well taken, but its moot to a certain extent. Vauxhall, Opal, and Holden are not rebadges of the crappy US GM models. There's evidenty something to be said for the design, engineering and build of the other branches. Now that GM is moving toward global platforms theres a reason why the Opal and Holden platforms are used as starting point. They dont suck.

The grandparent was giving Kudos to Saturn, who is now basically an Opal import brand.

[Rogue_Genius @ Aug 4th 2008 1:47PM]

@ tcc3: it's "Opel", by the way.

[rv @ Aug 4th 2008 2:50PM]

Electric car does not equal green unless its solar. Why? The power plant that charges the car probably runs on fossil fuels as well. You may bot be burning any fuels, but they are being burned by someone to give you your energy (in most cases, does not apply if you have hydroelectric/nuclear/etc...)

[Yodaman @ Aug 6th 2008 11:06PM]

rv, your comment is stupid. I hear this shit all the time about EVs, it's ridiculous and I'll tell you why: The local power plant, for one, has hugely reduced emissions compared to an internal combustion engine on a per-mile-traveled basis. Even if you're using dirty coal it's not even comparable - the coal plant is way, way cleaner than the cars it feeds. Further, even if it wasn't, it's infinitely easier to modify a few thousand power plants to reduce their emissions than it is a few million cars.

Also, many of us aren't using coal power. Greater than 80% of my electricity comes from hydroelectric power. Most of the remainder is nuclear. Less than 2% is dirty power. And, I could put a mix of solar and wind power on my roof and power my car forever, for free, with zero emissions. So how's that?

Next someone will bitch that producing the car is dirty, making the solar cells is dirty, blah blah, to which I'd reply: Go fuck yourself, I'll tolerate reasonable "green" requests but I won't live in the dark ages or pay out the ass for modern amenities to satisfy YOUR craziness.

[Yodaman @ Aug 6th 2008 11:08PM]

rv, your comment is stupid. I hear this shit all the time about EVs, it's ridiculous and I'll tell you why: The local power plant, for one, has hugely reduced emissions compared to an internal combustion engine on a per-mile-traveled basis. Even if you're using dirty coal it's not even comparable - the coal plant is way, way cleaner than the cars it feeds. Further, even if it wasn't, it's infinitely easier to modify a few thousand power plants to reduce their emissions than it is a few million cars.

Also, many of us aren't using coal power. Greater than 80% of my electricity comes from hydroelectric power. Most of the remainder is nuclear. Less than 2% is dirty power. And, I could put a mix of solar and wind power on my roof and power my car forever, for free, with zero emissions. So how's that?

Next someone will bitch that producing the car is dirty, making the solar cells is dirty, blah blah, to which I'd reply: Go fuck yourself, I'll tolerate reasonable "green" requests but I won't live in the dark ages or pay out the ass for modern amenities to satisfy YOUR craziness.

[Miles @ Aug 4th 2008 1:21AM]

looks good. if it can stay under $30,000 msrp when its finished even better.

[SneAKz @ Aug 4th 2008 1:27AM]

The sky starts at almost 27K. I doubt that it will be under 30K for an all electric version.

[Rehan @ Aug 4th 2008 1:24AM]

It sounds like the guy turns a motor engine off at the end..... or is it just me?

[Bryant @ Aug 4th 2008 1:39AM]

I heard it too. It might be a cooling fan, but I have no idea why that would be necessary.

Worth looking into.

[who? @ Aug 4th 2008 1:56AM]

Yeah, an electric engine...

[Bryant @ Aug 4th 2008 2:55AM]

Electric engines (hereby refered to as electric motors, since that's what they are) do not make a mechanical pumping sound when idle or running.

just, you know, fyi.

[andres @ Aug 4th 2008 12:40PM]

@bryant
electric motors do not idle...

[Bryant @ Aug 5th 2008 10:12PM]

Word usage.

I didn't say an electric engine can idle (--verb). I said it can *be* idle. Idle means not working or active according to dictionary.com

Kinda surprised I got voted down on that, too. Shows how much I need to distinguish between words so you guys get a point.

[phanbouy @ Aug 4th 2008 1:56AM]

3G? IDRC? BBQWTF GTFO

[who? @ Aug 4th 2008 2:00AM]

IDRC = I Don't Really Care... You people are so touchy.

[Y00. @ Aug 4th 2008 2:01AM]

The Saturn came out before the DreamCast.

[Dumo @ Aug 4th 2008 2:07AM]

Boo.

[Doug @ Aug 4th 2008 2:25AM]

Someone on Youtube said it is 90 - 110k.. EFF THAT Biz..

[Colin Potter @ Aug 4th 2008 2:29AM]

we all know Youtube comments are the most reliable source of info.

[phanbouy @ Aug 4th 2008 2:31AM]

it's clear you've been spending too much time there, Doug

[Doug @ Aug 4th 2008 2:50AM]

Yesh, My name is Doug... I am a computer geek.. But hey.. At least I can pwn fools at CS and Skateboarding in the same day.. :-D

[ShadowKain @ Aug 4th 2008 10:02AM]

If you are a comptuer geek then why are you so dumb to believe youtube comments as if they were sacred scripture? I swear no one really investigates or researches things for themselves today, gullible 13 year old turds...

[Eric @ Aug 4th 2008 10:45AM]

according to AMPS website
http://www.ampmotorworks.com/html/order.shtml
the conversion cost is $25,000
plus the cost of a saturn sky. the base price is $26,475
so about 50k

google guys come on
+ im fifteen for those of you making shitty comments about teenagers

[LordJohnWhorfin @ Aug 4th 2008 2:27AM]

The lines are gorgeous, unfortunately the day to day reality of the car is a bit different. Between the pokey engine, the lousy transmission, and the ill-fitting top, it makes you wonder if the GM designers have ever had a look at a Miata. Maybe the electric motor will resurrect this dodo, but I wouldn't count on it. So far, it's been a real waste of beautiful lines.

[Andir3.0 @ Aug 4th 2008 8:46AM]

Agree. I looked at a Solstice when I was looking for a car to replace my RX8. I ended up going with a PRHT MX5 instead. People keep saying that GM is improving, but frankly I don't see it.

[Taylor @ Aug 4th 2008 1:39PM]

Meh, i love my Sky. :)
-Taylor

[happy_penguin @ Aug 4th 2008 6:00PM]

While your concerns about the top are seemingly valid according to the reviews I've read, the Redline version offers a lot more performance and seems to review well. Regardless, your concerns about the drivetrain are hardly valid here since this is a conversion and the drivetrain has been replaced.

[Colin Potter @ Aug 4th 2008 2:29AM]

that video is..... SHOCKING

[jixer08 @ Aug 4th 2008 2:24PM]

seriously shocking........I mean, they can perform an electric conversion but they can't buy a $20 tripod? wtf?

[D K N Y @ Aug 4th 2008 2:30AM]

The noise of this car remind me of the Mach 5 on Speed Racer

[phanbouy @ Aug 4th 2008 3:06AM]

whoa... that spammer was removed quick! sorry for the misplaced reply.. it's all Weblogs, Inc.'s fault i swear =)

[phanbouy @ Aug 4th 2008 2:55AM]

that's funny, i went to chat.com and all i saw was CNET... i didn't know they were hiring message board spammers now. cray-zay!

[gad get @ Aug 4th 2008 3:18AM]

You went to chat.com?!

[phanbouy @ Aug 4th 2008 3:23AM]

i'd replied to a spammer. ya had to be there...

[TopaZ @ Aug 4th 2008 3:58AM]

If you're LUCKY, you can scoop up a used Sky for around $18k, plus the $25 for conversion, bringing you to $43k, which, yeah... still pretty much breaks my wallet.

The only electric in my future is the off chance of copping a Miles or a Zenn for under 10k.

[Prokanda @ Aug 4th 2008 4:03AM]

wait wait... what the hell do you mean by "you people"?

(I kid, I kid.)

[who? @ Aug 4th 2008 4:06AM]

Those who Lowest Ranked me.

(ouch!)

[scott @ Aug 4th 2008 4:10AM]

http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2007/01/its-beautiful.jpg

[Scott Neary @ Aug 4th 2008 8:04AM]

That sounded like an imperial speeder bike.

[maxxwizard @ Aug 4th 2008 9:20AM]

was that albert einstein i saw?

[nick @ Aug 4th 2008 10:23AM]

as far as saving gas, this machine would be awesome. so i'm not completely schooled on this, but doesn't using electricity cause pollution as well? and batteries.. are bad for the environment, even when "recycled"... with all the power/batteries this would burn through, isn't it kind of a wasted effort? I'll agree this is an amazing advancement. I think hydrogen is where it is at though.

[n0m4d @ Aug 4th 2008 12:12PM]

It takes electricity to make hydrogen.

[w00t @ Aug 4th 2008 12:16PM]

But doesn't using hydrogen cause pollution as well?

For a start, our main method of producing hydrogen requires electricity, more so than if you simply used the electricity directly!

I think there's some promise in super capacitors. Those busses in China that top up their capacitors through contacts at each bus stop are a neat idea :)

[unityblue @ Aug 4th 2008 4:02PM]

Unfortunately appears FAKER THAN FAKE, considering all of the considerable background noise.

Regardless, even if it is true, it's not exactly mind blowing, as various previous comments have mentioned.