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DIY Project: Electric Saab Sonett

Electric Saab SonettElectric Saab Sonett

Adam Curtis studying the viability of using OEM parts for custom electric conversions. This project is using many Electric Smart Car parts and one 1974 Saab Sonett used as the basis for the project.

Adama builds an electric drive system for a 1974 Saab Sonett. He restoring the car, designing and building reinforcement upgrades and then hacking the Electric Smart Car system to use in this car. This is his senior thesis project at Hampshire College.

Saab Sonett Project Car

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He was already two months into this project, and has completed a most of the physical repairs to the car. He is well on his way with funding from grants and benefactors. Now, he he is working on the drivetrain and deciding which batteries to use right now. The future holds many exciting challenges.

  • Hacking the Smart Car parts.
  • Building a safe and efficient battery pack at 350 volts.
  • Adapting the Smart Car drivetrain to the Sonett axels or hubs.
  • Brake job and fixing/replacing all the old worn out bearings/bushing/shocks etc…

This Project can be followed on the Project website. We wish him good luck, and to quickly end his project. It will be another Saab EV in a series of electric Saab vehicles.

Adam Curtis works on his EV Saab Sonett
Adam Curtis works on his EV Saab Sonett
Goran Aničić
the authorGoran Aničić
For over 15 years, Goran Aničić has been passionately focused on Saab automobiles and everything related to them. His initial encounter with Saab cars took place back in 2003 when the first Saab 9-3 and sedan version were introduced. At that moment, he was captivated by the car's Scandinavian design logic and top-notch engineering, and everything that followed stemmed from that first encounter. Later on, through his work at the editorial team of the Serbian automotive magazines "Autostart" and later "AutoBild," he had the opportunity to engage more closely with Saab vehicles. In 2008, he tested the latest Saab cars of that time, such as the Saab 9-3 TTiD Aero and Saab 9-3 Turbo X. In 2010, as the sole blogger from the region, he participated in the Saab 9-5ng presentation in Trollhättan, Sweden. Alongside journalists from around the world, he got a firsthand experience of the pinnacle of technological offerings from Saab at that time. Currently, Goran owns two Saabs: a 2008 Saab 9-3 Vector Sportcombi with a manual transmission, and a Saab 9-3 Aero Griffin Sport Sedan from the last generation, which rolled off the production line in Trollhättan in December 2011.

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