Since you ripped the gas engine out of a car, I am assuming that the structural integrity of the base car was not an issue. Did you have to do anyting special to get the vehicle safety inspected to run on public roads?

-Marvin-

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Marvin,

The motor mount that I put in the car increases the integrity of the front end. It is bolted to the original motor mount on the passenger side of the car, and there is a new mount that is welded to the frame on the drivers side. Now, I haven’t had an engineer review this, but a custom car builder of 20 years agreed this was the best route to take.

Maine has special inspection and registration laws for 3 wheeled and low speed electric vehicles. My car has 4 wheels and is technically highway capable (55mph) so I don’t fall into either of those categories. I spent a good month tracking down all of the Maine laws on electric vehicles and the two above were all I found. Actually, the low speed vehicle law just came into effect recently. After asking around at all the inspection stations, I just brought the car into one. It was a pretty standard safety inspection. I had to prove that all the safety features of the car were in proper working order (lights, blinkers, horn, wipers, etc…) and had to show that the car could stop in a reasonable distance. There was no problem with any of the standard safety checkpoints so the car was then inspected.

Thanks for taking a look at the site.

Ed
ZeroGasoline Administrator