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What it's like to drive the Williams homebuilt electric

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by Michael Lamm
WEST COAST EDITOR

Bill Williams invited me over to drive his electric Datsun one sunny afternoon last June.

It takes no special training to drive an electric car, but you do develop a certain knack within a few blocks. "On lever ground, get out of low gear as quickly as possible," Bill told me. This I did shifting to second after a short power burst.

Under hard acceleration, the pulse-width-modulated controller lets out a loud whistle, which I personally found distracting. But other driver might enjoy it. It's louder than a turbocharger but in the same vein.

The converted Datsun accelerates with adequate briskness for all the the tightest situations. Within a few minutes, I learned how to enter busy thoroughfares. There's no problem keeping up with stop-and-go traffic. At red lights, everything shuts down -- no waste of energy at all. Nothing "idles." Then when the signal turns green, down goes the accelerator and off goes the car -- very smoothly, without click and jerks I've noticed in other electrics.

The Williams car cruises effortlessly in town at 40 mph. Bill has driven 55 on the freeway. The electric has a normal range of 40 miles when used around town.

I found the electric Datsun's worst enemy to be hills. Mild grades -- those normal in city driving -- offer no great challenge, although I did find myself speeding up or downshifting to third several times. On one particularly steep hill during our photo session, Bill needed to use second. Again, it's just a matter of learning the car's capabilities and then compensating. The transmission makes this vehicle much more flexible.

All in all, I came away from my drive with nothing but admiration for the car and its constructor. It's a beautifully neat, clean conversion -- very professional. It costs about a penny a mile to run it. An overnight charge always leaves the batteries topped up.

Bill Williams commutes 12 miles a day to and from Hewlett-Packard. So, for this purposes, it's a perfect blend of economy, utility, performance and hobby. And never again will he have to wait on gas lines.

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SPECIFICATIONS -- ELECTRIC CAR

Motor: General Electric 30-hp (d.c.) 2CM77 aircraft starter generator (with shunt field). About $300

Power: 72 volts (12 6-volt 244AH Trojan batteries). About $70@

Controller: 400-amp/72-volt IC/transistor, pulse-width-modulated; includes regenerative braking and field control. About $400.

Vehicle weight: 2280 pounds.

Range: 40 miles in city stop-and-go traffic.

Speed: 40 mph cruise, 55 mph max.