33 Machine electric 818e build- Sold! Headed to China!

[68GT500MAN]

Eric, your build looked amazing and every time I would walk by it there were many people there looking and asking questions. Thanks for doing this build and hosting the Wednesday night cocktail hour.
Doug

[Frank818]

The bar's pretty high, tough to have one more perfect!

[flynntuna]

Great job Eric. Looks like the 818 will be an outstanding platform for an electric power plant. Do you have any knowledge wether EV West will be offering a kit to 818 owners to build their own 818e?

[ehansen007]

It's already on their site! Check it out at www.evwest.com

[wleehendrick]

It's already on their site! Check it out at www.evwest.com

That's awesome... I hope to see more 818e's; however...

***batteries not included***

[flynntuna]

Thanks Eric for the heads up. Have you figured out what your range is, the EV website says 60 mi, is that close?

[Canadian818]

Congrats on sema! Any chance we can get more info on the wrapping process? More specifically, what challenges did the 818 present?

[Ironhydroxide]

Saw this at sema. Awesome to see such build quality in person.

[ehansen007]

Thanks Eric for the heads up. Have you figured out what your range is, the EV website says 60 mi, is that close?

Yeah but that's the max for me with all the hills around where I live.

As for the wrapping process, the car is not an easy one to wrap with all the recessed ducts and intakes. You need to make sure the body is still pretty good. I was glad that the majority of the panel main areas just needed a quick blocking. They were really flat. It was all the blown out edges and bad corners that needed work. I haven't seen the new bodies but I'm hearing they are much better in this area than the original 20 or so.

[ehansen007]

Went out and took some pics yesterday. I'm liking the white pearl more and more.

[ehansen007]

[ehansen007]

[metalmaker12]

I love white also!!!!, I am almost ready for my second first start and than install my painted white body.

[Frank818]

I love white also!!!!, I am almost ready for my second first start and than install my painted white body.

Ok that answers my question on your thread I posted 2sec before reading this. lolll

Awesome pix Eric, awesome... I don't like white, but that special pearl white effect is really unique. I think the black humps are a must to the look though. Keeping them white wouldn't be as good, to my opinion.

[ehansen007]

Yes, my only regret was that the original released car was in red then switched to white gel which was the color I wanted to do! Oh well. The monochrome is very popular right now and it looks great on this car. White also makes the car look larger IMO. Thanks for the kind words.

As for the wrap. It's hard to say if I would do it again. While it was an optimal situation for me and my sponsors, as a solid color, the wrap looks just as good however if you damage it during or after the application, you have to re-wrap the entire section which really sucks. With that said, I still wanted a matte color so that would be pretty much the same since you can't fix matte paint like cleared paint. The good news is it looks perfect and is much more uniform as a matte color which can be harder to spray evenly.

[svanlare]

Outstanding. Turned out very nice and I agree the black humps and black trim on the front hood set it off nicely.

[07FIREBLADE]

Looks great, where did you get the led strips for your headlights. I remember you saying something originally but I thought they didn't show that well. These look great.

[longislandwrx]

How's the range been? Is it set up now to use any of the rapid charging stations available?

[ehansen007]

The LED strips are okay but in full sun light they aren't as strong as open LEDs. I got them from Ali Baba and they came out with longer ones right after I got mine.

BTW, For all of those out there with the stock headlights, I would HIGHLY consider upgrading to the aftermarket ones with projectors like Spyder. The reason is that the projectors and the high beams both have their own adjustments to help with the weird position the buckets put the headlights in.

As for the range, yes, I get around 50 around here with all the hills right now but I have yet to optimize and get the regen braking working which can help. And I can charge at the stations ever since I installed the J-1772 connector which is the standard for the 220 stations. As for the Tesla Rapid Charge, it won't work with my car. My car has an Elcon 5000 which is an onboard charger that is limited to taking 30A only and won't go over that for safety reasons.

[Speedy G]

Any numbers? 0-60? How's first gear, can you chirp the tires in first if you stomp on it?

Btw, awesome pics, 2 of them are now on rotation on my desktop.

[Brando]

Great pics. Renaissance?

[metalmaker12]

Great pics. Renaissance?

What's up with your ride man?

[Brando]

Early Riser! I haven't been pushing things as hard this round. The motor should be back in within the next 2 weeks. I'm immediately focusing on finishing registration which is 95% done.
I still need get my oil cooler & swirl tank installed. After that i'm dropping it off at Racepaq in Rancho Santa Margarita to have the pros do the initial setup with their data logging software. I hope to be tuned, broken in and back on a track by Jan. I want to make sure I have proper logging this round just in case..... stuff happens.

[ehansen007]

Cause it's all about that......

[wleehendrick]

A sub fits in the dash? Awesome, I never thought of that! I think I know what I'll be doing. I'd almost given up on trying to get some bump in da trunk.

[K3LAG]

I was thinking of doing something similar with the sub. I was going to go just a little bit smaller though. Nice to see someone else do it first.

Larry

[ehansen007]

Some funny footage of the 818e cruising around San Diego.

[Brando]

Another great video Eric, as always. Today i got a chance to ride in my buddies Tesla 85D. The off the line launch is just unreal, as if the S wasn't enough right? I convinced him to take it out to AutoX on March 7th at el toro. I am running too. Bring your car, but at least come and have 1 run in This 85D its out of hand fast. Lets get together soon. B

[wleehendrick]

Some funny footage of the 818e cruising around San Diego.

Cool... that's my hood!







Encinitas.jpg

[ehansen007]

Well, this 818E journey has come to a close. Like the Hot Rod, this car wasn't for sale but someone talked me out of it and was very convincing. This car has been my opus thus far and I couldn't be more proud and thankful of all the people who helped me out along the way. Because it was electric, I got to meet an entirely new segment/demographic during this project and some have become like family to me.

Coincidentally, when I finished the car and was driving it around, I thought that if I could sell it for a profit I probably would. I also thought if someone were to pay that much for it, it would have to be someone overseas,...somewhere like China,...where pollution is so bad and they are still struggling for independence. Well, in January, I got a call from a guy in China who wanted me to build him two so he could sell the idea of building a limited edition to the Government. He needed a prototype of some sort. Enter the 818e. I never would have believed and told myself I wouldn't believe it until it left my driveway on a truck and the money was in the bank. Well, that day was today.

I definitely have mixed emotions for sure. While it had a range limitation, wherever it went, it gained huge attention. It was smooth quiet and quick which made it great to cruise around. I did miss the engine noise and the vibration that's for sure so I'm not sure where that's going to lead me. Probably back to a 302 small block. We'll see.

I think my biggest regret is that I won't have anything to take to the HB show for the first time in 4 years. Maybe I'll ride my bike.

For now, the garage is empty....

for now.

[Mechie3]

That's pretty cool. Thought bittersweet, think if something actually comes of it. You can be the guy who sits back and says "yeah....I built the one that started it all".

[wleehendrick]

Congrats on the sale, but knowing it's not in SoCal anymore...

sad-cat.jpg
I haz sad

[Hindsight]

Wow, that was quick! Congrats on the sale. Keep us posted on what you decide to build next, even if it isn't an 818.

[xxguitarist]

Congrats on the sale. I know the Electric withdrawl all too well.
I rode a Brammo probably 350 days of the year for the better part of two years. Rough switch back to gas-only.

[H R Lucky]

Congratulations on the sale Erik.
So, are you going to build him the second one that he wanted?

[Wayne Presley]

Congrats E! What's next?

[David Hodgkins]

??

[metalmaker12]

Cool stuff

[rtz]

Build another electric!




Look at this deal on a Tesla motor/inverter/gearbox:

http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showt...motor-for-sale

Or put this little and light motor in something: http://store.evtv.me/proddetail.php?prod=UQM100

Or a 2,000 amp Zilla and a DC motor?

[wleehendrick]

I think Erik's suffering V8 withdrawal symptoms, but I have a suggestion... do both! Since you've done a replica and an electric 818, stretch the budget/skillset and build a modern hypercar. A GTM with electric drive in front... homebrew P1/918/La Ferrari fighter!

(Yes, I realize the software integration challenge to make it drivable)