Matt Pollitz, owner of X-Ray Auto, removes the internal combustion engine from a 1965 Volvo. (Peggy Sturdivant)
Vintage Volvos -- those sturdy Swedish cars that residents of Seattle's Ballard neighborhood still drive in droves -- are getting a 21st-century makeover.
As Ballard's Scandinavian heritage becomes more and more diverse, one thing remains strong -- its residents' love affair with the Volvo. "Best car ever made," is how Ballard resident Regnor Reinholdtsen describes his 1967 122 Volvo wagon. "This is my second one, but it's going to outlive me."
Matt Pollitz and SEVA volunteer Ingrid Lewis install lithium ion batteries into a custom-designed box during the conversion. (Peggy Sturdivant)
Just as the neighborhood has evolved, so must those classic cars. That's the dream of Matt Pollitz, owner of X-Ray Auto in Ballard. He works exclusively on pre-1975 Volvos and last month, in order to diversify his business, started offering electric conversions.
"It's the perfect wedding of elegant, durable automobiles with the future," Pollitz says. "An electric version is so much cleaner and efficient. The electric Volvo is going to be a magic combination."
Electric conversions have spread in popularity and availability in recent years because it's an economical choice for those wanting a "greener" machine, says Dave Barden of the Seattle Electric Vehicle Association (SEVA). Stripped of the need for gas stations or engine tune-ups, a converted electric vehicle can recoup the costs within years, Barden says.
X-Ray Auto
- Matt Pollitz's shop is fittingly located on the future site of the Nordic Heritage Museum in Ballard. It's already a bit of a museum itself, filled floor to ceiling with parts for every Volvo model imported to the United States from 1956 to 1974. Pollitz and his associates salvage Volvos from across the state, harvesting each usable part. xrayauto.net
SEVA member Kent Bakke says he was inspired by the added challenge of converting a vintage automobile, giving a well-made car a second life -- without emissions.
Pollitz's move into converting Volvos came after meeting Bakke at Nellie's, a neighborhood coffee shop. Obsessed with electric vehicles since childhood, Bakke was eager to convert an existing car. The 1965 P544 that belonged to Nellie's co-owner Jeanette Meade intrigued both Bakke and Pollitz, as there is no record of anyone converting a pre-1975 Volvo.
Over a long weekend in March, Pollitz and a team of SEVA members completed the conversion from internal combustion to electric propulsion drive. The prototype car lost 30 pounds after being stripped of its engine, starter motor, fuel tank, exhaust pipes, muffler and cooling system; at 2,220 pounds, it now weighs 742 pounds less than a 2010 Toyota Prius.
Local rapper's ode to his Volvo and Ballard neighborhood
- For local rapper Grynch's ode to his Volvo and Ballard neighborhood, see the Matson On Music blog (warning: includes adult language).
Pollitz is excited about doing more vintage conversions and is confident the process will be smoother each time. He says that the dropping cost of materials, including lithium ion batteries, will lower the cost of conversion, currently estimated at $10,000.
"Converting an older vehicle isn't like building from scratch," Pollitz says. "There's a reason these cars have been running 40 years. With the conversion, there's no reason they won't keep running another 40."
Prototype owner Meade is thrilled about her now-silent 1965 automobile -- and being able to simply plug it in. "This has exceeded my wildest dreams," she says.
5 Comments
By Bernard on October 16, 2010 10:57 AM
"There's a reason these cars have been running 40 years."
That's correct: it's Volvo's sturdy B18 engine, made from one side of a V8 truck engine. It's in the Guiness Book of Records. After 40 years you may have to refresh it for $750.oo to $1,000.00, but then it's good for another 40 years.
The $10K conversion and the battery packs needed in 40 years alone make this a non-viable proposition. You will never be able to see a 40-year old Prius on the road, but you will see plenty of 80-year-old Volvos, powered by B18 and B20 engines in 2050.
By Ryan Price on October 19, 2010 2:45 PM
@Bernard: Sure, Volvo’s B16/18/20 engines are about as robust as they come, but let’s be real: these engines require a lot more than $750–$1000 of routine maintenance over a forty-year period. Even if nothing breaks, you have regular oil changes and tune-ups. And because these are 40–50-year-old engines, you’re replacing parts which, quite simply, are long past their intended lifespan.
And you know what? These parts aren’t going to be available forever.
Owning two of these vehicles, I understand the source of pride your statement’s coming from. But that’s the only place it’s coming from; it’s not grounded in reality.
By Paul on March 2, 2011 3:22 PM
It's a good idea, but Not worth the money. IF you have the money for it though and want to do it, you should because you can. USA,USA!!!! Plus oil won't be around forever.
And I'm all for keeping old cars on the road rather than generating and throwing away more plastic hunks of junk.
However, It's just shifting over to a different type of pollution and different maintenance costs. You still have to charge the batteries and that power used to do it costs money and is coming from somewhere.
The disposal of the toxic batteries, once they have run their full life, is just as bad for the environment.
It's just putting your carbon footprint in a different area.
As long as a person understands they won't be able to drive very fast or very far and it will cost them a whole lot more money to do it and they will still be polluting the world in a different way..........I'm on board.
By Ryan Price on March 3, 2011 9:20 AM
It's true that you're shifting the pollution from your tailpipe to your power plant, but the benefit of that shift shouldn't be written off. It consolidates the automotive pollution problem from millions of small power plants to just a handful of very large power plants. Electric vehicles are able to take immediate advantage of cleaner, more efficient energy generation, which stands in stark contrast to a traditional petrol vehicle whose efficiency will, at best, remain constant from the day you buy it.
And batteries are playing increasingly important roles in our lives. We're gonna get real good at recycling those suckers.
By SalmonLover on December 5, 2012 10:09 PM
In the Pacific Northwest, just turning on the bathroom light should be a federal crime—the number and size of of hydro-electric dams that you people have built is an ecological nightmare for wild fish populations and will take decades if not centuries to undo.
Adding the burden of electric vehicles to your power system is the height of irresponsible selfishness.
Walk; use mass transit, burn all the gasoline you want, but please do not make salmon and steelhead pay the price for your unquenchable thirst for power.