Chris Roberts, a Belleville man, made lemonade out of a lemon. He took a non-operational 1985 Renault Alliance DL convertible, and changed it to a fully operational electric car. Robert is a 38-year old infrastructure specialist who lives in Ameren, Illinois. His normal duties include supporting the operations personnel in the implementation of advanced metering infrastructure for the utility. He works at the Collinsville office, and commutes in his new electric car. There are a number of reasons why he chose to use the ’85 Renault car.

One of the key reasons why Roberts chose the ’85 Renault car is its convenience. He said that he had owned the car until 2006 following the breaking of the second of its riming belts. He added that his family had a Renault history. This means that he knew the car inside and out since he had used it for a long time. He further added that he took almost three years to work on the conversion to an electric car. This entailed putting the car parts together in the garage. He purchased all the components, including batteries, and put them together. The technical details of this process have been presented at a website, www.evalbum.com/4745.

Roberts claims that the car was manufactured in Kenosha and was a joint venture with American Motors Company, although it carries a French nameplate. The car had numerous problems. After putting a new timing belt in the car in Saint Louis, the car could only make it to Belleville where a new timing belt snapped. As it later turned out, the broken timing belt interfered with a large part of the engine. Breaking of the belt is one of the most common problems faced by car mechanics. This is what promoted Roberts to junk the engine and go electric.

When Robert was younger, his father, an electrician by profession had helped him in working on cars. Roberts said that his dad assembled a circuit that runs all the dashboard’s original gauges. There is an electric plug inside the gas cap flap. The plug will perfectly fit a regular 220-volt dryer outlet. A 100-foot extension cord would also be needed.

Roberts has driven the electric car for almost 500 miles. Connections, settings, and adjustments are still being made. Roberts is still trying to figure out the high end of the electric car’s range on a single electric charge. He approximates the range to be between forty to fifty miles. A recharge would take three to four hours and two passengers are held by the car.