If you have a short commute, in nice, warm weather, on two-lane roads at 40 mph or under, this 1980 Comuta-Car could be something to consider. Although with no air-conditioning, airbags, roll-down windows, or ABS, and having four lead-acid batteries on each end, maybe it isn’t for you. If it is, you can find it posted here on craigslist in Greenville, Missouri, and they’re asking $2,000. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Jack M. for the tip!

By clean, I mean it looks super clean, as in nice and clean, not “clean” as in the hot-button issue of clean energy. Most of us know that in order to get electric power, it can be a dirty business, even with many clean energy sources out there. If you have solar panels at home, recharging is as clean as it gets, although charging these big lead-acid batteries is rarely clean. Did any of that make sense?

I don’t see many flaws in this car inside or out, or really any flaws. This is another case of a couple of hours of detailing the heck out of this 8-foot-long car could have made it look almost like new. As it looks now, it almost looks new to me, but with a heavy coating of dust and some surface rust on the rare wheel covers. I don’t even see any cracks on the ungainly bumper covers where the eight batteries live, both front and back. Although we don’t get to see a rear 3/4 photo, unfortunately, or one under the seat where a charger should be. I saw a really nice, restored version of this car at a Cars & Coffee event way back in 2015, and the seller was asking $4,500. I should have grabbed that one, or both the green and yellow cars.

The first iteration of this car was the smaller, extended-bumperless CitiCar. It was arguably a much nicer-looking car, and the batteries were under the seat. They were made from 1974 through 1977 by Sebring-Vanguard in Florida. Production shifted to Commuter Vehicles, Inc. for 1979, and by the end of the Comuta-Car’s run in 1982, over 4,000 of both models had been sold to a public hoping to use them for cheap commuter vehicles during a period of high gas prices. Spare parts are always good, and the seller is including several useful parts, along with some paperwork and binders of information.

Speaking of clean, there is a clean Illinois title for this Comuta-Car, so that’s good, right? The interior looks basically like new. This l’il commuter is powered by a 6-hp GE electric motor, and you probably already guessed that it isn’t running at the moment. I mean, not running as idling (cough), but as in probably needing new batteries, which is usually the case with old EVs. If a person lived in an area away from major traffic and high-speed roads, this would be a fun way to run errands around town. For the record, I know the following: don’t take it on the freeway, and if you get hit head-on by a texting Chevy Suburban driver, that won’t end well. Otherwise, plug in and go!