While electric vehicles are popular now with ever-rising gas prices, they are certainly nothing new. Their origins date back to 1832, when Scottish chemist Robert Anderson built the first electric-powered carriage, and by the 1890s, fleets of electric cars, including Morris and Salom electric cabs, were common and made up one-third of all vehicles on U.S. roads. The popularity of electric vehicles has waxed and waned over the decades since, but by the 1970s, the 1973 gas crisis caused by the Arab oil embargo and the 1979 gas crisis triggered by the Iranian Revolution led to ever-climbing prices at the pump and thoughts of alternative methods. This gas crisis gave birth to the Comuta-Car, an ultra-compact electric microcar produced from 1979 to 1982 by Commuter Vehicles, Inc. in Sebring, Florida. If you would like to own one of these oddball vehicles, a 1981 Comuta-car is in Topeka, Kansas, and for sale here on Facebook Marketplace for $3,500 firm. Special thanks to reader Zappenduster for the tip!
Described quite accurately as an electric cheese wedge, the Comuta-Car has a very distinct Cycolac ABS thermoplastic body, a 2-door, 2-seat layout, and large, protruding 5 mph impact bumpers. These cars sold new for between $4,000 and $6,500. The Comuta-Car being sold has factory Imron polyurethane Bermuda Blue paint that is missing in a few spots and a sunroof. Upon close inspection of the photos, the roof appears to have some cracks. The seller notes the tires are new and the bumpers have been rebuilt.
The interior of the seller’s Comuta-Car features a white vinyl bench seat, a simulated woodgrain dashboard, and pushbutton controls. The bench seat folds down for easy access to the storage area behind it. For those wondering, the car’s side windows slide open for fresh air, as the Comuta-Car did not offer air conditioning.
A GE Series DC electric motor powers the street-legal Comuta-Car, producing around 6 hp and running on a 48-volt system powered by eight 6-volt lead-acid batteries. The Comuta-Car has a top speed of roughly 40 mph and a driving range of about 30 to 40 miles on a charge. The seller’s Comuta-Car, however, is not currently running, and he states he has given up after spending three years working on it. Work completed toward that goal included rebuilding the controller and installing a new master cylinder, but there are no batteries, so this vehicle should definitely be considered a non-running project.
It’s fascinating that the Comuta-Car, along with its Sebring-Vanguard CitiCar predecessor, held the record as the most-produced U.S.-market electric car post-WWII until the Tesla Model S surpassed it. If anyone has experience working on electric cars, this non-running Comuta-Car could make a great, rare project. What do you readers think about classic electric cars?
By now, most know my 4am views on electric anything, my biggest concern is and always will be, so much has been put into electric devices, without any real plan for where that juice will come from. Planned data centers will only exacerbate the issue. However, when this car was made, it wasn’t supposed to take the place of gas, like today, but more a novelty that few cared about. Electric cars? Pfft, dreamers, but look what happened. Electric cars in rural situations will never take the place of gas. All about range, remember, 40 mile range, is 20 out and 20 back and goes fast. I was at a yard sale in my hometown a while back, and under ton of clutter, was one of these. I asked the lady, “is that a Comuta-Car”? Why yes it is, she said, you’re the only one that knew what that was. Hmm, is that so? For a local Walmart runs, be a hoot.