EVcort
The EVcort was an experimental electric car produced from 1981 to 1994 by Electric Vehicle Associates of Cleveland, Ohio, and later by Soleq Corp. of Chicago, Illinois. It consisted of a stock body and transmission from the Ford Escort, refitted with an electric propulsion system, every component of which was engineered and manufactured specifically for the car. It incorporated features such as regenerative braking and a multistep charging algorithm, that are common on modern electric vehicles but were quite innovative at the time. The intent was to produce a practical alternative-fueled vehicle with performance comparable to gasoline-powered cars, but like many electric vehicles of that era, the EVcort proved far too expensive to be commercially viable. Nevertheless, it was used extensively by a variety of institutions for electric vehicle demonstration and testing programs. Electric Drive Train The distinguishing feature of the EVcort was the use of sophisticated electronics to extract maximum efficiency from the lead-acid battery pack. All of the electronic components: controller, charger, DC/DC converter and DC/AC inverter, were designed specifically for the EVcort by Shunjiro Ohba, a PhD. electrical engineer at Soleq. The car was built under his supervision using engineless Escorts obtained directly from Ford Motor Company.