A company in Alaska, Ethos Electric Vehicles, wants to build an all-electric two-seat roadster and is seeking crowd funding to make it happen. Ethos builds custom electric motorcycles and automobiles and hopes to raise $100,000 to make their new EV roadster a reality.
The roadster is based on the Graber Cars La Bala kit car, sans the combustion engine, and with the addition of batteries and electric all-wheel drive. They’re targeting $48,000 for the base model, $60,000 for a more deluxe version, and $28,000 for a two-wheel drive model.
The La Bala has been used before by enthusiasts hoping to make their own EV. One that’s still on the road was built in 2008 by Paul Pearson. What Ethos brings to the table is expert assembly, their own powertrain, and a weather-tight cabin with more storage space than the kit car has as-is. Functioning doors and windows are also added, making the car production legal.
Our goal is to take the La Bala and make it a fun, sexy, reliable and safe all-season electric vehicle at an affordable cost to the end user. To do this we will refine the design in Solidworks and produce as a turn key in three configurations two wheel drive, all wheel drive base and high performance.
The crowd funding money would go towards tooling and jigs to make the project happen. Here are the updates the company plans to make to the kit car as part of its build process:
- Re-designing the rear suspension from a De-Dion to a full IRS and IFS of Ethos’ design to be AWD with its electric automatic transmission and motor combination.
- Full roll protection to FIA standards
- Enclosing the cockpit and providing functional doors with roll-up windows.
- Adding front and rear storage space.
- Designing in the battery pack (preliminarily 68 kWh).
- Adding air conditioning and heat.
You can find their GoFundMe and more information at this link.
