Henney Kilowatt was the world's first transistor-regulated electric car. It was a project of National Union Electric Company and Henney Motor Company, a coachbuilder known especially for their conversions of Packards to ambulances, hearses and limousines. The tooling and parts for the car were purchased from Renault, therefore the car looks virtually identical to Renault Dauphine. The electric propulsion system was designed and built by Eureka Williams, manufacturer of vacuum cleaners.
Production started in 1959, initially with a 36-volt system of two sequential 18-volt batteries. This solution was soon deemed impractical as the car had a range of only 40 miles and top speed of around 40 mph. For the 1960 model year Henney was fitted with a 72-volt system consisting of six 12-volt batteries. This allowed the car to reach 60 mph and drive over 60 miles on a single charge.
During the two-year production run, 100 rolling chassis were produced, of which only 47 were completed as functional cars and sold. 32-35 cars were sold to electric utility companies and only 12-15 to general public. The company continued to promote the Kilowatt in 1961 in hope of finishing and selling the remaining 53 chassis, but only a few cars were sold. The main problem was that the 72-volt system was too expensive and complicated to attain the targeted $3600 tag price.
It is estimated that between 4 and 8 cars still exist.Among them are the very first two cars - the prototype and the s/n 0001 - which for 45 years had been stored by a former company engineer, and a few years ago sold with less than 500 miles driven.
Last edited by go.pawel; 07-24-2007 at 01:42 AM.
It's not denial. I'm just very selective about the reality I accept.
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