Welcome to my little cars website. My faithful companion, Teddy, the AMAZING Corgi!, and I go on little trips to parks around town in it. I nicknamed my little Sebring-Vanguard CitiCar, “The Chez”, because it looks like a wedge of cheese on wheels. Mine is the 1976½ SV-48 transition model.

The CitiCar is a little two seater hatchback, zipping along past gas stations at a whopping 38 mph with a range of 30 miles. Partially as a response to the 1973 oil crisis, this American Built electric vehicle is meant as a second or third car to travel on short trips around town to pickup groceries, children from school, run errands, and play a game of bridge. The concept was to use your gas powered vehicle (the family car) for long distance traveling or outings with the family. You would only be paying a penny or two per mile for smaller trips in the CitiCar. I pay between 3-4¢ per mile.

With its’ minimalist design, these little electric vehicles were mass produced in Sebring Florida by Sebring-Vanguard, and later by Commuter Vehicles from 1974 to 1982.

There were about 2,300 CitiCars produced until 1977. Sebring-Vanguard produced enough CitiCars that they were listed as the sixth largest U.S. automaker. Commuter Vehicles, went on to purchase the company and changed the name of the cars to “Comuta-Car”. You’ll often see both of these little cars referred to as “C-Cars”. There were 4,444 variants of both Comuta-Cars and CitiCars produced, including vans and a truck, until 1982. They were the highest mass-produced electric car until another American company came along with their own car, thirty years later.

History

The CitiCar is an interesting curiosity in American history. I’ve learned about the vision of car salesman fighting the big auto industry, as well as popular opinion about electric cars.

Many people see the CitiCar as a very simple car with shoddy workmanship. Others say a negative article by Consumer Reports was responsible for the company going bankrupt. In it’s heyday, Sebring-Vanguard was on the edge of cutting technology while trying to lower the costs to build the car without dedicated parts manufacturers at their beckoning. With each model, you can see how the company continued to make improvements over time. Had the company been still around today, it may have been a superior luxury vehicle compared to other vehicles on the market.

You’ll find many references to magazine articles, congressional hearings, court records, recall notices, books, sales pamphlets, manuals, and just about anything else I can find regarding the CitiCar and Comuta-Car vehicles.

Why…

When considering purchasing an EV, I found they were unable to compete when it comes to my long road trips due to range, time to recharge, and availability of charging stations. In addition, the initial investment is too high to justify compared to whats available. I delayed my purchase and started investing in various automotive manufacturers that were building electric vehicles.

Since I work from home, most of my travel is to parks around town to exercise, get some fresh air, and walk my dog. Other than pleasure drives around town, my primary car is a hybrid that I only use for a rare trip to the office, doctors appointments, and a yearly road trip of 2,500 miles. An EV with limited range for zipping around town is perfect.

The CitiCar and Comuta-Car have been showing up as blips on my radar as I was often following news regarding electric vehicles. They have a quirky appearance and a great history of an underdog fighting pollution and defending themselves from the automotive industry. I’ve also looked at other small electric cars, scooters, used electric vehicles, as well as converting a car to an EV.

Most CitiCars that I’ve seen online are in bad shape, and are primarily project cars. I’m more of a “maker”. I often have many small projects that I work on, and I was up for the task to learn about EV’s, restore a CitiCar, and add my own touch of flair.

I found a CitiCar about an hour from my house that looked as if it just came off of the showroom floor. It was in working condition, included the batteries, and had a title. The odometer read at just over 1,000 miles. It was a great deal for $4,000 and many documents came along with the car. The seller threw in a set of radial tires, but they turned out to be too wide.

This is purely a hobby that brings me quite a bit of happiness researching and working on. I don’t feel like I’m a “car guy” or even a “cart guy”, but I’m having fun learning about the different parts. I’m spending a bit of money on parts, but I don’t expect to recuperate the costs. These cars don’t sell for more than what I’ve already invested.

Restoration

Although the car is in great condition for its age, especially when compared to other CitiCars, I’m going through the process of restoration and modernization. At the beginning of the journey, I didn’t know much about cars. I’ve been finding help from other CitiCar/Comuta-Car owners as well as videos on electric vehicle conversions, automotive repair, off grid power setups, and golf cart upgrades. I’m documenting as much as I can for my own reference, and to help others. Here are a few things I’ve done, or have yet to do.

Maintenance

differential fluid	brake adjustment	replace fuses
clean rims	clean motor brushes	balance batteries
evaluate everything	tire pressure

Repairs

brakes	interior light	motor hot indicator	tail plate light
high beam switch	cigarette lighter	accessory switch	voltage meter
parking break	parking break handle	outlet dent	bodywork
passenger external door entry	amp meter	blinker not always working	connect air ducts
backup warning	dented outlet	passenger door scratch

Upgrades

motor	lithium batteries	motor controller
motor controller	charge controller	Public charging (J1772)
LED lights	fuse box	radial tires
speed	range	wiring

New Features

radio	antenna	dash cam	gps
rear view camera	blue tooth	usb outlets	steering wheel controls
8-track	DC-to-DC converter	speakers	pedestrian noise
12v outlets	TPMS

Charging Station

I’ll use the cars original batteries to build a solar powered charging station with a few solar panels, MPPT charger, and inverter that I have from a past exploration of off-grid solar research. Combined with an EVSE, I’ll be able to power the CitiCar from the sun.