There is always something creepy about a large white van, and while the windowless variety is the most dangerous, a giant cartoon battery on the side happily holding a lightning bolt and “KidZone Transportation” in the rear windows is more than enough for parents to bring their children closer to them while whipping out a smartphone to get a picture of the license plate. We will leave the kid-friendly school bus deal alone, but that happy little battery is the entire reason this 1979 Dodge Sportsman Jet Industries ElectraVan 1400 is worth noting.
Jet Industries was one of those mid-to-late 1970s start-ups that tried to find alternatives to gas engines, and their entire focus was set in converting pre-existing vehicles to electrics. They are most notorious for taking Subaru Sambars and turning them into a golf cart, but they did look to bigger products, anywhere from the Dodge Omni 024 and Ford Escort to the Dodge D-series pickup trucks and B-series vans. Tesla Model S, this is not: with twenty-three batteries under that flap of a hood and a nearly 6,000 pound curb weight, range anxiety is taken to a whole new level with this tank. Think 30 miles and a top speed of maybe 55 miles an hour. Not ideal if you are trying to get away from it all in a hurry.
It is interesting that an ElectraVan still exists, since we doubt many were sold. But it’s a relic, a barely useable one at that. If you want an expensive paperweight, here you go. If you want to make something interesting, turbocharge a small-block Mopar and get a vinyl-wrapped mural of a happy little turbocharger on the side. Just, please, whatever you do, don’t reference “kids”.
eBay Link: 1979 Jet Industries ElectraVan 1400
