I'm a little jealous of the EV1 that you had running around, I sat in an EV1 once at an auto show, it was long enough back that I don't remember where I was at when I saw it though, I'm pretty sure it back with the lead-acid version. It was cool to see that the car had no key and worked by punching in the code to engage the drivetrain.
Here is the WWU with theirs out, but they got in a little bit of trouble for having it on the road.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCBc8pL1SGc
The power split welding sounds exactly like what can be done with the Prius power split.
If you haven't already, toss an ad out on Craigslist in the cars section as well because if anyone is selling theirs for parts they might look there first to guage what they might be able to ask for it.
