Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) Vintage Voltage.

Latest programme they converted a four year old Royal Enfield bike, they bought on the basis its a classic look. Budget 20K & 100 mile range target. It all looked to be properly engineered & end result was not bad with 3D printed panels on the battery box where the engine used to be, naff quilted seat aside. See the picture here
https://www.vintagevoltage.tv/

I drove an electric Chevy at a dealer’s a few years ago just as EV cars were coming onto the scene. The drive was impressive but, as it was early days, the range and cost to buy were big negatives.
I still don’t get the need to fill the cars with extra tech other than as enticements or playing Top Trumps with competitors as seems to be the case with ICE cars. Even those with cut back basic entry level models could be further refined. Dacia have such cheap to buy cars so if all you want is a basic A to B car that moves, steers, stops carries what you need, fits the majority of your needs why pay out for the unwanted toys? Mind you the Dacia cars seem to have lower Ncap crash ratings.
I remember an engineer I worked with buying Ladas and running them to death, basically throw away cars.
I bought a Proton once as a car for sospan jnr to use on a placement year during his degree course. I ended up using it and he used our Focus instead. A basic, very reliable commuter/ runabout with a basic radio/cassette playeras the only “toy”. Manual windows, two door, cloth interior, great Mitsubushi 1.3 engine ( not high power but good).Bought for £600 and sold for £600 a year later. I regretted selling it. Not a chic, stylish image creating car but what a good workhorse! A couple of oil changes, brake pads and fluid, tyres is all the expense for 25k miles.

I don't understand why all the powers that be have forgotten or ignore the German study and others that show that manufacturing an EV car of 500kg or more results in 74% increase in carbon emissions compared to an ordinary car. How does this escape consciousness?
Nick

... because iirc that study included a disproportionate amount of dirty coal, which wouldn't apply here. (& might not even have been a fair reflection of German power generation)

Assessments should take account of the lifetime cost of a car - from build to end. I remember Gordon Murry talking about Prius taking an extra two years to reach breakeven, because of the footprint of their battery systems. But that was maybe 5 years ago - and battery systems are becoming much more efficient year on year. I doubt if that calculation still applies.

I hear you!

There's probably some value in taking a knackered old motor and refreshing it with electricity - if it's the motor that's knackered. I spent a chunk of change on rebuilding the seized engine in my Stag in 2015; if I had the same problem now I'd be very tempted to make it electric.

I'm not so sure about removing a functioning engine - though some companies do it so that the process is reversable, which makes some sense.

Will

Interesting reply, thanks. But Germany is where they are making them......I suppose, seriously, one would have to see a report for each factory... although I'm pretty sure I remember that Prius parts were shipped back and forth across the globe before the cars were assembled....do I remember that correctly or am I mistaken (as does seem to be the case rather often)?
Nick

I live where they build these vehicles and on the actual test roads they are using
This is an area least suited to EVS
I see the future in Hydrogen cell technology (Think betamax)
Not EVs ( think VHS)
So we know where this is going

Magwa - So HydCT is Betamax which is better and still going to lose the fight to BEV which is VHS and worse but going to win. Given the urban myth as to why Betamax lost to VHS? Does that mean the Pron industry staff like to drive around in Pruis's?

and because, like all the 'pro fossil' studies, they conveniently ignore the carbon cost of exploration, prospecting, drilling, extraction, transport, refinement, and distribution of the fuel. Refining gasoline alone requires about 5Kwh of electricity per gallon, which is enough to take a Tesla Model S around 20 miles.

And lets not forget some of the ethical ssues behind EV's

Child Labour and EV

I think there were some lawsuits at the end of last year following the deaths of several children involved in mining, against several companies including Tesla. Not sure what the results were.