Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) The EV revolution...Piech.

Read "Our Cars:, page 67, Autocar 9 November 2022 for a professional perspective on life with a Cupra Born.

My take from the article:
There is nothing wrong with existing EV battery and motor technology.
There is EVERYTHING wrong with existing EV charging infrastructure.

Anyone with a home charger and an EV and who wants to travel outside the main urban connabations is effectively tied to their home by a rope that is 50% of the length of the range of their EV.
Anyone with an equivalent ICE has no tether, fuel is available everywhere and quickly.

I now know of 3 people (including me) who have walked away from an EV because of the charging insecurity. Dan sold his Tesla M3P after a family holiday in Cornwall and Devon because he and his wife spent too much time stressing over finding working charge points. She told him that either the Tesla goes or he goes.
He now has a plug in Polestar Hybrid.

Nice design and looks good when moving which is nice. Bits of F-type and e-type in the shape which is good. Given the pedigree and location I would expect beautiful build quality and experience. A little like a modern Jensen Interceptor in positioning I guess.

Interesting Heinz but I dont see the " These guys do everything differently." and some of the PR claims are definitely pushing things a bit.

In the 60s / 70s, there was a large gap between the technology used by mass manufacturers and the specialist smaller sporty companies. For example, the Alfa Guiletta had a DOHC engine and 5 speeds when standard familty car had 4 speeds at best and OHV engines. Gradually this gap has reduced to the point where mass manufacturers produce engines with the same technology as high end brands. Lamborghinis V10 is an example being used in bog standard Audi cars until recently. I see this pattern being continued and worsened with electric vehicles. The battery technology available to the likes of Tesla and Ford will be the same as that available to small makers and the same with the electric motors. But by the same token, the opportunities for small scale makers to start up has to be greater than it was in the past. Composite bodies together with standard motors and batteries from mass suppliers ..............

It will be interesting to see how it all pans out.

P.S. "no heat during current consumption" is only possible with 100% efficient engines and zero resistance superconductor wiring not to mention zero resistance batteries - not yet available at room temperature. See https://www.insidescience.org/news/...rconductivity-above-boiling-temperatures . Thats why I say "pushing it a bit"

Agreed re the challenge to smaller makers now Howard.

McLaren making their own engine(s) and carbon cell indicate the effort needed to be a manufacturer and not just an assembler. Not that being a good assembler is a bad thing. History has shown many bodymakers and carrozzieri creating beautiful work. Few still exist however. The change in the industry to huge component manufacturers providing significant chunks of the engineering to the makers means there are new options to benefit from. Also the modular nature of the electricity platforms and lower compliance issues (so far) they bring can be leveraged. Maybe there is an upside in this flexibility. Just no fun V8/12 noise.

Nice looking car. Reading between the lines it is a very early concept so final version could be....?
Price is well up there too. 200k euros and likely to rise? That puts it into a smaller market.
Battery tech is still a barrier with an EV. Weight, charging time, capacity, management of the battery. Batteries currently ( pun intended) have cooling systems to keep them in an efficient mode. Add in the still woeful charging network.
I changed tin-top this year. New Sportage petrol. Much better than the previous Sportage we had. Here in West Wales range can be an issue outside local driving. Not enough charging points and the time needed. It is too soon for me to take the plunge. Infrastructure needs to be far better. Charging time reduced.
Interestingly, the No heat battery system means no battery cooling system. Weight and cost reduction? How much on-board tech is there that drains the battery? Re-gen system?
Why oh why is so much tech/added goodies put into an EV? I understand the idea of making the car attractive by throwing in toys and tech ( do we actually need a lot of it?). Car manufacturers have worked on ICE efficiency, mpg etc but the marketeers want extras. In an EV these reduce ( maybe small amounts but...) battery capacity/range.

Howard have a look at the measurement devices at minute 13:00 in the German speaking video below.

https://youtu.be/YdjUeZCHKnU

They achieved a maximum of only 15 degrees C plus, not any more, when charging fast or fast accelerating in a non stop manner without a pause.

Normally one would think that the small car tinkering companies only get the breadcrumbs that fall off the table at the big car companies. But here it is actually the other way around. The very small Piech company has several USPs at the moment. By the way, according to his interview in German, Piech's work is ignored in his family. Nor does he have a predestined situation because his father designed the Porsche 917 or was the big boss at VW. Is VW and the Piech/Porsche family perhaps deluding themselves about Tom Piech?

The price point was planned to be 200K for the two seater car but that was before inflation startet to dominate the markets nowadays.

No one ever seems to consider the very serous H&S issues associated with the lethal voltages and currents required to move the necessary energy into the car quickly nor indeed how to move the energy to the charging points. I suspect that automatic safety features to manage safety risks are one of the principal reasons why charging points are frequently not available. Nine of 12 out of action at South Mimms last Sunday and a very p***ed off taxi driver with a battery London Taxi that had just been deposited in a parking bay with an OOA charging point by a recovery vehicle.

Having said that, wife’s Fiat 500e convertible is great fun to drive and 180 mile (claimed) range when full is more than enough for local journeys.

Yep, if you are dependent on public charging and need to do long distances then EVs don't really make much sense at the moment, and probably won't for a year or three.

But if you can charge at home and do average mileages (35 miles/day) then they make a great deal of sense indeed.

Actually, I don't really like modern cars anymore, and certainly not electric cars. But I like the Piech very much. Classic design without that aggressive look you see everywhere else.

Both nice looking cars but the price of the Cobra I expect it will be close to the price tag on the Piech though.