The future meets the past...

[The Moog]

The future is here ...

 

Its often parked in the car park and is as grim as it looks. 

 

 

http://www.contracthireandleasing.com/car-leasing-news/blackburn-students-complete-electric-car-conversion-project/ 

[Bear]

My knob of a neighbour had an i8 for a few weeks, which he'd borrowed from his mate who works out in the middle east. Lovely looking thing, he liked it - apart from the doors which made it necessary to be a bit of a contortionist to enter and exit the vehicle. 

Come to think of it, the Toyota Sera myself and H.Imp had was similar, made me oddly self conscious everytime I got in and out of it. 

 

 I found the Seras I had to be excellent for ingress and egrets. Particularly the black one that had fully rebuilt door mechanisms, so they opened themselves. Worse car I've ever tried getting in/out of is a tie between Elise and F40; the Elise was worth the effort though.

[Junkman]

The future has been around for over 100 years now, hidden in plain view.

 

 

- Designed to run on Ethanol. Yep. Good old Heinrich could not have known that there is enough oil to propel millions of these at the time he designed it, so his plan was, that farmers allocate a portion of their land to grow fermentable crops. This would make perfect sense in times where two thirds of the agricultural area in industrial countries is unused and their non use being subsidised with tax money. The banking/oil cartell nixed his plans in this respect and this triggered his being on the warpath with them for the rest of his life. Read about this in his book. He actually cited environmental reasons for his reasoning.

 

- The cars have already been built. They are out there. They don't have to be built using new raw materials and a lot of energy in the manufacturing process.

 

- Tax exempt.

 

- MoT exempt.

 

- Mechanically they are about as sophisticated as a hayfork. If you can't fix them with a hammer, you have an electrical problem.

 

- And first and foremost, they are pure, unadulterated shite.

 

 

So what do you say, Shiters?

Is this the future, or what?

[jonny69]

Model T is another platform that would lend itself remarkably well to an electric conversion. I've been thinking about one on a Model A for some time - mainly because the A is a bit more refined (e.g. proper roof and doors) and has conventional controls unlike the T.

[Coprolalia]

Desperate for a Tesla Model S, especially now they've adding the rear-facing seat option so it can seat seven.

Will probably opt for a Ford Model T instead. Less sophisticated but more in budget.

[MrDuke]

I'm dreading the day that I pull out of my lane when an electric thing comes hurtling round the blind corner. As it is, I only know it's clear by listening for approaching engine noise.

[dollywobbler]

I'm dreading the day that I pull out of my lane when an electric thing comes hurtling round the blind corner. As it is, I only know it's clear by listening for approaching engine noise.

 

I already find that most of the noise I hear from modern cars is tyre noise.

 

Just a thought about bringing a Leaf to Wales. There isn't really anywhere to charge it up! S'pose that might be an issue...

[Taff]

 

I don't agree with Dugong. I don't think you CAN build a car that's whiter than white (or should it be greener than green?). Every aspect of manufacturing ANY car uses up resources. Even the paint has nasties in it. Sure, the Pious smug factor annoys me - as you say, they deliver few benefits over a normal car unless you're entirely driving around town - but I don't see why electric has to be perfect when internal combustion is many leagues away from it.

 

my defence of my gas-guzzler always follows the same path:-

 

 

 

My 5 litre petrol, 17mpg, 60-year-old Galaxie is way greener than any new, green, electric car being built today.

Because the resources have ALREADY BEEN USED to build my car, and additional, unnecessary resources are being consumed to build new cars.

 

Re-use is even better than re-cycle, kids. PHACT

[brickwall]

The future was better too in ye goode olde dayse.

 

 

I going to go  into town yesterday

[Junkman]

Well, the 1986 and earlier future was double glazed 12 cylinders and robots doing the work for us.

In 1987 this was suddenly replaced by this fascist green propaganda bollocks that surprisingly many brainwashed slave sheeple fell for.

 

BRB, must save the planet real quick...

[lisbon_road]

Good luck with it and let us know how you get on.

 

I find the badges that say 'zero emissions annoying.  On a brighter note, as they're generally charged at night and we have a surplus of electricity at night, there's an argument that the emissions are indeed low.  I have friends who drive 5 miles each way to work and back in heavy traffic everyday - and generally twice - so whilst I am not exactly convinced that this is the way to go, I sure can see a case for it.  

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nissan-Leaf-2011-In-Blue-Being-sold-with-batteries-included-in-sale-/171763353968?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item27fde4c970

 

That one is well cheaper than a new one.  Great business for motorway services too as people drink loads of tea while they charge up.

[2MB]

Without wishing to jump into the environmental argument (but the raw materials and energy expended building new cars should never be ignored), until they can make electric motors with induction roar, wastegate chatter, transmission whine and tuneful exhaust noise I'm out. However much sense electric vehicles may begin to make as a means of getting from A to B they will never, ever be a match for something with a glorious, imperfect, inefficient ENGINE

[dollywobbler]

Without wishing to jump into the environmental argument (but the raw materials and energy expended building new cars should never be ignored), until they can make electric motors with induction roar, wastegate chatter, transmission whine and tuneful exhaust noise I'm out. However much sense electric vehicles may begin to make as a means of getting from A to B they will never, ever be a match for something with a glorious, imperfect, inefficient ENGINE

 

That's what I always thought but actually, I find electric power very exciting even with the complete lack of soundtrack. For a petrolhead, this was a bit of a shock. Mind you, I have always liked electric milk floats...

[2MB]

Maybe I shouldn't knock it 'til I've tried it. Only experience of EVs I have is little shunters used for pulling massive pump skids about on trailers, and I find the fact you don't change gear frustrating, in spite of the fact it's an advantage. Just can't get excited about electric cars, however exciting they are

[junkyarddog]

Too many limitations with electric cars,

Hydrogen is the future.

 

[D Spares & Tyres]

The oil companies will not allow this, they have been trying to keep this quiet for years!

[Stanky]

Isn't hydrogen a bit of a shit to produce in a pure form though? I vaguely recall that it is the most abundant element, but its not easy to refine into its pure elemental state and keep it there?

 

Might be bollocks though.

[Lacquer Peel]

Re-introduce the XUD engine with a Bosch injection pump and plant shit loads of rapeseed.

[stephen01]

Well I knew this wasn't going to go down to well on autoshite, brand new, not even got a engine, it's not even beige  

 

No matter your opinion on the whole concept you have* to be impressed what nissan, and other marks, have done with electric cars. While the Leaf is bar far the most fugly electric car out I can't help but love the quirky looks, 

 

I've heard they are looking at a 48kw battery with a est range of 200+ miles.. 

[MrDuke]

Re-introduce the XUD engine with a Bosch injection pump and plant shit loads of rapeseed.

 

Nah, if they did that I'd lose my feeling of superiority and elitism. Plus, can you imagine anyone buying a brand-new diesel that actually sounds like a diesel? And with a usable powerband wider than 300 revs?

[Inspector Morose]

I love my electrics, me.

 

 

 

They've been around for over a hundred years, still used widely in Europe and and further afield. Okay, it's mass transport but it does show that electric people movers that use the roads as opposed to tram tracks are not new.

[Minimad5]

What sort of manufacturing processes (Carbon footprint) and even extracting the basic material once found occurs to make these batteries ?

 

[dollywobbler]

What sort of manufacturing processes (Carbon footprint) and even extracting the basic material once found occurs to make these batteries ?

 

 

 

I'm not sure anyone here is arguing that electric is as green as the adverts and EV freaks would have you believe. What's true is that they are a viable alternative to petrol for a lot of people, and fun in their own way.

 

As it happens, I don't think Li-ion batteries are as bad to make as say Nickel Cadmium, which needed some properly nasty mines.

 

Too many limitations with electric cars,

Hydrogen is the future.

 

Now, I'm not sure. As mentioned, it's a bit of a sod to make and a particular sod to store, because hydrogen is one of the smallest atoms out there. There is the advantage that it can be used both to run engines and by fuel cells to make electricity on the move though.

[MrDuke]

In all seriousness, I'd love to see 21st-century (or even mid-late 20th-century) technology applied to super-heated steam as a means of propulsion. I believe the last steam passenger cars in the 1920s took around 90 seconds to 'prime' before use, were relatively simple to operate and drive, and could hit respectable speeds - the more basic designs took longer to warm up and were complicated to use, but were shockingly fast. A modern spin would be very interesting to see.

[garethj]

I think there was an attempt at the steam powered speed record a couple of years ago, and back when Model Ts were a bit of a new thing if you wanted a speedy, sporty little number you probably chose a steam car.

 

I think electric vehicles are an interesting development.  In the 1960s you could buy 2 stroke or 4 stroke, front engine or rear engine, air cooled or watercooled, front wheel drive or rear wheel drive...  It's only since the grey era of the last few decades that almost all of that variety has gone.  Who cares if some electric cars aren't as good at fuel range as petrols or diesels, a Lotus Esprit S1 isn't great for carrying wardrobes home from B&Q but I'd still love one.

 

In the current age of marketing spin and mpg which are blatant lies I'd be interested to hear about real experiences of electric vehicles, keep us updated please.

[Mr Lobster]

I couldn't give a toss about the environmental credentials of them all but I do quite fancy a Zoe. For 95% off everything I do it would be ace. Reports I've read say they are pretty good and whilst the range could be an issue as a second car it could work quite nicely.

 

If Renault are still effectively giving them away on PCP deals then I could be interested. Definitely wouldn'rt want to own one whilst the technology is in its infancy though.

[danthecapriman]

I think they are ok as a city vehicle, I'd even go as far as saying that for short trips in urban areas they are a good idea but they need a lot more tech and development for use as a normal car doing longer trips. The range just isn't good enough yet, and the charging situation is nowhere near good enough. They take too long to charge and there's not enough charge points. And if you can't park near one for whatever reason your screwed. What happens in urban areas where you can't always park outside your house? You may have to park a few streets away! The power grid isn't in a good enough state to do it properly anyway. It could work but will need a lot of investment.

 

For me though, I'll never have one! They will never match the greatness of internal combustion engines. I'd rather pay for the use of a huge great V8. Besides that there's not a single EV that looks any good IMHO. They seem to be deliberately styled to look futuristic or something! They're all utterly hideous!

I can't say I really give a toss about the environment argument either, keeping an old car running (properly) is far better than creating piles of scrap and waste from scrapping old cars then constantly building new ones and shipping them around the world. There's some nasty shit in modern cars aswell.

[garethj]

The range just isn't good enough yet, and the charging situation is nowhere near good enough. They take too long to charge and there's not enough charge points. And if you can't park near one for whatever reason your screwed. What happens in urban areas where you can't always park outside your house? You may have to park a few streets away! The power grid isn't in a good enough state to do it properly anyway.

 

This is the bit I was talking about earlier, lots of people say it, not just Dan .  Why would I buy a Lamborghini (or the Autoshite equivalent, an Isdera Imperator 108i).  It's no good for getting 4 people in, I can't carry shelves in it nor carry junk to the tip, it's no good for carting the dog about, getting up my muddy drive is impossible when it snows and I've got to do a 100 mile round trip to get it serviced.

 

Yet lots of people buy them every year.  Just because it doesn't fit what you want, doesn't make it a bad car.  In fact there's no such thing as a car that fits every single criteria that everyone wants, doesn't make every car bad.

[dollywobbler]

Range is only an issue on long trips. I live 12 miles from a town, and 61 miles from a fast charger. Yes, I do have access to a power point at home, which does make life easier, but I have found in personal experience that electric has very few disadvantages if you're driving less than 60 miles a day. An awful lot of people drive a lot less than that. Around here, people often drive no more than a mile or two, often several times a day - where an internal combustion engine is still cold and inefficient.

[Vin]

Zoe? Leaf? Surely this is more typical of the electric car for shiters...