This is a mobile optimized page that loads fast, if you want to load the real page, click this text.

Electric cars?

Would you buy an electric car?

  • Already own one

    Votes: 10 5.1%

  • Yes - would definitely buy

    Votes: 43 21.7%

  • Yes - preferred over petrol car if price/power/convenience similar

    Votes: 78 39.4%

  • Maybe - preference for neither, only concerned with costs etc

    Votes: 38 19.2%

  • No - prefer petrol car even if electric car has same price, power and convenience

    Votes: 25 12.6%

  • No - would never buy one

    Votes: 14 7.1%
  • Total voters
    198
Jump to new

Lucky your car is not being built in Russia.

 
Smurf1976 said:
But hopefully not in any way like the Trabant which was indeed made of plastic.
Click to expand...

I didn't know that. I always assumed it was a heavy vehicle.

There used be a story going around when I lived in West Berlin, I don't know if it was an urban myth, that the DDR (GDR) measured the productivity of their white goods factories by the weight of production output. So, in order to meet targets, every year many factories just increased the weight of the white goods they produced without any change to the functionality of the products.
 
I certainly hope the quality has improved.
In the early 1970's a mate of mine, went from Kal to Melbourne to buy a Ural, they were $650 for a 650cc, he said stuff it i'll get one and drive it back.
The Nullabor was dirt from Penong to the W.A border back then, well to cut a long story short, we had to take a ute out and pick him up.
All the spokes had broken.
 
bellenuit said:
I didn't know that. I always assumed it was a heavy vehicle.
Click to expand...
What I read about it said that the panels were all plastic but it's built on a steel chassis.

Tapping on the panels and yep they sounded like they're plastic or at least something that's not metal. I can't confirm the bit about the chassis but presumably that's the case.

This thread prompted a bit of research online and it seems that someone has indeed modified one to electric power. Wonders never cease.....
 
Maybe waste plastics and worn out tyres to Hydrogen will start to put a dampener on electric car production:
 

I know an importer who buys baby clothes in China by the kilogram.

Eg $x for 100kg of socks.
 
noirua said:
Maybe waste plastics and worn out tyres to Hydrogen will start to put a dampener on electric car production:
Click to expand...

Hydrogen cars are actually still electric cars, both cars use electric motors to power the drive chain.

The only difference is one powers the motors with a battery, and the other powers the motor with an electric current created by a fuel cell powered by a tank of compressed hydrogen.

The two cars will be identical in all respects except one has a battery connected to the drive chain, where as the other has a tank of compressed gas and a fuel cell to convert that compressed gas to electricity.
 

Electric Cars vs. Hydrogen Fuel Cell Cars
https://auto.howstuffworks.com/electric-cars-vs-hydrogen-fuel-cell-cars.htm
Most people know by now what an electric car is. It's a car that runs on a battery-powered electric motor. Unlike most cars on the road today, it lacks an internal combustion engine and uses electricity as its fuel rather than gasoline. Because it doesn't burn fossil fuels to make itself run, it doesn't produce any pollution while it's in operation. This, at least in theory, makes electric cars a very green form of transportation.

But what in the world is a hydrogen fuel cell car? It's also a kind of electric car. It runs on a motor powered by electricity. What makes it different from a battery-electric vehicle (or BEV) is where the electricity comes from. Instead of a battery, a hydrogen fuel cell car has, well, a hydrogen fuel cell. This is a device that takes hydrogen, the most abundant element in the universe, and generates electricity from it while the car is running. In effect, a hydrogen fuel cell is a kind of battery that makes electricity on the fly.
 

Yep, pretty much says exactly what I said.

eg, Hydrogen cars are electric cars, that use compressed hydrogen tanks and a fuel cell instead of a battery.
 
This report predicts global BEV sales will hit 4 million in 2020, 12 million in 2025 and 21 million in 2030.
I reckon they have underestimated the market massively.
Time will tell.
 
Not an electric car but an electric long distance touring bicycle.
I was going shopping recently and saw this rig parked outside the supermarket.
Just had to wait and have a chat with the owner/(builder).
The trailer holds around 400kilo of supplies including its own weight.
The bike has at least two electric motors and 3 batteries.
Runs at 50-60kph (I was told..). Range of 200 k !! WTF

Currently travelling around around Australia. The owner has already gone 3000 k

.
Can you work out how this guy can get a 200k range on this beast?
 
Those front and back wheel electric motors are pretty big 750 to 1000W each, and the battery behind the seat is only about 15 to 20 A/Hr, so he must have a battery in the trailer. Also he has a small generator in the trailer.
Over the front wheel, I would guess he has both electric wheel controllers and light luggage, as the suspension isn't compressed very much.
Just my opinion.
Actually on closer inspection, it looks like the same electric bike as mine, I will have to go and take a picture to check.
The difference is his, has replacement wheels with bigger motors.
 
Spot on (I think..) He runs the generator to keep up charge to the batteries. I don't know the ins and outs of the machine . We had a conversation and I tried to remember the salient points.
 
This is a very grim news article given the driver died. A Tesla hit a tree and burst into flames. Obviously there has been no reason given as to why but further down in the article there is a mention of Lithium batteries. If they are this flammable I would be very concerned about having big banks of lithium batteries in my home, also I am not all that excited by EVs now if they are going to ignite so violently.
Tesla Slams Into Tree In Florida, Bursting Into Flames And Killing Driver
......Recall that in May of this year, two teens were killed after their Tesla sped into a wall in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. That crash caused the car's electric engine to catch fire. After that crash, the National Transportation Safety Board found that the Tesla's lithium ion battery, which was the source of the fire, reignited twice.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn more...