Electric Cars - the discussion continues.

[onetrack]

I see where the Europeans have set a date for the death of the IC engine, as we know it today - 1st January 2035. On that date, sales of new fossil-fuel engines will be banned in the EU.

 

However, the IC-engine people have been thrown a lifeline in the planned legislation, by allowing the sale of new IC-engined vehicles, if they run on synthetic fuels that produce no harmful emissions.

 

https://johnchow.com/the-european-union-will-ban-new-gas-and-diesel-car-sales-by-2035/

[Bruce Tuncks]

An army tank would take about 30 times the energy per km to move as a car on a sealed road. It may turn out to be about the last vehicle needing an IC engine. Even a locomotive has the option of carting batteries behind it.

There are interesting possibilities about new batteries on the horizon. The Iron-air looks good to me. Gosh a cheap storage is needed to get people off the grid.

[Jerry_Atrick]

An interesting development in electic cars:

 

 

[facthunter]

It would be OK till a Kenworth ran over it then it wouldn't be 'ken worth anything. Nev

[onetrack]

I have always been of the opinion that anything that runs on 3 wheels, has about as much saleability as a 50cc 2-stroke powered pushbike. It may be super-efficient, but it's saleability is near-zero.

What happened to the Smart Car, that promised so much?

"In 2006, after dwindling sales and heavy financial losses, Smart GmbH was liquidated, and its operations were absorbed by Daimler-Chrysler directly".

[facthunter]

There's a lot to be said for 4wheels with the same track width. Morgan made 3 wheelers for about 20 years into the thirties. At times they were allowed to race against side car motorbikes. The Motor was forward of the front wheels and the machine was rear wheel drive. Look up Morgan AERO late 20's.  Nev

[onetrack]

But the 3-wheeler Morgan wasn't exactly a roaring sales success, was it? - unlike the first Mini. And of course, it was a strictly Pommy product, and we all know the Poms produce the biggest number of eccentrics, don't we?.

[facthunter]

It's sure got a lot of character and some drivers punted them around quite quickly. Personally I'd prefer to challenge it with an Outfit of the right kind with a good chairperson. (Who is more insane than the rider). The Morgan is far superior to other British types of 3 wheeler which will almost capsize on an off camber corner Nev

[octave]

When people think of 3 wheeled vehicles they tend to think back to atrocities like the Reliant Robin which was comically unstable.      Technology has moved on since then.   

 

Aptera does the Moose Test!

 

I have been following this car for a while now,  This is the second iteration of this company and this car.    I first saw this car on Jay Leno's Garage youtube channel.   He owned the first incarnation of this car back in 2013

 

Aptera Electric Car - Jay Leno's Garage

 

I would defiantly consider one of these in the future. Not only efficient but not boring and stuffy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[facthunter]

It's modern, high tech and cute. I'll give it that. I'd feel a bit vulnerable but you are on a motorbike as well.  Nev

[spacesailor]

BUT ! .

What is the battery life & warranty? ?

Just heard, someone bought a few year old E V, only to have to replace the battery , about (  they quote ).

$ 10,000 .

It seems an awful lot if , NO WARRANTY  on second hand E V  batteries. 

spacesailor

[octave]

9 minutes ago, spacesailor said:

What is the battery life & warranty? ?

Tesla Model 3, 8 years or 160000Km

Tesla Model S, 8 years or 240000Km

Atto 3. 7 years or 160000Km

MG ZS  EV     7 years/unlimited milage

 

The warranty goes with the car if it is sold. 

 

The usual EV battery warranty is 8 years.   

[Jerry_Atrick]

I am on the same road as @octave on this. When I first started watching the video, I thought no way, but at the end of it, I was mightily impressed. Yes, previous 3 wheelers have had their day, and the Reliant was anything but reliable - not only in its stability.

 

Regarding being worried about beiong run over by a Kenworth (not too many of them here), I don't think too many but the biggest SUVs would offer too much protection, so what little more the laws of physics offer bigger sedans isn't going to make that much difference. In fact, the ability to absorb forces + cockpit rigidity is the issue. I am not sure there is enough body for the absorption of forces, but it does not seem to offer much less, if any, than very successful super-minis like the Nissan Micra, various Peugots and the like. It's the protection in the small collisions that are probably more important - and this is where, if the vid is accurate, I would probably feel as protected, if not more protected, than other cars.

 

The Smart Car was initially a success in Western Europe, where the type of car has a practical application - narrow streets, small parking spaces, disproprotionately excess demand over supply, etc. However, it had global aspirations in markets where it was ahead of its time, and that is why the losses built up. The US in particular, but others such  as Australia, were not appropriate for that type of car - at least at the time. Big highways where the car is king, plenty of parking, relatively poor public transport, and at a time where climate wasn't at the forefront of issues on peoples' minds didn't bode well for it. Smart was released in 1998 and even then, Californinans from San Fransisco to San Diego (the "yuppie" set) were still driving in their gas guzzlers; Prius were still yet to be driven by tech CEOs at that stage. Today, at least ehte Californan market may be more open to them.

 

But, markets change.. this car isn't aimed at the family saloon and won't take too much market share from their - nor the SUV market.. But at the Yuppie set and those post family - with the current emphasis on climate and the general lack of interest in cars in younger people today in deference to computer games, etc., it may well be onto a winner in its niches. Small, assuming reliable, and with good range, claimed protection, as well as its solar re-charging, it may be a game changer, especially in the mind-set of the increasingly climate conscious.  And, it does look space-age and cool.

 

Even though it is probably not designed for highway cruising, I would consider it for my mission - I do about 400 miles a week; 340 on the motorways/highways, and 50 off. It has the range, storage (I am overnighter in London), size for parking, means I can go into central London with attracting the ULEZ and Congestion charges, would qualify for zero road tax (rego), and the range. Given in 8 years I have had the encounter with a deer on the road once, and the XC90, despite its wider track and, albeit higher centre of gravity than a family saloon, lower than most 4x4s, wasn't exactly precise in the swerve as I expected.  Costs would be next to zero, safety not much less, if at all compared to other cars; the only down side would be its wider track, which parking spaces in the UK do not like.

 

The only improvement I would like to see is decent restraints in the boot. The shelf is quite high, and even carrying a small bag with a couple of jars from the supermarket stop on the way home would have catastrophic consequences if there isn't a decent restraint in between, should the brakes have to be hit hard or worse.

 

One impediment to its adoption is the classification of a motorcyle.. Who could be bothered getting a motorcyle licence just to buy a car?

[spacesailor]

I saw a heap of those " smart  " cars being stipped of battery  components at the old Halverson marina.

Coulden,t be repaired was the answer l got , to why so many .

THEN , I went in to have a stickybeak at the D H seaplane having it checkover.

spacesailor

[red750]

One of the guys at the Men's Shed drives a Smart. Loves it.

 

The things I fear on the road are those high-sided tippers with matching trailer, loaded to the hilt. Have seen them come to grief unceremoniously in the Sydney Harbour Tunnel, on Surveillance Australia on TV.

[onetrack]

Yeah, truckies with the pedal-to-metal mentality come unstuck on a regular basis around here. This bloke rolled the prime mover and leading trailer of a road train, whilst barrelling around the corner at an intersection in Armadale, W.A., a couple of years ago. Fortunately, no-one was hurt. He was taking a load of fertiliser back to the wheatbelt. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 14, 2022 by onetrack

[red750]

In this one the truck rear ended the car causing it to spin.

 

[Jerry_Atrick]

17 hours ago, onetrack said:

Yeah, truckies with the pedal-to-metal mentality come unstuck on a regular basis around here. This bloke rolled the prime mover and leading trailer of a road train, whilst barrelling around the corner at an intersection in Armadale, W.A., a couple of years ago. Fortunately, no-one was hurt. He was taking a load of fertiliser back to the wheatbelt. 

 

 

 

 

 

Holy poop!

[Marty_d]

14 hours ago, Jerry_Atrick said:

Holy poop!

Rolly poop.

 

[onetrack]

Not a lot of poop there, the fertiliser is normally Urea, a factory-made industrial product.

[facthunter]

I used to put Urea through the drip line system used for normal irrigation. When you mix it it gets COLD.  It supplies nitrogen to the Plants.  Also a phosphorus  product. at other times. Saves Labor cost and gets it right to the plants rots in very precise quantity of you do it correctly. No polluting of waterways. Nev

[Old Koreelah]

1 hour ago, facthunter said:

I used to put Urea through the drip line system used for normal irrigation. When you mix it it gets COLD…

I presume that’s the main ingredient in those First Aud  instant-cold packs.

[facthunter]

Could well be.  Nev

[red750]

Bid to transform long-haul trucking from diesel to electric.

 

Read the story here.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Sad the guvmint aren't more proactive