Eco Catering....

[Rob Hunter - Club Secretary]

Just noticed this pop up.... Tesla powered 7 anyone!?

 

https://www.pistonheads.com/news/electric-vehicles/all-electric-caterham-seven-promised/44149

 

[dombanks]

I did wonder how the small car manufacturers were going to cope with this sort of stuff

[Blatman]

They won't. They'll have to be hydrogen powered. 2030 will likely see the end of many small volume manufacturers unless they go hydrogen and how many of them can afford the research/development costs? Of course they can use the parts developed by others (that is the true ethos after all) but buying in parts reduces margin. And for Caterham, where is the heritage going to come from? OK, I'll put the wooden spoon down now...  

 

For an EV 7, for me the issues are the batteries will be too small IF (big IF) the goal is to retain some semblance of the 7 size and shape. Driving spiritedly, as we already know, kills range and the time to charge for the range provided is still far too long. More range requires bigger batteries and more weight (preaching to the choir, I know) and one still has to be crashed to test/prove safety of the vehicle. What are the chances of getting that 100% perfect on the first go? 

With 9 years to go the small volume market need to have the plans ready to come off the drawing or gamble on hydrogen being ready in the next 5 years to leave 4 years for development. I fear the bell is tolling... but what do I know. I just drive cars... badly...

[Greenstreak-Andy D]

Interesting to see the range vs weight vs performance chosen. Stunning performance for 30miles then cautiously finding a charge point to sit at for 5 hours or more to get home! 😛

[Rhett Turner - Black Country AO]

1 hour ago, Greenstreak-Andy D said:

Interesting to see the range vs weight vs performance chosen.

There's one more important factor you've missed, aero efficiency. And we all know 7esque cars tend to have the area efficiency of a sticky brick. 

[Greenstreak-Andy D]

20 hours ago, Rhett - Joint Black Country AO said:

There's one more important factor you've missed, aero efficiency. And we all know 7esque cars tend to have the area efficiency of a sticky brick. 

Oh and tyres too! Only weight is on our side!

[Rob Hunter - Club Secretary]

Maybe an electric 7 is an evolutionary dead end.... didn't Westfield make the Wiesel in the late 80's when it seemed diesel would save the dolphins!?

[Rhett Turner - Black Country AO]

30 minutes ago, Greenstreak-Andy D said:

Oh and tyres too! Only weight is on our side!

the tyres are the sticky part of the sticky brick.😀 some are not very sticky T1R and others more sticky R1R then we've the 888r at the other end of the scale, (and plenty of others to add to the mix)

 

On the same subject I watched Vitage Volt (I think it was) and noted how they suceeded each episode in making impractical cars even less practical by filling what little lugage capacity some cars have up with heavy steal boxes filled with heavy batteries. 

[Blatman]

3 hours ago, Rhett - Joint Black Country AO said:

On the same subject I watched Vitage Volt (I think it was) and noted how they suceeded each episode in making impractical cars even less practical by filling what little lugage capacity some cars have up with heavy steal boxes filled with heavy batteries.

 

Yeah I've seen a couple of those. The engineering and technology is interesting but the end result is as you say, less practical than the original in just about every way.

I was discussing EV's with a friend (yes, I have one) and it wasn't until I explained that my trips to a town just over the Belgian border in Holland would take 2 days as opposed to the current 8 - 9 hours that he started to see the inadequacies of all electric vehilces. I'm sure it wil limprove, but will they really get to be as convenient as petrol or hydrogen? Seems unlikely to me. For commuting/short journey trips in tows and cities to mitigate pollution then yes, electric all the way. For going to see the folks in Cornwall or Scotland for the weekend, not so much...

 

4 hours ago, RobH72 said:

didn't Westfield make the Wiesel in the late 80's when it seemed diesel would save the dolphins!?

 

They did. It was pretty quick too and even with the standard tank had heaps more range than even the most modern EV 7 might be able to muster at the moment.

[Steve (sdh2903)]

Surely synthetic fuels would be the better option for the small volume producer? 

[Blatman]

4 minutes ago, Steve (sdh2903) said:

Surely synthetic fuels would be the better option for the small volume producer? 

 

That's got me Googling. Interesting prospect.

[Kingster]

Are there no exemptions for kits or small volume producers? Like we have now with the IVA not needing to be up to Euro 6 standards. 
 

After all, it’s not like petrol will cease to exist on 1/1/30 - just that new petrol cars won’t be on sale (right?)

[Blatman]

It's the legislation that comes in to progessivley ban fossil fuel cars from urban areas that's the thing. The ULEZ makes no exemptions for classic or low volume cars. This is starting to bite with owners of these vehicles being caught inside the zone when it expands to the north and south circular roads this october. The minute their cars hit the road and pass an ANPR camera or entry/exit point they have to pay the fee.

The only classic cars that are exempt are those registered in the "Historic Vehicle" tax class and are over 40 years old. The 40 years is a rolling 40 years though. So Westfields registered in 1990 (assuming they can be registered as an historic vehicle) can be exempted from the anniversary of their first registration date in 2030...