Electric powered cars.

Sounds like it’s going to be a good car. I guess the one I saw, as described, must be a Nissan Concept car, which was quite cute.
Jim.

Lincoln .7

No, a full size, five seat B-segment vehicle on the market in 2 months time. I am training Nissan dealer staff in the technology.

Moggy

Moggy. Is this the 2 person, two wheeled vehicle I recently saw on TV?. made by Nissan I believe.Shaped like a bubble for want of a better word.Or was this a Concept vehicle?.
Jim.

Lincoln .7

A couple of quick points

1) Electric charging on range-extenders (Hybrids)

The hybrid was primarily designed for crowded and polluted cities to move the pollution away from the urban environment where it concentrates through heavy traffic. Charging times? I know how long a Hybrid Yaris takes to charge from flat battery to full (20 kilometre) all-electric range. It’s 90 minutes.

Nobody says range extenders are for everybody, they arent.

2) The job I’m on at the moment, working for Nissan, involves a really incredible bit of Eco-Tech – The Micra DIG-S, one of which I have for use through August. Nissan are showing that petrol still has a future

Three cylinder supercharged petrol engined. 1.2 litre / 100 bhp,
69mpg and sub 100g/km CO2 so VED and congestion charge free
ABS, EBD, BA, Stability control, cruise, climate, bluetooth, nav, live services, panoramic glass roof, parking gap measurer, reversing sensors, foldy mirrors.

It’s looks aren’t to my taste, but it is a very practical car for the town user, with no plug-in concerns.

(Still not as nice as my sub-5 seconds to 60 ‘real’ car)

Moggy

Been driving around Cornwall this last week and have driven past the Cold Northcott windfarm several times. Such a fine monument to the efficiency of wind power, all the turbine blades in the feathered position and outstretched like a load of crosses on the Cornish countryside. When was the last time they generated any electricity?

I actually don’t mind Wind turbines, better looking than a pylon and designed by aerodynamacists!
The best results are the massive farms out to Sea.

Tidal is our best source, but any moving parts need a lot of cleaning due to the weed/poo/dead stuff in the water.

Osmosis engines could harness a lot, but nobody will spend the billions it would take to make one big enough.

PeeDee, you must live in America to only shave .4 of a sec of my 0-60 time with an extra 87BHP and not moan about the price of fuel. I bet your torque is rather good though.

Come on what is it you drive?

6.1 is in Sports mode. 7.4 in normal drive.
It’s a 17 year old BMW E38.
I really darn’t try for the 6.1 on the old gal, the propshaft would end up like spiral pasta!
I have hit 7.7 with a loaded car though (Loaded is 85 litres of fuel and my large suitcase plus me). I set the stopwatch on my mobile phone and set the bong on the OBC on 60mph. Not scientific, but close.
Over here on autobahn I have gone from 80mph to 140 in a matter of a few seconds on Sports+kickdown, but then I totally bottled it and backed off.

However, we digress from electric.
I would be willing to try one for the work commute if only the price was quartered and I got some assistance in my mains electric for charging it. I reckon the development of Solar panels + capacitor will allow the ability to charge an electric car for free. In some distant future.
Don’t forget, we had electric milk floats in this country from the early 60’s. A fully laden one had no speed but the power was there to be harnessed in other ways. And they were very old technology cells too.

G.A. Lance, Many thanks for your input, and yes, it answered my question perfectly. Many thanks.
Jim.

Lincoln .7

Hi Silver Fox. Yes, I know what your saying, but I am sure some member on here could give a definative answer. G.A. is usualy the “Sharpest knife” in the box,or Kev, perhaps they can answere it.
Jim.

Lincoln .7

‘Heavy water’ (aka deuterium monoxide) is water in which most of the hydrogen has been replaced by deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen. It is a little heavier than normal water, hence the name.

It is used as a ‘moderator’ in older models of nuclear reactor and, although it’s not radioactive, it wouldn’t do you much good if you were to down a couple of litres of the stuff.

Hydrogen, on the other hand, is a gaseous element, lighter than air and very explosive. (See LZ129 and R101 for further details…..)

Does that answer your question?

We’ve seen penants on C5 like aparititions what about ….

Motability scooters (noiseless and invisible)
We’ve seen pennants on C5 like aparititions what about a flashing beacon (council dust cart style – orange) mounted on an old fashioned aerial like thingy (more rigid than pennant support). Sure it will suck some battery power but the modern electronics make the thing more efficient.
Plus of course loud clippitty clop, brrrm brrm noises for pedestrians to leap out of the way of the manic OAP on the way to Bingo.:D

Hear hear – bring some manufacturing to the West

Jay. Q1. No point in making said electric vehicles make Brum, Brum, noises, as your own car engine drowns their leccy vehicles motors out.

We need to slow the purchasing from China and the USA and slow their productions down, which with India, are the largest emmission culprits in the world. And why havn’t they signed the Kyoto treaty, We are but a very small island our part we have done, (been conned into doing) is very negligable.
IMHO. it,s a gigantic method of filling the Tax Coffers.
If they were all that bothered, then every aircraft, commercial, military, anything with wings and and engine would be taxed to the hilt.
Jim.

Lincoln .7

Jim
Hear, Hear, bring back some manufacturing to the West (yes may cost us to buy but better as we can be discerning). Stop worrying about a new mobile phone every week with (make tea, coffee, check on neighbour’s behaviour features) , a new car with plastic moulded features to make it look different every year, and all the other consumer rubbish filling the high street which in reality we don’t need for life to be happy.

Who buys this garbage – the younger than us generations – who in reality don’t care a ‘toss’ about us, themselves or society at large (never mind ‘green’). It’s all a laugh to spend a lot of disposable money on rubbish and injest and consume concoctions from nightclubs (work what’s that?).

Yes we are and have done our ‘bit’ for ‘green’ but as you say are being conned while 90% of the world are producing more carbon emission in a year than we do in 10 years.

Hi Martin. I dropped a slight clanger when I said we rented a glass battery, I remembered the correct name for them was an accumulator.not battery.
Not that it makes a great deal of difference.
Jim.

Lincoln .7

Hi Martin, Unfortunately you are years, and I mean years behind with the “Rental” of batteries. We had a radio, that had a glass, square battery in it. If used sparingly, you could go from pay day (Fridays then) to the next payday. I remember well, it cost two shillings and six pence to exchange for a fully charged one.As for the C5, I recently saw one for sale for £500.00, whether it worked or not however, I dont know, but heartily agree the man who drove? it, was a “Better man than I gunga din”;)
Jim.

Lincoln .7

I remember as a child we had a rented TV and video, But had never heard of battery rental until now. We are more a buy it on credit nation now rather than renting ain’t we.
As to the C5, reading up on them they are rather collectable now. All the same if I had one it would not go anywhere near a public highway with me in it, The guy in Croydon always seems to be parked outside local pubs so maybe he beats fear with beer 😀 . Not that I am claiming any drink and driving goes on by the way>

Jay. Q1. No point in making said electric vehicles make Brum, Brum, noises, as your own car engine drowns their leccy vehicles motors out.

We need to slow the purchasing from China and the USA and slow their productions down, which with India, are the largest emmission culprits in the world. And why havn’t they signed the Kyoto treaty, We are but a very small island our part we have done, (been conned into doing) is very negligable.
IMHO. it,s a gigantic method of filling the Tax Coffers.
If they were all that bothered, then every aircraft, commercial, military, anything with wings and and engine would be taxed to the hilt.
Jim.

Lincoln .7

General questions arise with respect to Electric cars

General questions arise with respect to Electric cars –
1. Soundless hazard – can be overcome by artificial (brrrm) sounds
2. Charging points other than at home, possibly at special vending stations (but obviously spark hazard prohibits these being at conventional petrol stations)
3. Production of these vehicles and batteries consume energy much of it electricity
4. Energy is surely lost in the charging process – it isn’t a 100% efficient transfer of energy from electrical charging point to battery
5. While we are making these noble token gestures at energy savings in the West, the developing nations are using energy galore (to satisfy our insatiable need for consumer items, including these electric cars and batteries). Therefore can our feeble attempts actually do anything in saving the planet?

[QUOTE=Lincoln 7;1783007]

During the 60s in Maidstone many people were struck by Trolleybuses as you couldn’t hear them coming.

I couldn’t agree more re the “Silent Assasin” approach, I find the elderly who have these electric Mobility Scooters. There is a wall all around my house, which ends at the pavement. The car, HD1 or HD2 has to be at least halfway past the end of the wall before I can see clearly both ways. There is one woman, who has one of these vehicles, who must travel just beneath the Sound Barrier, you just cant hear them coming. I was unaware, they don’t even need Insurance, so if you were hit by one of these “Silent Assasins” and were left unable to work for several months,You would most certainly be in the proverbial.

Jim.

Lincoln .7

Jim,
Since these silent assasins are hopefully older people (mostly considerate I hope) in silent runabouts cannot the same logic they are applying to silent cars be applied to these motability scoooters?

Namely the battery power can be used to make some sort of sensible constant alert/awareness sounds when moving (Clippety clop, ting ting, brrrmm,:rolleyes: )

Been driving around Cornwall this last week and have driven past the Cold Northcott windfarm several times. Such a fine monument to the efficiency of wind power, all the turbine blades in the feathered position and outstretched like a load of crosses on the Cornish countryside. When was the last time they generated any electricity?

Hi Martin, Unfortunately you are years, and I mean years behind with the “Rental” of batteries. We had a radio, that had a glass, square battery in it. If used sparingly, you could go from pay day (Fridays then) to the next payday. I remember well, it cost two shillings and six pence to exchange for a fully charged one.As for the C5, I recently saw one for sale for £500.00, whether it worked or not however, I dont know, but heartily agree the man who drove? it, was a “Better man than I gunga din”;)
Jim.

Lincoln .7

We have somebody in Croydon driving this Sinclair C5 about, even on main roads. He is a braver man than I.
I also feel that electric powered cars is not the answer for the future, unless the following can be beaten,
1) The need to charge from the national grid(solar maybe a way forward on this)
2) The size and weight of batteries required
3) The charge life of the batteries being more reasonable.
4) Faster charging times
5) Places to charge them

I have often wondered if something like this could help solve the problem,
All electric cars given same batteries so its common across europe.
The solar paneled charging stations holding the batteries put in place of petrol stations, monthly rent on the battery cells then when you running low you swap it at nearest electric fuel station.

You would never own the battery so hence never need pay a huge amount to replace a wornout one, The only thing would be in a bussiness sense would it be profitable for a company to do.

Hi Silver Fox. Yes, I know what your saying, but I am sure some member on here could give a definative answer. G.A. is usualy the “Sharpest knife” in the box,or Kev, perhaps they can answere it.
Jim.

Lincoln .7

Can somewon put me right, is Hydrogen, the same as what they called “Heavy water” as in the film, “The heros of Telemark”, if so, after all these years, we should have been using it years ago by now.

Jim.

Lincoln .7

“Heavy Water” was part of Germany’s nuclear weapons project, not too clear on the details but many felt that they were well on the way to producing a nuclear bomb.