Electric Cars

[Simster]

Anyone on here looked into buying one? Quite honestly, most of our driving is done locally and with fuel prices now sky high and road tax incentives in place for greener alternatives, it is now quite tempting to buy a leccy car and hire a regular fuelled car for longer journeys.

Has anyone looked into leccy cars before? Are they all still odd-looking things with the capacity and power of a hairdryer or have things moved on a bit?

 

[Buttinhams]

Have a look at GOINGREEN
My company is thinking of buying a couple of G-Wiz's for managers going into central London (We're based in South London). No congestion charge and no parking costs.

 

[Mr Blobby]

The Uni of Sussex has electric cars for use on campus - the estates team and various others use them. I think the long term future of them is being considered as Electricity not cheap, not sure how the economy or environmental arguements compare between using petrol/diesel and electricity!

 

[bhaexpress]

Wouldn't a Prius be an answer ?

 

[Lord Bracknell]

About eight years ago, East Sussex County Council ran a trial of electric cars in partnership with one of the electricity companies. There was a small fleet of about half a dozen Peugeots (if I remember rightly).

The theory was that, with a range of about 60 miles, they could get staff out to meetings and back without a problem.

Fortunately, ESCC has easy access to the excellent breakdown and recovery service run by Colas at Ringmer. I always thought that the sight of an electric car (plastered in slogans about green energy) on the back of a recovery vehicle was never a great advert for the concept. And it was a very common sight in and around Lewes.

I drove one a few times, without trouble. The oddest thing was the complete silence as you creep up on unsuspecting jaywalkers and cyclists.

Fuel is very cheap, though. The deal is that you turn up at your destination, announce that you need to recharge the car, people get all excited about it, they give you access to their electricity, you refuel, they smile. It's cost you NOTHING.

 

[Cian]

Wouldn't a Prius be an answer ?

Based on normal driving, a small diesel is >50% more fuel efficient than a Prius

You need to be doing extra-extra-urban driving for a Prius to make sense, and arguably you should be using the bus network for that...

 

[Lord Bracknell]

If anyone can ever invent a long-lasting battery technology that really works, they'll end up richer than Bill Gates.

 

[British Bulldog]

Anyone on here looked into buying one? Quite honestly, most of our driving is done locally and with fuel prices now sky high and road tax incentives in place for greener alternatives, it is now quite tempting to buy a leccy car and hire a regular fuelled car for longer journeys.

Has anyone looked into leccy cars before? Are they all still odd-looking things with the capacity and power of a hairdryer or have things moved on a bit?

Electric cars are ok but imagine the size of the extension lead you'd need, If everyone got one it could lead to a right old tangle.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Electric cars are ok but imagine the size of the extension lead you'd need, If everyone got one it could lead to a right old tangle.

Isn't that what went wrong with the railway between Croydon and London? It'll cost BILLIONS to untangle it.

I blame Southern Electric.

 

[British Bulldog]

Isn't that what went wrong with the railway between Croydon and London? It'll cost BILLIONS to untangle it.

I blame Southern Electric.

I think i'll leave the job of untangling that lot to someone else, Bit of a close call on the railway down your neck of the woods on Friday was'nt it? Had the potential for a disaster that one did. Glad to see nobody got hurt but I can see there being a big enquiry over that one.

 

[Trufflehound]

Bollocks to electric cars. HOVER cars are the future, and the best way to beat the jams.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

I think i'll leave the job of untangling that lot to someone else, Bit of a close call on the railway down your neck of the woods on Friday was'nt it? Had the potential for a disaster that one did. Glad to see nobody got hurt but I can see there being a big enquiry over that one.

Yes. At the time it happened, I was out walking the dog alongside the railway (between Ripe Crossing and Selmeston) and I suddenly realised that I hadn't seen a train for about an hour. This either meant it was Christmas Day or something nasty had happened.

As you know, Berwick has a staffed signal box. Presumably the guy in the box saw it all. I don't envy him, though. Someone will be asking questions about whether he could have prevented it happening.



New readers start here ...

RAIL CHAOS: Train hits tractor-trailer on crossing

There is chaos on the rails this afternoon (Friday) after a train hit a tractor-trailer on a railway crossing .

The accident happened at Berwick level crossing at about 3.30pm.

Trains are stationary on the line between Polegate and Berwick.

All Ashford trains are terminating at Eastbourne.

Services between Brighton and Eastbourne have been severely disrupted or cancelled.

Brighton and Hove Buses are accepting rail tickets.

No-one is believed to have been hurt in the accident.

 

[British Bulldog]

Luckily the signalman would'nt have seen anything because it happened at a crossing called Luver Barn ( might've spelt that wrong ) which is a farm crossing between Glynde and Ripe. I've never felt comfortable with these types of crossings and personaly I would like to see them all closed down but it will never happen.,

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Luckily the signalman would'nt have seen anything because it happened at a crossing called Luver Barn ( might've spelt that wrong ) which is a farm crossing between Glynde and Ripe. I've never felt comfortable with these types of crossings and personaly I would like to see them all closed down but it will never happen.,

Blimey. I hadn't realised that. That'll teach me never to believe what the Sussex Express says.

I know the Loover Barn crossing - it's the next crossing along the line from where I live. The problem with closing it is that there is no other access at all to most of the Loover Farm land, so it has to be used.

Middle Farm has a crossing where I was walking the dog. But that hasn't been used for years. All the signs are still in place, but the gates are now overgrown with brambles and it's impossible even to use the crossing on foot. The farm can get access to all its land by road. The fact that tractors have to deal with other road traffic by pulling off the road and churning up the grass in front of my house is a bloody nuisance, but that just affects me. Which is better, I guess, than compromising railway safety.

 

[British Bulldog]

The fact that tractors have to deal with other road traffic by pulling off the road and churning up the grass in front of my house is a bloody nuisance, but that just affects me. Which is better, I guess, than compromising railway safety.

All these occupation crossings are safe if used correctly but they're open to far too much mis-use which can compromise safety, Try explaining that to a person wanting to use the crossing and 9/10 all you get back is abuse anyway.

 

[Trufflehound]

And of course, if the farmer was using a hover car instead of a tractor, he could have avoided all the unpleasantness.

 

[British Bulldog]

And of course, if the farmer was using a hover car instead of a tractor, he could have avoided all the unpleasantness.

It's the way foreward fella, As long as they dont hover too high because I hav'nt got a head for heights.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

If you listen to some of the farmers round our way, they'll tell you that biofuels are the way forward, not electric vehicles.

I guess it's something to do with still qualifying for EU set-aside subsidies for NOT growing oilseed rape as an ingredient of cattle food, while simultaneously qualifying for different subsidies for growing oilseed rape as an ingredient of fuel.

 

[Buttinhams]

Or what about one of these?

Combining classic British sports car design with racing car technology the Lightning is powered by four electric motors. The Lighting has been developed with exhilarating performance in mind with virtually no pollution. The car will be launched initially as the GT followed by a lightweight GTS and a longer range, more equipped GTSE model.



The Lighting is powered by four 120kw motors utilising Hi-Pa Drive technology. Power comes from state of the art NanoSafe battery packs. This all translates to 700+ bhp and 0-60 in 5 seconds for the GT and an estimated 4 seconds for the lighter GTS. Unlike a petrol engine full power is available from zero rpm.



The lighting can be charged from a conventional mains power supply. Charging takes approximately 10 minutes and delivers 250miles of motoring with the help of regenerative braking. The batteries are centrally located allowing for greater balance while still leaving space for the golf clubs.



As with all electric vehicles, the Lightning will be road tax and congestion charge exempt. Powering the car on a domestic power supply will cost approximately 2.2p per mile, a tenth of the price of a petrol car.



Motors in each wheel, provide phenomenal torque and power capability which is integrated in each wheel assemble. There is no gearbox, differential, axel, drive shaft or prop shaft to contend with. All the power is generated at the wheels, the point at which it is required which eliminates mechanical complexity and power losses experienced with standard sports cars. The lightweight and powerful motors also allow for regenerative braking on all four wheels.



The car is built from a carbon fibre/aluminium honeycomb composite monocoque chassis making it light and safe with a carbon fibre body.



Petrol prototypes utilising a Mustang Cobra V8 are already in use however the Lighting Car Company are now focusing on the electric emission free GT which is available for pre-order. 2008 delivery is expected. Expect prices to be in excess of £150,000.

 

[REDLAND]

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