All-Electric MINI E Officially Revealed

Post Mon Oct 20, 2008 4:06 pm

Very heavy Mini

http://www.worldcarfans.com/9081018.003 ... y-revealed

Post Mon Oct 20, 2008 4:10 pm

i like the fuel filler

not bad preformance figures for what it is

Post Mon Oct 20, 2008 4:14 pm

Weighs as much as an E34

Post Mon Oct 20, 2008 6:55 pm

General Motors will have an electric car on sale in the US next year. Plug it into the wall overnight to charge the battery and off it goes. I hope BMW keep going with Hydrogen power - there will still be oil supplies for hundreds of years to come but It'd be nice to fuck the Arabs off and make them understand we won't need them forever.

Post Mon Oct 20, 2008 9:10 pm

I really like the idea of electric cars. If we ever get some decent sources of 'clean' electricity then they will be the way forward.

Theres a documentary called 'Who killed the electric car' which is well worth a watch. It's very interesting. Its mainly about GM producing a very successful electric car over a decade ago, then recalling them all to be scrapped.

Post Mon Oct 20, 2008 9:18 pm

Ah, that would be the EV1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_EV1

Perhaps they were put under pressure by oil companies?

Post Mon Oct 20, 2008 9:26 pm

Thats right, the EV-1. Horrible looking but hugely successful with the people who were allowed one.

They were originally built to meet Californias laws at the time that meant manufacturers had to produce a certain number of cars that were emmission free (or something, cant remember). Toyota also made an electric Rav4. But California eventually pulled the law due to pressure from various parties, including oil giants, car giants, etc.

As soon as the law was pulled, GM recalled all the cars and sent them through the crusher. Toyota tried the same thing but there are a few electric Rav4's driving around. The thing was that GM refused to sell any of the cars, they only ever leased them to their customers, presumably so that they could remove them from the roads if they wanted.

There were other reasons why it never made it. The oil companies is one, but also GM realising that electric cars didn't need nearly as many service items or as much maintainence, and therfore hardly any ongoing revenue from cars already sold.

Post Mon Oct 20, 2008 9:28 pm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_RAV4_EV

"Toyota discontinued the RAV4 EV program one day after the passing of new air-quality requirements by CARB."

Post Mon Oct 20, 2008 9:29 pm

Damn, why is this world so twisted?

Post Mon Oct 20, 2008 9:30 pm

Post Mon Oct 20, 2008 9:31 pm

Andyboy wrote:General Motors will have an electric car on sale in the US next year. Plug it into the wall overnight to charge the battery and off it goes. I hope BMW keep going with Hydrogen power - there will still be oil supplies for hundreds of years to come but It'd be nice to **** the Arabs off and make them understand we won't need them forever.

I think hydrogen will be the next revolution in personal transport, I just hope I'm still around to see it really take off and evolve.

Post Mon Oct 20, 2008 9:32 pm

Interesting stuff!

From what I understand one of the drawbacks of electric cars is the ozone emmisions? o3 is quite toxic I believe and is the primary emission from the motor. I wonder if anybody has run the Co2 figures of producing and distributing the mni e vs. the continued running of a nice M42

Post Mon Oct 20, 2008 9:36 pm

Another concern at the moment is that most batteries available that are cost efficient require replacing every 18 months or so. That is expensive and also not so great for the environment, although they can be recycled to a degree.

Post Mon Oct 20, 2008 9:37 pm

Some people are taking things into their own hands! Electric BMW anyone??

http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/sh ... 356p7.html

Post Mon Oct 20, 2008 9:40 pm

Yeah I see it's Li-ion technology. I've been reading some quite unfavourable reports about the longevity of such batteries currently.

Post Mon Oct 20, 2008 9:46 pm

hoshy wrote:Interesting stuff!

From what I understand one of the drawbacks of electric cars is the ozone emmisions? o3 is quite toxic I believe and is the primary emission from the motor. I wonder if anybody has run the Co2 figures of producing and distributing the mni e vs. the continued running of a nice M42

It seems to me that so many companies seem to be using the environment to guilt trip people into buying new products from them. The energy used to create their new products vastly outweighs the energy they will save in their effective lifetime.

Post Mon Oct 20, 2008 9:50 pm

GrindCulture wrote:It seems to me that so many companies seem to be using the environment to guilt trip people into buying new products from them. The energy used to create their new products vastly outweighs the energy they will save in their effective lifetime.

Such as cars. There is a school of belief that says a car gets more economical the older it gets due to the highly inneficient manufacturing process.

Post Mon Oct 20, 2008 9:52 pm

Which is why I'm using my 1970 Morris Minor Traveller whilst my 325i Sport is off the road being repaired for the MOT. 38 years old and still going strong, with excellent fuel economy - quality first!

Post Mon Oct 20, 2008 9:53 pm

It's this throw away culture. Everyone's gotta have the latest gadgets and the newest cars, but heaven forbid Mr. and Mrs. Squirrel loose their homes in the pursuit of natural resources.

Post Mon Oct 20, 2008 10:05 pm

GrindCulture wrote:It's this throw away culture. Everyone's gotta have the latest gadgets and the newest cars, but heaven forbid Mr. and Mrs. Squirrel loose their homes in the pursuit of natural resources.

I second that. I know a couple of people who just will not touch second hand cars. It's like they've been brainwashed to believe that anything older than brand new will be uneconomical, much more harmful to the environment and hugely unreliable.

Theres plenty of cheap, reliable, economical machinery about that will just end up on the scrap heap.

Post Mon Oct 20, 2008 10:09 pm

PZero wrote:
GrindCulture wrote:It's this throw away culture. Everyone's gotta have the latest gadgets and the newest cars, but heaven forbid Mr. and Mrs. Squirrel loose their homes in the pursuit of natural resources.
I second that. I know a couple of people who just will not touch second hand cars. It's like they've been brainwashed to believe that anything older than brand new will be uneconomical, much more harmful to the environment and hugely unreliable.

Theres plenty of cheap, reliable, economical machinery about that will just end up on the scrap heap.

I think that this is one place where capitalism really falls down. Don't get me wrong, it's got plenty of good points and has proven itself to be very workable. But the conservation of natural resources is not one of its strong points.