The future's electric?...

[Gareth]

Is it time to scrap my b series engine?...
BBC News - Tesla motors make classic Ferraris go faster
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48956000

[928cdu]

I read that. I think that kit car owners would embrace this slightly ahead of the classic car guys, as we like a challenge !

But the sentence "The basic process differs little from firm to firm: take out the engine and fuel tank and replace them with a battery pack and motor, often connecting the motor to the old gear box. made me think ... I honestly imagined the gearbox would be done away with .. I suspect I'm in for a bit of an education from more informed members ....

[wiggiesworld]

I honestly imagined the gearbox would be done away with .. I suspect I'm in for a bit of an education from more informed members ....

I'm with you on this bit, I have always been led to believe that electric cars are pretty much direct drive, with the electronics governing whether you are in forward or reverse. Given the huge amounts of torque available to electric motors I would expect them to shred the gearbox.

[David]

There’s an earlier thread here, not long ago, where I asked this question as I’d just been quoted £25k by the company that did the Ferrari do do my car Marlin, scary!

You can get the parts, motor(s), batteries and controller etc for under £10k but that’s still pricey for us I think.

[milliemarlin]

I like the idea of the electric motor drive with a small engine to charge the batteries. The charging engine is contrived to run at maximum efficiency and the motor avoids the weight of the gearbox. I think I remember a British inventor describing this system in the 1970s. At that time with petrol 25p a gallon the reception was muted (ignoring several conspiracy theories).

I was quite impressed to find that BMW now makes a version the i3.

Engine 125kW electric motor (equivalent to 168bhp, 184lb ft), with 647cc 2-cyl petrol range extender
Gearbox Single-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive
Stats 8.1sec 0-62mph, 93mph, 13g/km CO2

Single-speed automatic – sounds like an oxymoron to me. There is a video of the gearbox construction here:
https://www.autoevolution.com/news/h...74.html#agal_0

I was apprenticed to Enfield Automotive that made the Enfield 8000 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enfield_8000) Drivers struggled with parking because of the instant torque. A technique using the brake and accelerator could be used. A colleague owns an i3 and I’m happy to report the take off was very smooth. Electronics have come a long way.
Paul