EV conversion kit (for when the dreaded day arrives)

[Niels Svane]

I don't know if it's been brought up on the forum yet, as we all enjoy our petrol beasts to the fullest, but here it is:
https://eveurope.eu/en/product/comp...-renault-4-high-voltage-max-90-kwatt-180-vdc/
a kit for converting the R4, 2CV, HY van or what not to electric propulsion. How it works I can't say, but I know the law here in DK might be a bit iffy to get around.
But I'll start saving now

 

[malcolm]

Don't start saving - money spent mostly translates into consumption and emmissions, so spending 30k on a conversion when the alternative is spending 0.3k on a bit of petrol is actually worse for the environment. Maybe we can do our bit by not having big new cars made for us.

 

[Leonardo.IT]

I'm a big fan of classic conversion, but to be fair 90kW it may be a little too much for an R4.
I'd be curious about what kind of range could be reached with a full 74.2 kWh battery pack...

 

[JdeW]

The now produced battery powered cars are more worse than they do good for the environment as a lot, and I mean a lot, of pollution is allready done during production of such a type of car.
The only and best sollution for electric driving is hydrogen fuelcell powered cars, with a small battery pack as reserve, allthough nuclear powered cars are the real solution.
Everything that's now hastly been put on the market as the solution is bad thinking and not the solution for emmisions and a better environment.

 

[AdamWilkes]

Agreed JdeW, I reckon it's the massive new cars that are gobbling vast energy and resources in manufacture, whether hybrid or not (4.5 litre petrol hybrid to Save The World, anyone?). Encourage folks to buy small, light, and resource-light vehicles instead of heavyweight vanity trophies.

 

[Stuart Delahoy]

The greenest car is the car you already own.
Keep it for another 10 years instead of manufacturing the next solution.
Trouble is in this country its all about the class system and how impressive you look. Which is why I drive a ten year old Citroen C1 everday!

 

[angel]

Trouble is that, when a government decides that your old, or not too old, car pollutes (=has to make room for a new car to be bought), they ban you from driving it, and you usually can't do much about this.

 

[Piet]

And this is where something like powering a very small car using an existing internal combustion engine burning hydrogen and oxygen generated by electrolysis using the same solar array rig that is used for your domestic electricity generation might make some sort of sense- or a similar solution where various old and new technologies are spooged together . It would be interesting to run the numbers.

What would be really nice would be if someone cottoned on to counting emissions in total output quantity instead of parts per million out of the tailpipe.

Battery technology is messy and wasteful but if it becomes the mainstream that would eventually change (hopefully). So maybe an electric version would be not so bad in 10 years or so.

The aerospace industry is struggling to come to grips with the future at the moment- electric technology is not there yet- and probably won't ever be except for very short haul flights, alternative fuels, like biofuel made from farmed algae, are being toyed with, but the major likelihood is that flying will go back to its status in the 1950s- ie way more expensive, less of it, and slow turboprops instead of jets to use way less fuel.

This is going to mean a lot of the incessant financial growth of the past is going to come to a stop and lifestyles are going to change radically, sooner or later.

 

[Leonardo.IT]

And this is where something like powering a very small car using an existing internal combustion engine burning hydrogen and oxygen generated by electrolysis using the same solar array rig that is used for your domestic electricity generation might make some sort of sense- or a similar solution where various old and new technologies are spooged together . It would be interesting to run the numbers.

This would be a great waste of energy, solar panel aren't very efficent, but both electrolysis and burning hydrogen in a combustion engine aren't efficent at all!
And to make a sufficient amount of hydrogen to commute you would need a lot of panels!

 

[Piet]

Well, bog standard solar panels aren't very efficient but the latest generation are getting up to 20%. And solar energy non-recurring is free, so its moot. But I havent done any sums on volume of hydrogen and I take your point, you'd be better off driving an electric motor via a battery- but you need to build a battery, and if the battery manufacture is the energy intensive and polluting monster some people say it is then this is a potential way of avoiding it.

 

[JdeW]

Well the solar cell technology with higher efficiency rates are allready developed many years ago as there are Multi- and full spectrum solar cells allready available.
Yes, H2 is only efficient for a moderate 126 kW fuel cell and yes, the production of H2 needs a fair amount of energy but solar energy is available at an incredible amount and it is free.
There's only 1 real and 1 big problem, and that is that the world is ruled by greed and the so called green energy producers and companies are nothing more than investment corporations. They get all the £££ benefits and mr. and mrs. consumer pays the high price, not to mention the ridicules ideas of several governments (especially EU minded governments) who blaim everything on the consumer and the real polluters go free.

I will only join the green revolution when the solar and H2 fuel cell technology is available at a payable price so I can install it at home to produce my own H2 for powering the H2 fuel cells for my house and for my car.
I will not join as long as all the greedy green companies get all the profit.