Talk about a lead sled....an.ev mgb

Looks like 16 batteries, unless there are some more stashed in the interior.Wonder how far it goes on a charge.

http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/cto/1454086810.html

Thought about going ev on one of my B's (the one without an engine). Estimates are $4,000 for the powerplant and other equipment plus another $2,000-$7,000 for batteries. It ain't easy (or cheap) being green.

16 batteries is more than I've seen on B's that can go 50 miles on a charge.

I counted 16 batteries. With a conservative weight estimate of 25 lbs. per battery, that's an extra 400 lbs. to cart around. Said another way, it's the equivalent of always carrying an obese passenger (that wouldn't otherwise fit in the B's cozy interior).

Any collision in that car is going to put the driver at risk of having a Super Fund site that will need cleaning up.

No thanks.

At least the ride height would be lower. :bouncing:

You're forgetting that the motor weighs only about 50 pounds versus the cast iron lump most of us have. Your other points are valid though, including the weight distribution.

Lord Lucas on steroids!

I hope he knows to make sure his ground cable is VERY clean.

Yeah, a collision is what would worry me. Not that I'd want an electric 'b in first place.

Discharging batteries creates Hydrogen which is very explosive.Remember the Hindenburg???
It would take a lot of venting to keep the hydrogen fumes from building and creating an explosion.

Elect cars are not really enviormental friendly ( a con ). Picture every driver in CAL
all charging their cars at 6 pm,,,Brown out ?? The other states are paying Cals power bills now !
How does all that elect get generated ? What fuel for power plants ?
Batteries all charging while gassing dangerous fumes ?
( nuke power plants safer than Teds car )

don't forget electric motor torque though...
And the thing with electric motors is they are much more efficient than even a modern internal combustion engine. And whats nice with electricity is that you can make in a whole number of ways, so right now it might be made with coal or gas or whatever, but if people decide they want to switch to something else later you just build a new power plant instead of rebuilding the entire system.

Darn! That's a steal. Pity I don't have the cash, or a short commute.

I was looking into converting my '73 MGB GT that is also sans engine, but the cost as Bob noted is pretty high. I also have a really problematic commute path that requires too much from a current generation EV conversion.

It was a thought though. I'd rather be humming around in an MGB than driving a Prius.

kelvin

In Oregon we use mostly hydro power, which is pretty clean but a lot of the california drivers with electric cars install solar cells to charge them. I guess if you can afford an electric car, you can afford a solar panel array...

The efficiency of the electric motor versus a gas engine isn't the problem, it is the energy that can be stored in gas versus batteries and the "recharge" rate. And than there is the little issue with cost of full electric car versus gas.

I have a short commute to work on ground streets (45 mph maximum speed) so a commuter car like this MGB would work for me and the price is good. Just happens to be on the wrong side of the country. Another advantage at this time, not having to pay gasoline taxes and your residential power bill (here in MS for example) is not charged sales tax. I would think that when electric cars become more common that the government will step in and find a way to tax the mileage that you drive in a year.

My senior year of high school, I was part of a team that participated in the Lemelson/MIT InvenTeams and developed a hybrid electric generating tree designed to charge electric cars.

I'm the one in blue in the bottom picture:

http://web.mit.edu/inventeams/teams/2006/summit.html

The website is very vague and a bit inaccurate in the information they provide.

Basically it was a 25ft tall steel tree with 6 solar panels on it and a wind turbine on top. The idea is that you would have this in your front yard (hence why it was made to look like a tree, so it wouldn't be so ugly) and during the day it would charge a bank of batteries buried underground in a nearby container. Along with the batteries is a diesel generator that would also charge the batteries if the solar cells and turbine could not do the job that day (cloud or not windy). So the batteries charge during the day and at night you can plug your car into it to recharge it for the following day.

As batteries become more efficient (and less toxic), electric cars will become more cost effective, lighter and practical.

I guess I don't get the concept of hybrid or electric only cars. Especially from a cost standpoint. The batteries will get exhausted at some point. Which means they will have to be replaced (current costs are what $3-5k+). No doubt once you get past 10 years on the car, you will be ready to replace them sooner than later. I mean, really, how many battery operated devices have had batteries last more than a decade? Plus the resale value of them once out of warranty will be low. Look at the first gen Prius, selling a lot less than a same model year Corolla.

And even from an environmental standpoint. I think it is more 'green' (I really hate that term) to do what we do here.. keep old cars on the road. Takes limited energy and resources compared to making hundreds of new cars each day. The amount of energy making parts, shipping them, never mind the energy used to get the people to work to make the parts...then cost in making the batteries..millions of them..shipping them..storage..disposal...The cost of making the car...cost of the people going to work to make the car..to ship the car..all takes energy! Add to that the end-of-life service of a (for example) prius..has got to be higher and more specialized removing the batteries and disposing of them.. plus the car itself.

I don't get it.. but as long as it makes people happy...go for it.. but I am not going to drink the cool aid any time soon!

I was with you right up until the drinking the kool aid bit -