Which cars are best thread.

Have you made or bought a converted vehicle if so this is for you
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Night Train
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Postby Night Train » Wed Jul 16, 2008 10:46 am

I've been looking at the Matiz recently too. I would put the batteries where the back seats are as I only need a two seater (one seater 99.99% of the time).

Also getting very interested in the VW One Litre prototype. Would be interesting as an EV.

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geekygrilli
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Postby geekygrilli » Wed Jul 16, 2008 11:53 am

Phew, i'm not the only one, then!

I think with the batteries you could get:

4 under the rear seat where the fuel tank is (I guess its there?)
2 under the boot floor - maybe raise the floor level a little
2 in the motor bay

Thats 96v - same as my cinquecento.

They come with PAS as standard, which can be taken out, or fit a Saxo Electrohydraulic PAS pump. Thing is, an hydraulic system causes so much friction if not running you can't really have it as an optional turn on or off.
You could also fit a punto,corsa or micra Electric steering column but these require a speed signal input, which comes from the ECU which would be discarded, I think. Hmmm, maybe not.

Dunno about the ABS, I'll have a look into this, it could just be removed, or disconnected. I don't know what sort of current these draw.

Parker's guide says it weighs 870kg, not the 780kg stated on other websites. Strange.
Last edited by geekygrilli on Fri Aug 20, 2010 8:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.

MalcolmB
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Postby MalcolmB » Wed Jul 16, 2008 1:07 pm

The criteria you listed were exactly the ones I've been working from Chris. The Matiz was on my shortlist as well. Another newer option would be the Citroen C1/Peugeot 106/Toyota Aygo, which I really like the look of, but is still hard to find for less than £5,000. Weight is just over 800 kg.

In the end though I've gone for an oddball compromise. I've always tried to avoid running a second car, but when I thought about it it seems to make sense to have a small, short-range car for everyday errands, when four seats are unnecessary, and keep our old petrol car for longer family trips. I've just bought a fibreglass-bodied mini. The NCAP rating is zero, but the paint job is so wild that nobody is likely to hit it accidentally :D Weight is around 630 kg.

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geekygrilli
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Postby geekygrilli » Wed Jul 16, 2008 2:19 pm

I'd love another mini, but the mixture of nuts and bolts they are made of just annoys me!

My budget is about £500 for the donor vehicle, and if i'm not in a rush i'll be able to get a very good car for the money. Any more than that and its really eats into the cost savings.

At the moment we have my EV, a 2001 Diesel Berlingo and a Petrol Nissan Note. I've not used my Berlingo for over three weeks now (since I've finshed the EV).

My wife's journeys are always very short, but the Cinquecento is too small for her with pushchairs etc. Plus its running wet batteries, no airbags, and its generally not robust enough system wise.

A Matiz would suit our needs perfectly if it has a decent range and is robust enough for everyday driving without having to think about it being an EV.

The only concern with having 3 cars are the insurance and MOT costs, road tax is negligible if they are EVs, and you can only drive one car at a time, so running costs are no different.

Richard Ward
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Postby Richard Ward » Mon Aug 11, 2008 8:02 pm

Like nino500, I reckon the Reliant Fox would be a good basis for an EV, gross unladen weight is 1410 lbs. Problem is there's only about 100 of them on the road in UK, and they are all getting on a bit now.
A newer option I have been looking at is a Daihatsu Hijet mpv. This is small and quite narrow, but has 6 seats (3 rows of 2) and 2 sliding side doors. The 4 seats in the back must indicate a load capacity of 350 kg at least, with these seats taken out there is a large flat floor ideal ideal for battery fixing. There's another version around, the Piaggio Porter, also an electric version available but quite expensive at about £17k I think. Also, according to my local Daihatsu dealer, they have never had power steering, although I have seen a few ads with this feature mentioned!

Richard
Bristol

subevo
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Postby subevo » Wed Jan 28, 2009 6:56 pm

hi, ive just completed a conversion of a daewoo matiz 72volts with 6 lead acid batteries.4in the boot.2 up front in place of the radiator.in the boot i made a small frame to replicate the spare wheel.then i placed 3/4" plywood cut to shape to give a solid and level floor.you could fit 5 batteries in this space but i put 4.only done 10miles so far so early days yet.40mph in 3rd gear.not ventured into 4th yet .any questions ask away.

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MB
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Postby MB » Wed Jan 28, 2009 8:12 pm

There is a rather interesting Reliant Fox based vintage van on eBay at the moment.

It's a 1989 model, it looks like something from 1929, and would be wonderful as an electric vehicle.

No shortage of space for batteries!
My new book is out: The 2011 Electric Car Guide is available from Amazon and all good bookshops.

RobSmith
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Re: Which cars are best thread.

Postby RobSmith » Mon Aug 02, 2010 4:37 pm

How about a Suzuki Carry Van?

I have just been offered a realy tidy one.

Rob

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ChrisB
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Re: Which cars are best thread.

Postby ChrisB » Tue Aug 03, 2010 12:39 pm

Very similar to the bedford Rascal from memory and I'm sure theres several that have been converted in the past.

ChrisB
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