Electric 240z......Late brake show....

[Paul_S]

I find this really interesting. You have to admire the guy and his foresight and skills.

When I was doing trackdays in my 240Z I really enjoyed wringing its neck to get the most out of old technology and just showing people how good these cars are especially on old 2" SUs. Changing down before a bend and powering through, balancing the car on the throttle in the correct gear was rewarding.

This electric car wouldn't do that for me, I'd have lots of power and the straightline performance would be expected and easy. Of course the cornering would still be the same.

The recharging would be a pain though. You'd have to take a generator!

I like it. The car that needs electrifying is the Mazda RX8 - great car with unreliable engine (but lovely when running).

500Volts seems a bit scary.

I always though electric cars were being introduced to 'save the planet' but they aren't really are they?

I totally agree.

There's a reason various brands are developing EVs with 'gears'. I'm not sure how successful they will be, but manufacturers are aware of the fact that EVs lack driver engagement.

I suppose a lot of people are just happy to get from A to B. But some of us like to enjoy the journey.

 

[Rob Gaskin]

Surely the diff and driveshafts won't stand up to the torque?

 

[jonbills]

There are new EVs that are great to drive and there are new petrol/diesel cars that are awful to drive (e.g. bmw i4 vs merc A250) I don't think EV powertrains will be the death of car culture.
That will be the awful driver assistance stuff. I can live with EVs, but not adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assistant, eco-tip prompts, front assist, driver alertness prompts, multitone bongs before and after speed cameras and flashing lights doing their best to distract me when there are other cars near. Grrrr

 

[Robotsan]

Surely the diff and driveshafts won't stand up to the torque?

They must be stronger I guess. Funnily enough this was on the same show - Hyundai EV with gears. It even artificially cuts the torque momentarily when you change!

 

[Rob Gaskin]

Been thinking a bit more about this car, if it was simplified to a lower power (one motor) and perhaps not a water-cooled motor it would be lighter and have more range but still more than enough power for the road.

Also could there be a way of having a sort of 'auxiliary' battery pack for longer journeys? It would need to be light enough to pick up (2 people), fit securely into the boot and piggy-back into the existing batteries. Just thinking out loud really.

 

[Ian]

I suppose Its good that this is being done, I suppose in a very long time from now it may be necessary. I don't have a problem with an electric daily, But I don't get it in a classic, the biggest part of the experience is the connection to the mechanicals, the gear change, the feel, the sound, the revs building, the vibrations. If I lost all that I just don't think I'd have any interest in driving such a car.

Especially as it is one that won't be doing more than 3000 miles a year, its not polluting like a daily doing 10,000+ a year. They would have actually created more way more pollution making this than keeping it with an ICE, and its unlikely to get driven enough by any owner to ever offset this.

 

[Robotsan]

I suppose Its good that this is being done, I suppose in a very long time from now it may be necessary. I don't have a problem with an electric daily, But I don't get it in a classic, the biggest part of the experience is the connection to the mechanicals, the gear change, the feel, the sound, the revs building, the vibrations. If I lost all that I just don't think I'd have any interest in driving such a car.

Especially as it is one that won't be doing more than 3000 miles a year, its not polluting like a daily doing 10,000+ a year. They would have actually created more way more pollution making this than keeping it with an ICE, and its unlikely to get driven enough by any owner to ever offset this.

I totally agree. Wouldn't mind an EV daily at all. And for luxury cars it really starts to make sense (I'm talking big Rolls, Mercs, 7 series etc).

And I also find it hard to believe anyone who likes their classics would like one without the soundtrack, smells and interaction.

But he does say in the video that there's a market for these cars.. which I assume is people who have A) more money than sense and B) aren't into the maintenance side of running a classic, and just want the looks with none of the faff...

.. If I weren't such a progressive modern man, I'd say something like "can Silent Classics do electric women too .. Silent Wifes?" .. but I won't.

 

[AliK]

I totally agree. Wouldn't mind an EV daily at all. And for luxury cars it really starts to make sense (I'm talking big Rolls, Mercs, 7 series etc).

And I also find it hard to believe anyone who likes their classics would like one without the soundtrack, smells and interaction.

But he does say in the video that there's a market for these cars.. which I assume is people who have A) more money than sense and B) aren't into the maintenance side of running a classic, and just want the looks with none of the faff...

.. If I weren't such a progressive modern man, I'd say something like "can Silent Classics do electric women too .. Silent Wifes?" .. but I won't.

You can have one of those too - sooner than you think.

As of today there are virtual AI powered girlfriends online (albeit not properly publicly available yet) who look and sprak exactly as you define and are thoroughly convincing.

Robotics has advanced so much that you can have frighteningly life like robots with proper facial expressions and movements.

So it’s just a matter of time for those things to combine and et voila, you have your battery powered partner to go with your battery classic and have a charge fest together!

Sooner than we think, in the future we will be the current horse riders, annoying road users with our slow and smelly progress!

In the same way that we don’t miss steam trains for our commuting or long distance journeys, we will enjoy the luxury of electric daily. No one misses the noise / smoke / vibration / maintenance of a steam train on a routine basis. But boy do we feel nostalgic and is it a special occasion when we see one go by. We even forgive the temporary smoke and noise to marvel at the sensual aspects (discussed already) compared with a modern train.

Now imagine electrifying a steam train and being left with just the looks! That for me sums up silent classics. But if they could install a flux capacitor and make it fly, then I’d be queueing up!!