Electric Z at the NEC

And Ive yet to see a mainstream article explaining exactly how end of life batteries are recycled and at what cost, all we ever hear about is zero emissions the rest is conveniently left under the carpet!

That's the thing, this cars hiding nothing under the carpet
 

AD240Z

Club Member
And Ive yet to see a mainstream article explaining exactly how end of life batteries are recycled and at what cost, all we ever hear about is zero emissions the rest is conveniently left under the carpet!


Or this is a nice summary https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/wmg/business/transportelec/22350m_wmg_battery_recycling_report_v7.pdf


In the UK - the companies generally doing the ‘recovery ‘ are getting paid to discharge and dismantle them - some shredding them to produce black mass - which is predominantly being exported .

The theory is the recovery sites can recover the rare metals from the black mass by thermal or chemical means . Taking place back in Eastern Europe and the far east - the environmental controls are less stringent than here . Actual recovery rates ?

If the metals price shift or the quality is poor - the cost to do the recovery is’nt worth it - cheap disposal occurs . There was a uk company caught up in a dumping abroad of black mass .

Lots of stories like this:


I drive my s30 because I like the noise , the smell and the feeling of driving a car as it was designed to be . I get it - but it’s not for me.
 
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Robotsan

Club Member
I wonder why so much (more weight) interior sound-proofing ?

I was thinking the same thing. I've seen a few restos where they've absolutely coated the shell interior with the heavy butyl type sound proofing, which some wise soul on here (I've forgotten who, but they work in auto acoustics!) said only needs to go on the big panels and only needs to cover at least 50%.

Must add a lot to totally cover it. Mind you an electric s30 would probably shift plenty so maybe it wouldn't matter.
 

uk66fastback

Club Member
On their website they show another one they did a while back and say the power output is double what it was with the 2.4 engine in.
 

status

Well-Known Forum User
Stick a 3.2 Rebello lump in it like I did and you’ve got double the power from when they came out of the factory
Proper
 

uk66fastback

Club Member
A guy on Pistonheads had an old Fiat 500 done a couple of years ago and I’m sure I read he paid about £20,000 for some restoration and conversion …
 

Rob Gaskin

Treasurer
Staff member
Site Administrator
They convert a lot of classic on a TV series called Vintage Voltage.

Most cost about £50k.
 

Aerialmark

Club Member
The first electric vehicle with 4 wheels I plan on driving is in about 15 years will be a mobility scooter to get me to my garage and back when I’m taking my fossil fuel Z out for a spin. For any other trips I will just use the recently invented teleporter I bought from Amazon local.
 

Aerialmark

Club Member
I drove a friends Kia Soul EV, whilst it looked like I was onboard the starship enterprise with a vision overload I felt disconnected ( pardon the pun ) in someway from the driving experience. I think I could have been even more disconnected as he said it would drive it’s self but I didn’t trust it.
I feel as another chap has said on here maybe it’s too early for this technology because of one thing or another but I think we may all have to have one at some time. Or not ?
 

Geoff-R

Club Member

Or this is a nice summary https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/wmg/business/transportelec/22350m_wmg_battery_recycling_report_v7.pdf


In the UK - the companies generally doing the ‘recovery ‘ are getting paid to discharge and dismantle them - some shredding them to produce black mass - which is predominantly being exported .

The theory is the recovery sites can recover the rare metals from the black mass by thermal or chemical means . Taking place back in Eastern Europe and the far east - the environmental controls are less stringent than here . Actual recovery rates ?

If the metals price shift or the quality is poor - the cost to do the recovery is’nt worth it - cheap disposal occurs . There was a uk company caught up in a dumping abroad of black mass .

Lots of stories like this:


I drive my s30 because I like the noise , the smell and the feeling of driving a car as it was designed to be . I get it - but it’s not for me.

This is the big concern isn't it, the dumping of the waste and how the batteries are dealt with after they've come to the end of their life. If it's not being dealt with correctly now just imagine what it will be like in 10 years time when all new cars will be EVs.
 

toopy

Club Member
This is the big concern isn't it, the dumping of the waste and how the batteries are dealt with after they've come to the end of their life. If it's not being dealt with correctly now just imagine what it will be like in 10 years time when all new cars will be EVs.
Exactly that 👍

I'm not completely against electric vehicles but i certainly don't think it is a long term solution for everything on 4 or 2 wheels to be run on batteries, when in reality they are more poisonous and more environmentally destructive in getting the source materials than the fossil fuels were trying to avoid!
 

Kieronpollock

Club Member
Some random thoughts.

Electric cars have a bigger impact on the planet than keeping a classic car alive.

Cobalt, used in many car batteries especially early ones is extracted from forests in the Congo by hand, in many instances using child labour and destroying our environment.
Only 20% of the UK population will have the facilities ie off street parking, to charge electric cars.
The zero emission test used by car manufactures is flawed and doesn’t take into account the build cost of a car. It’s a test in effect with the car in a ‘box’, if the same test was applied to a cow, the cow would test at a higher emission rate than a car yet everyone knows cows are good for the planet!
Alternative fuels are the long term solution utilising existing infrastructure eg petrol stations. It is being developed by many small companies that never are put in the spotlight, and is in use at the moment, but of course the cost per gallon is currently astronomical but will come down in time.

Finally if you want to eat a nice burger you don’t cook it as quickly as you can in a microwave, you cook it on a BBQ and enjoy the process, the smell and the taste - same goes for electric vs petrol cars 😉
 

MCBladeRun

Club Member
Some random thoughts.

Electric cars have a bigger impact on the planet than keeping a classic car alive.

Cobalt, used in many car batteries especially early ones is extracted from forests in the Congo by hand, in many instances using child labour and destroying our environment.
Only 20% of the UK population will have the facilities ie off street parking, to charge electric cars.
The zero emission test used by car manufactures is flawed and doesn’t take into account the build cost of a car. It’s a test in effect with the car in a ‘box’, if the same test was applied to a cow, the cow would test at a higher emission rate than a car yet everyone knows cows are good for the planet!
Alternative fuels are the long term solution utilising existing infrastructure eg petrol stations. It is being developed by many small companies that never are put in the spotlight, and is in use at the moment, but of course the cost per gallon is currently astronomical but will come down in time.

Finally if you want to eat a nice burger you don’t cook it as quickly as you can in a microwave, you cook it on a BBQ and enjoy the process, the smell and the taste - same goes for electric vs petrol cars 😉
Yes, exactly that. I would argue that us enthusiasts restoring a classic (when time allows) is less of an environmental impact than scrapping a vehicle in favour of an electric car.

I'm all for what silent classics are doing of course, I think it's fantastic that we can engine swap the next technology available, I've even seen a Nissan leaf battery/motor in a 240z before.

Anyone doing a hydrogen powered z? I think you could modify the existing engine possibly if you can get a reliable source of fuel.

Have we gone off subject?
 

Ian

Club Member
I may well own and drive an electric car, but that would only be my daily. I have no intention of running an electric car for my fun car. I don't get the desire to own an S30 that is electric, takes away any interest I have in them.

Good to see others here can see the negatives of batteries that they don't want us to talk about. Mostly being the pollution required to build an electric car, the damage done by mining for the batteries, the proper disposal of spent batteries and the fact that they are not zero pollution vehicles unless they are run by power made from something like wind, tide, solar, or Nuclear etc. Also pretty sure the grid isn't ready to support the demand of an entire country driving electric cars charging them overnight.

It is a ridiculous amount cleaner for the environment for me to run my car as it is for the 3000 or so miles it will do in a year than to convert to electric or swap for an electric car.
 

Mr.G

Club Member
As a massive petrol head i got to admit that for a day to day commute, I would always generally reach for the Tesla. Fast, comfortable, long range, great sound system and interface with Spotify and easy and fast super charging facilities. Yes, there are things that annoy me, i miss not having buttons and knobs for some critical settings rather then a touch screen but for a commute it makes sense.

As for a sunny day blast then nothing can quite beat a petrol car that talks to you when you drive it like the Z. Horses for courses. Not a fan of the electric converion brigade on some iconic cars, eg Ferrari Testarrossa, Porsche 911, Z etc.. I get it more when its a run of the mill car or the engne was never a big part of the vehicle. eg, a Citroen DS (original) converted to electric doesnt sadden me as much.

I am all in favour for people doing what they want with their cars providing they use them, but to just virtue signal by converting your rare Ferrari (add anthing else that is iconic) that you hardly drive anyway to electric is just sacrilidge in my humble opinion.
 

AliK

Vehicle Dating Officer
Staff member
Club Member
I’m sure it’s all been said before so let me add to the chorus:

For me, when I open the garage door, there is a REAL sense of occasion when I get “that” smell - oil, fuel and vinyl! Then when the engine comes to life there is a real excitement at the sound track before I’ve moved a millimetre. More than the speed and handling, the soul of a classic is the way the engine sounds, smells, throbs and gives its all to make rapid progress.

To me - and I make no apologies for saying this - electrifying classics is an absolute travesty.

But I can also see the environmental point when you see a steam train go by. However, much like classic cars there aren’t that many in daily operation, so the impact is minimal IMHO.

My monstrously quick 550lbft family wagon will eat the Z for breakfast but has that “operating the controls” feel about it as distinct from “driving the car” feel. So much less an electric. The teslas I’ve driven feel even more disconnected. Somehow electric cars feel like a roller coaster ride through VR goggles. Isn’t nostalgia and a step back down the sensory memory lane the whole point of driving a classic?

Or are we all just dinosaurs in our little classic pond in denial of the electric asteroid heading our way!? :p

</RANT>
 
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