Take one Reva G-Wiz... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GBFg-M1wo0
<https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail> Virus-free. www.avast.com <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail> <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2> On Mon, 14 Oct 2019 at 03:22, brucedp5 via EV <ev@lists.evdl.org> wrote: > > > > https://www.automobilemag.com/news/frog-e-electric-bugeye-sprite-ev-conversion-drive-review/ > Enter the FrogE: The Electric Bugeye Sprite > Oct 7, 2019 Jamie Kitman > > [images > https://www.automobilemag.com/uploads/sites/11/2019/10/The-Electric-Bugeye-Sprite-09.jpg > > https://www.automobilemag.com/uploads/sites/11/2019/10/The-Electric-Bugeye-Sprite-01.jpg > > http://st.automobilemag.com/uploads/sites/11/2019/10/The-Electric-Bugeye-Sprite-13.jpg > front pack > > https://www.automobilemag.com/uploads/sites/11/2019/10/The-Electric-Bugeye-Sprite-14.jpg > j1772 > ] > > Want an eensy fully electric classic car? The Bugeye Guy is your man. > > In the early days of the automobile, an individual garagiste might endeavor > to build his own version of this newfangled machine that sounded like the > future. Romantic, yes. But before too long, such humble operations were > uniformly steamrollered by the arrival to the game of organized capital and > with it the cost and vicissitudes of automation. > > We're kind of in that place again, except it's different. A hundred and > twenty years after the backyard blacksmiths and early Henry Ford-type > operations embraced internal combustion as the new medium, a world of > electric carmakers has arisen where inspired individuals can once again try > their hand. > > Make no mistake, competing at the level of today's big dogs, including > Tesla, remains a bridge too far. Way too far, in fact, farther away than > Neptune (the planet not the New Jersey beach town). > > But small money dreamers today see potential in this revitalized and still > immature field. With quality electric motors available off the shelf and the > electric car's comparative simplicity, many things become possible, > especially if your idea is to start with an existing gasoline-powered car > that you want to make electric. In that sense, it's like 1898 all over > again. Or like the rise of speed and custom shops in the 1950s and '60s. > > Either way, we've driven and been delighted by such battery-powered mashups > of old and new before—for instance, the Jaguar E-Type Zero, an electric > conversion of the classic Jaguar roadster prepared by Jaguar Land Rover and > first showcased as a wedding car for those swinging Windsors, Harry and > Megan, who drove it off into the sunset after their royal wedding. A > conversion now available through the company's Reborn program, it benefited > obviously from the involvement of a modern carmaker. But like many homespun > efforts before it, it proved the concept. > > Take an old car people like, electrify it, and you wind up with something > people still like, a machine that is exactly as handsome as the car it > repopulates with batteries and electric motor(s), but one that's less > obstreperous and cranky to operate, not to mention cleaner, cheaper to > maintain, and quite possibly faster. Several companies on the West Coast > will convert your air-cooled VW or Porsche to electric operation and some > will convert anything. From what we understand, people who've popped for > them are pretty happy. > > So when we heard Branford, Connecticut's Bugeye guy, David Silberkleit, was > launching an all-electric Sprite, based on the baby Austin-Healy built > between 1958 and 1961, we were more than a little intrigued. With new, > larger premises across the street from his old shop, the Bugeye Guy has been > steadily expanding his operation to the point where he says he has now sold > a total of 256 of the tiny, four-cylinder BMC cuties, mostly reconditioned > under his own roof, making his claim to be the largest individual seller of > Bugeyes in history more difficult to doubt than ever. > > So, David, why an electric Bugeye? "Well, you hear a lot from wives: 'I love > the car, but it stinks of fuel all the time.' (With cars that aren't used) > routinely you get leaking fuel-sender gaskets. Even without working on the > cars all day because I'm at my desk, I still smell like fuel." Yet gnarly > odors are only part of it, Silberkleit explains. Carburetion and electrical > issues confound many owners, too, especially when cars sit unused for long > periods. > > "After being in this business for 12 years and having these cars come to us > with those kinds of chronic issues that are in effect built-in, we have > learned and worked very, very hard to try to make them as drivable and > user-friendly as possible. And it is a very, very difficult task no matter > how many times you do it. The key (for the electric enterprise) is to try to > produce a reliable drivable platform so that people can really enjoy these > cars." > > The first step, then, is to ensure that the chassis—steering, suspension, > and brakes—are up to snuff. "(We) are taking something that was never meant > to be compliant with life on modern roads," which is to say "going out on > the highway at even 75 mph, and keeping up with traffic on a four-lane > interstate. So, as part of making these electric, we are addressing many of > the drivability issues of the drivetrain, making sure it will stop from 80 > mph effectively, and ensuring it will ride well at 80 mph without wandering > and being twitchy. All of those things are amplified when you turn (a > classic) into something capable of competing with modern vehicles, so you > have to make sure everything's right." > > The chassis is brought "up to compliance," Silberkleit expounds from memory, > "with the optimized front sway bar, disc-brake conversion, upgraded front > lever shocks—but still using lever shocks, to keep the integrity of the > original design and (because) I think there is an advantage from the > standpoint of ride quality. New rubber, so that it's the supple and has the > best grip. New rear leaf springs so that we get the best ride quality in the > back of the car. Adjusted ride height. It's complicated, but I think we got > it all right, and we made it into a very sound platform. Then the harder > part starts, which is adapting all this stuff to make it drive." > > Once the gasoline car's engine and transmission are removed, the electric > motor can be installed and mated, sans gearbox, to the rear end with a > custom propeller shaft. A large controller unit is installed under the front > bonnet and cooled by an antifreeze heat exchanger, while the motor itself > hides out under the transmission tunnel. No gearbox means no gears (forward > and reverse are your two choices) and no gear lever, but the hole from which > the shifter would have once sprouted is occupied in the car we are about to > drive, humorously, by a bottle of Scottish beer. > > The 20-kWh, 50-cell battery pack is located in a box inside the trunk where > the fuel tank would be, hard to access as ever because of the Sprite's lack > of a trunklid, and offering a range of just over 80 miles. Silberkleit > expects he will offer a longer-range option, deploying used battery packs > from Tesla, which ought to take range to around 130 miles. The current > battery pack takes eight hours to charge at 240 volts, while you'll need 24 > hours to reenergize from an ordinary 110-volt household outlet. > > Operating at 144-170 volts, a proven HPEV AC51 motor spins up to 10,000 rpm > in the FrogE, producing 88 horsepower and 108 lb-ft of torque. Designed to > work in small and medium cars, it features regenerative braking and will > push the FrogE Sprite to 60 in around 10 seconds, roughly twice as fast as > the 948-cc BMC A-Series engine it was born with. It can also propel the > little roadster to road speeds of more than 100 mph, historically the > province of fire-breathing racing Sprites only. It is warranted for two > years. > > Progress is monitored with surprising accuracy thanks to a custom > speedometer that works in tandem with a small GPS device installed on the > dashtop. Preserving the look of the Sprite's simple but elegant gauges and > dash layout was a high priority, so it—and a tach—have been commissioned > with Sprite fonts, which make them look correct, except for handsome > light-up needles that allow drivers to see them at night, which is more than > any ordinary Sprite driver might expect. > > "It has to have the integrity with that original feeling and spirit," says > the Bugeye Guy, so in addition to the dash, the original seats and door > panels remain. However, small, additional gauges are installed to monitor > the 12-volt low-charge battery, while another keeps you up to the minute on > the state of the big battery pack's charge. Modern inertia-reel safety belts > are pleasant and easy to use, we note, as we prepare for a test drive in an > Iris Blue FrogE, just the second conversion off the line. > > "So this particular guy had a Tesla, and he had this Bugeye in his garage > for 10 years, sitting there idle, in disrepair. He read about our electric > conversion and he thought, 'Well, this thing didn't work when I parked it. > I've got to do something with it. It's a dead asset in my life.' He had > bought a Tesla, he loved life with his Tesla and he said, 'Why don't you > guys convert it for me?' So it was a perfect opportunity for us to continue > to refine what we believe is a very attractive pathway for these cars. We > removed a leaking, low-oil-pressure engine and put in a motor that will last > for arguably 200,000 miles without ever needing anything as long as you feed > it juice. There's something very elegant about that." > > Underway, the Sprite feels both of an electric car and a Bugeye Sprite. > Quiet and quick, there's a whirring sound and a noticeable but not > unpleasant level of regenerative braking from the motor. The brakes are a > little spongy, but the regenerative function reduces the need for using them > around town. Otherwise, the chassis feels tight and well sorted, all the new > suspension pieces helping handle what is just a 75-pound weight penalty for > the electric conversion (that iron-block four and gearbox were that heavy). > And it truly goes, feeling even more unexpectedly quick than it is. > > Being more of what Charles Kettering once called "a pliers and screwdriver" > type of operation, there's not a lot of computer simulation or intense > mathematics going on Bugeye Guy that might prove it, but we thought that the > Sprite felt like its center of gravity had been lowered, and it actually > cornered better than previous gasoline-fired ones we've driven. Of course, > the possibility remains that the sensation was the result of it having just > been freshly rebuilt. Weight distribution is improved, Silberkleit asserts, > to 50/50 from 51/49. Driving at 80 mph on the interstate was an extreme > open-air experience, to be sure, but it didn't seem implausible, dangerous, > or unpleasant. You could live with this car for running errands and trips to > nearby parks and picnics. Silberkleit says of the electric conversion, "I > think it's the best product we've ever made, but I also think it's the best > thing to happen for the marketplace and for our demographic. > > "I love old cars (as they are) and there are plenty of younger customers who > love these cars as we do, but as a business owner in this reality of 2019 > and the way our consumers in general are aging, the people who grew up with > early '60s late '50s sports cars, it's an aging demographic by and large. > Because of the way the automotive industry is evolving so dramatically to > insulate the consumer from the driving experience, the only way to compete > in that universe is with this kind of constant reliability of an electric > motor. > > "There are people out there who will say what we're doing is sacrilegious or > something just short of that. But on the other hand, if (electrifying old > sports cars) invites new people into this arena who wouldn't otherwise come > in and join us, then this is what we need to be thinking about. And for that > reason, I believe this is the best thing we've ever done. I've been beating > my head up against the gasoline reliability wall for a long time." > [© automobilemag.com] > > > + > https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/article/2001344805/elon-musk-says-tesla-cars-will-soon-make-fart-noises-when-you-toot-the-horn > Elon Musk says Tesla cars will soon make fart noises when you toot the horn > 08th Oct 2019 ... He also revealed that the fully electric vehicles would be > able to play ... Monty Python's coconuts & > goat sounds ... > ... > https://www.caradvice.com.au/798121/tesla-patents-new-heated-and-cooled-seat-design/ > Tesla patents new heated and cooled seat ... > > > > > For EVLN EV-newswire posts use: > http://evdl.org/ > > > {brucedp.neocities.org} > > -- > Sent from: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/ > _______________________________________________ > UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub > ARCHIVE: http://www.evdl.org/archive/index.html > INFO: http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org > Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) > -- Paul Compton www.morini-mania.co.uk www.paulcompton.co.uk (YouTube channel) _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub ARCHIVE: http://www.evdl.org/archive/index.html INFO: http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
