Here's How I Daily A 40 Year Old Electric Car
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- Опубліковано 30 чер 2024
- Declan has been daily driving a Unique Mobility Electrek, which is a 40 year-old Colorodan-built electric car, for a while now. What is it like to live with an ancient EV?
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#electriccar #evrepair #electrek - Авто та транспорт
It takes a lot of enduring patience to daily drive this old timer. Time will pass and Cybertruck will not draw attention being common on the road. This particular contraption will always be an attention magnet for car minded folks as long as you keep it on the road. Good job!
It’s a great little daily driver even if it is a pain sometimes! Surprisingly reliable on its new battery pack and not uncomfortable…. Definitely needs more sound deadening though
it will be a cold day in hell before the cybertruck is a common sight on the road...
Time will pass and Cybertruck will not draw attention because they'll be junked or paperweights that no one has seen in years.
I wish more people would restomod these old electric cars because they have so much going for them. Old electric cars were built bare bones and without all the weight gaining regulations.
I think my cordless drill is more complicated then this car
@@mumwifeteacher and more efficient: li-ion battery, brushless motor, fast charging,...
Really interesting, I had no idea this thing existed. And it pre-dates the EV1 too. Wild.
Most of the EVs I own predate the EV1 lol
@@ElectrekGarage How many EV's ... cars, motorcycles, e-bikes, etc. do you own?
@@RPRosen-ki2fk 5 at the moment, but looking to downsize lol
I love that someone loved this car enough to give it a new battery and daily it! I wish I could go to Electrify Expo to see it. And to hear it, I bet that GE motor sounds really cool in person.
The entire video feels like it was made in the 70s or 80s, I love it.
So, with that many VW parts, I gotta know:
How does this car beat emissions?
I am looking @ a Tesla, but if there was a dealer down the street from the Tesla place, I'd definitely stop in and check out that model! If my memory serves me, I had an uncle that owned a photo lab in downtown Chicago back in the 70's. I remember him telling me about the electric car they used for some time to do pickups and deliveries of photo work. He showed me a photo of the car and looked a LOT like yours! My wonderful uncle passed away before Tesla and other EV's started mainstreaming. He was ahead of his times.
32hp output at the motor explained...
DC commutated/brushed motors have low efficiency, probably about 75-80%... I'll use 78%. That means it needs at least 41hp of electricity (30.59kW) input to output 32hp (23.86kW). (1hp = 745.7 Watts)
The motor controllers in 1979 were horribly inefficient... about 75% would be my educated guess. So to create 28.6kW output, you need 38.24kW input.
16 x 6V batteries is 96 Volts.
38.24kW / 96v = 398 Amps... but at that heavy of a load, lead acid batteries have voltage droop due to internal resistance (just like when you crank your ICE starter, the 12v battery voltage droops a bit)
So if the 96v droops to 92v, you would be drawing 415 Amps.
Very good insight!
It is actually simpler than that. 32 hp is the continuous rating of that motor; DC motors can produce significantly more than their continuous rated hp, but doing so risks overheating it.
@beforebefore Was going to make this point but you made it better than I could with all your fancy math I find it funny that an ev fanboy like this guy doesn’t understand the physics of his vehicle and does some half baked calculations on the runing currents and makes the statement that the engineers had it wrong which is hilarious they designed the car fairly sure they knew the efficiency figures of the equipment in it lol stupid fanboys…
Brazil has (had at least) a law mandating a fire extinguisher in every car!
Belgium too, so I guess all of Europe.
It should be mandatory everywhere.
That's a very smart law.
In the US, ICE vehicles account for about 15% of all fires reported to fire departments.
@@forton615 France, Italy and Spain don't require any fire extinguisher in cars though.
So it's not all of Europe.
Regarding the car exploding with regeneration, lead acid batteries do release hydrogen when charging so it could explode quite literally 😮
Standard warnings on almost all lead acid battery chargers. 🤷♂️
Yeah, the lithium swap should possibly fix that.
@@lsswappedcessna It's lithium iron phosphate so yeah definitely !
This chemistry is even safer than li-ion by the way.
As a longtime Denver resident I’ve seen a few of these driving around town over the decades. It’s very fun to learn more about them. I’m not even sure if I noticed that they were electric back in the day. Thanks for the great video!
The hair dryer is hilarious! Typical engineering solution...fit for purpose! Nothing wrong
"Hair dryer" that's a funny way to say "window defroster"
-ElecTrek engineers, circa 1979
Amazing car. A piece of history.
Fun video! In the UK we had the Enfield Electric in the 70s which was smaller. Johnny Smith turned one into a super high performance record breaker.
👍🏼
Here I thought the letters in the "AMC" brand name stood for "All Makes Combined." This beats "AMC" hollow...and to the BEST effect.
This car was more forward-looking than anything else made in 1979. I had just entered the work force in 1979, and this car would've beaten the snot out of the bicycle with which I "drove" to and from work. Back then, I WISHED for something that was smooth and quiet and didn't stink up the air I was trying to breathe back then.
I recall the pall of brown smog that hung over Denver back in the summer of 1978. I hope things are better for you out there now.
I started in the work force riding a pedal bike. Now that I'm retired, I've been car-free over a decade...and I ride a pedal bike. So much for personal progress!
I enjoy your channel and that of "Aging Wheels." I'm also thrilled to see you on this channel as well. For an old fart like me, rescuing old cars from their awful ICE powerplants is the way to go! Aloha!
Thanks for watching! You are doing it right with the pedal bike!
I thought that crash test footage didn't look too bad then I found the full video and it was only at THIRTY MILES PER HOUR. 1960s corvairs hold up better than that, except for the steering column
Very cool car and I'm glad someone's keeping it on the road. Too many rare classics just end up sitting in garages or museums most of the time instead of being used as cars
The side mirror look like it comes from a VW rabbit. Maybe getting a passenger side one would help a bit with visibility.
This thing rules. I daily a strange old car too and it's such a lovely joy to have every day
I love old EVs. In the 1970s General Electric manufactured a line of battery electric lawn and garden tractors with a full list of attachments from mower decks to snowblowers garden plows and tillers. I collect them and I have a few videos of them in action on my channel. They have a cult-like following and after I bought my first one I was immediately hooked. There is even a Facebook group dedicated to them and there are two different guys in the US who's source and manufacturer parts to keep them going!
All Motors (including electric ones) are rated at the output shaft
Your 51HP at the Battery -80% efficiency of the controller -80% efficiency of the Motor gives your 32HP at the shaft (I made up the efficiencies, but shouldn't be too far of)
Nothing wrong there, just measured on different spots
There's carpet on the steering wheel! LOL. I love it.
A couple of blind-spot cameras and two small screens on the dash would be a neat addition.
I’m thinking of just adding some distance sensors and 2 lights on the dash that light up if someone is in my blind spot so that it still looks factory
It's like a high speed golf cart, what's not to love?
That hair dryer to heat the windshield is hilarious
This may be the only car that has a warning about exploding in the owner's manual, but it could be argued that the Ford Pinto deserved a section about that as well.
😂
Every old gasoline car has the same design "flaw" as the Pinto, the Pinto was just the one to take the fall for it.
It somewhat loosely resembles the AMC Pacer. Very interesting car! Never had heard of it.
I like that you're keeping the old girl running. I have an old early 1970's GE built electric garden tractor that I'm planning a rebuild on soon. GE's Elec-trak line is an interesting study in corporate adaptability.
My first thought when I saw the thumbnail is the front have of a Studebaker Avanti and the back half of an AMC Gremlin. It's fun to see how they assembled a collection of other car (and non-car) parts to make an early electric car. Not too different actually than the first Tesla Roadster, using a Lotus Elise, just a little more creative.
Love the hair dryer heater!
Interesting and fun video. Glad to see this piece of history being maintained and driven. When discussing the blocked vision behind the car, my thought was that an aftermarket rear camera and screen would be an inexpensive fix.
That hatchback version looks sexy!
Your philosophy would make a great tagline: "You're not gonna break anything that's not already broken."
Somebody should call up Toyota and let them know. You CAN make a gound up EV with four speed manual stick shift. Maybe they would change their mind about going EV.
Very cool! I like oddball and unique vehicles which is why I chose a 2016 Chevy Spark EV which is a damn fun sleeper of an EV (think hot hatch). Fun video, thanks for posting.
We love the spark EV!
I love it. And I very much appreciate the gentle quality of life mods but keeping the drive train & experience original. You are probably the best person for keeping this thing alive for the future.
Driving that car seems a lot like when I drove a 64 VW Beetle. Far from luxurious, but more fun than makes any sense. Same was true for my 72 Honda AZ-600 that I referred to as my street legal go-kart. 🙂
That AZ600 was a very cool car! I got to drive one back in the day, loved it!
All commercial vehicles are required to have a fire extinguisher, so it's a bit ahead of the curve for them to recommend it in your owner's manual. See "49 CFR § 393.95 - Emergency equipment on all power units." for more info. Also, the Kia Soul has the exact same tow rating in the US owners manual.
I had a Mazda 3 and its owners manual had a section on towing that was just one sentence: "Never attempt to tow anything with your Mazda."
Awesome! Modern classic for sure. Thanks for the vid
Very cool!! It would have been cool if these had taken off or been more successful because of OPEC and the gas shortage. One day I would love to own one of each type.. They should add this to some of the car video games.
I honestly think that this is what we need. I want a dirt cheap questionable frame with the most rudimentary electric drivetrain plus a more advanced lithium ion battery (or next gen. sodium ion for those harsh winter climates).
Automotive manufacturers are so busy cramming tech garbage into cars that they forgot what a car is even for. Getting you from A to B. I would kill for this car.
Well done on the video.
A little cramped electric shitbox would probably be more fun than a big roomy 1000 wheel horsepower electric SUV with a million screens. More fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow.
lived in Elkhart IN, home of the El-Car both around the turn of the 1900's and then a second wedge of a car in the 1970's of youtube fame with various people putting Hyabusa Motors and other strange things. This one looks semi-successful especially with your battery upgrade. (well after the blizzard of 1978 we moved to Texas in 1979)
At the risk of revealing that I am THAT GUY, the taillamps couldn't have come from a Buick Skylark as the Skylark was Buick's version of the Chevy Nova back when the Electrek was manufactured. The Skyhawk was the Buick Monza.
My bad! You are absolutely right!
6:06 That's like my Prius manual. Half of a page to say "don't do it". Spoiler you can, but you will get 16mpg(1200lbs) and only have 11.9 gallons.
Looks like something Flint Lockwood would drive
Nice ride. Thanks for sharing!
It's interesting to see who's parts bins the manufacturer raided to build this car. I see a VW Rabbit/Golf steering column, mid 1970s Chevy Monza taillights, and a 1980 Ford Pinto rear glass/hatch etc.
Triumph sun roof, VW suspension, Toyota door handles, they really just took parts off anything and everything
@@ElectrekGarage Given the small production numbers, I'm curious if they were brand-new parts purchased from the OEM or OEM supplier, or salvage parts from nearly new cars in the wrecking yard? Brand new cars get damaged and totaled in transit, but the mechanical components, the interior and most of the body parts are still brand-new. Do you have any insight?
@@steverandall5814 I know the Volkswagen parts were bought directly from Volkswagen, they had some kind of deal. The rest I don’t know
Very neat car with a lot of charm, but I'll still prefer my Chevy Bolt, but with a driver's seat upgrade (lol). Some points to consider. For the wind noise, you can redo the weatherstripping on the windows and doors, it's probably degraded. New stuff would probably do it a lot of good. You can also add sound deadening material under the carpet, but that might add too much weight, it really depends on how much you use. It can be targeted to specific areas. Also, I noted that the headlight housing were open on the edges, same thing there, unless that was intentional for air flow. As far as visibility for backing and lane changes, you can easily add a reverse view camera that attaches to the rear license plate bolts and displays through a rear view mirror. Aftermarket blind spot monitors are also a thing. I can't remember what vehicle I saw it on, but some manufacturers opted to install a passenger side mirror inside the car, preserving the aerodynamics, while still getting some semblance of a view, so that's another thing to consider. What did the engineers mean specifically about extended periods of regen braking damaging the system? They might have been worried about somehow overcharging the lead acid batteries, but not sure. I'd love to hear if any of these ideas helped you, if so, tell people a friendly bear helped you. If I'm ever in CO, I'd love to meet you and drive the car, though I'm based in California so that's not likely for now.
This car is is so quirky, that I'd love to have one!
I remember when this car was being produce....the mid 70's to the early 80 was an interesting time for electric cars.
Kyle found his long lost brother.
That’s weird and cool. I’ve owned a 2014 Fiat 500e so far (loved it but really didn’t like the 85 miles range), and now have a 2017 Chevy Bolt which I love too, and it’s my daily driver. Just put over 500 miles on it this week. We are basically only in gen 2 of batteries so, I can’t wait to see what comes along in the next few years!
Its not batteries that ate the problem now its getting the power to charge the battery quicker.
@@HA05GER that totally makes sense. I guess a wrecked ‘something’ donor system might be the answer.
@@lancenutter1067 I don't think there is answer without it being extremely expensive and requiring more power generation. I used to work in a factory a weaving mill with over 100 employees and over 100 weaving machines. During the day at busiest times that whole factory consumed less power than one car on a supercharger. We even had our own mini substation because of the consumption we used. If we step up charging to too fast the demand on the grid will be huge and the cables to get it to where the charger is will also be huge.
@@HA05GER I think, just like the first gas station opened in 1909 or there about, the curve to EV will have few bumps and curves. So far tho, my Bolt is my favorite car yet… love the 3 cents a mile when charging at home. Not drawing any more than a small appliance would either.
@@lancenutter1067 depends how your charging it in the UK we have 7kw chargers that's definitely more than a small appliance.
The word Shunt will never not be funny.
So true
What about the "DO NOT HUMP" railcars? I know they're telling railroad employees not to run the railcars through a hump yard but I think the rail companies are also sending an important message to foamers with it.
I love panel 'vans', common or at least used to be common in Europe, and in the 70s, the US, with the Pinto panel wagon being my favorite.
The door thing is hilarious, I mean I've seen cars so cheap as to use little more than a piece of a nylon scrap screwed to the door and the kick panel, so this is ridiculous
Re-using lights, glass, mirrors, controls and such is not uncommon for small companies, you can find a few funny examples out on the road, like the RVs with orange Chevy van lights. Yeah, they have the regular red and white square van light, along with an all orange one for the turn signal. Or the step van using an Astro van's lights and grill, you can even see where they put in an extension to the grill because the step van is wider.
In some countries, you're legally required to keep a fire extinguisher in your car. It's likely they didn't make an exception for an electric car at that time.
I can tell right from the beginning that it does not have a working parking brake! Also as an owner of a 78 VW Rabbit from decades ago, I can see the 4 speed manual transmission was lifted from this said vehicle.
I haven’t figured out how to fix the parking brake yet, it’s really jacked up lol
You should do a coop with Robert Dunn (Aging Wheels). This is right up his alley. You can go cruising together with him in his Trabant or even better, in his Coda (IIRC, you said the battery is from a Coda)
What a superb review
Great video! I had no idea how many parts were shared.
Thank you! And yeah, so many parts that I didn’t even mention came from other cars
great content! It totally sounds like a bumper car lol. I've seen it at Aging Wheels (don't remember if it's your car or other), but dailying it must be quite an experience
Thank you!!! :) That was my car on aging wheels!
The cars hips don't lie!
😂😂😂 the owners " manual" made me laugh. It kind of looks like one of those old amg's
Very much giving hinged Aging Wheels here
This young man had these cars before AgingWheels had them.
Happy Pride month, you absolute Mad Lad!
Happy pride!!! 🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️
Mad props to ye!
Thanks for the video. A interesting car for sure.
You can save more energy by swapping the sealed beam headlights for LED replacements.
I think you have to give RegularCarReviews a call
He's probably too busy reviewing supercars and other not regular shit these days
To complete the Frankenstein mods, just install a something like a ATOTO F7 Single Din for Carplay/Android Auto, steering wheel controls and Backup camera :P If you ask nicely they might even send you one.
lol! I think that might be a bit too much for this car! The DCDC is already bogged down as is!
@@ElectrekGarage I doubt it's gonna use more power than your current radio contraption with Bluetooth, but I get it from an anesthetics standpoint :D
Pauses the video at 35 second to comment "He's got the first pancake!"
Seems like it was a reasonable first pancake. It's interesting to see how many different manufacturers parts came from. Regarding overheating the motor, I talked to the manufacturer of one of the most popular 9" series DC motors and he said, they never overheated until people put lithium packs in and where the lead-acid range and performance used to run out is where they would start to get hot when people started making long range highway runs, but with some care, higher motor speeds and lack of hills, it wasn't an issue for most people.
love it
Thanks for the laughs.
It's super cool
I wish modern electric cars had manual transmissions. feel like it would dramatically improve highway range
The car sounds like those czech "Tatra" street cars all over in Eastern Europe :-)
in the wheel wheels there is a lot of space, maybe try to fill it with clear plastic or something to improve aerodynamics?
What does the "ARM. CHOPPER" indicator light mean?
It’s actually just boring “armature chopper” meaning you’re in the lower stage of the motor controller but it’s way funnier to not know that
Using suspension and transmission from VW and various other parts from other manufacturers is not cheaping out. Using proven parts makes a lot of sense and would make it easier to source spares in the event of a
Problem. Does the manufacturer still exist? But VW and GM do and I suspect you could buy after market spares or even second hand spares if the OEM ones are not available.
The automakers are just being assholes by refusing to make electric cars like this. Smaller size for parking, smaller 40-50kwh batteries and
Sweet!
Ever consider adding solar cells to trickle charge when it is parked in the sun? Aptera in Carlsbad, CA might be a place to ask if it is possible.
The efficiency of this car is not good enough to make use of the panels. I filmed a video on my own channel about Aptera a bit ago tho! Love the company!
I wonder how hard adding hvac to this like would you just get a rv roof hvac unit or can you retrofit a prius or tesla hvac system
I can’t retrofit Prius or Tesla systems unfortunately due to the voltage of my battery pack being so low. I have plans to install a 12v hvac system running off a secondary DcDc converter
Man hope you clean out the waterspots soon, it would make ton difference imo
I would think spacing the tires more out to the wheel wells would increase aerodynamics, but also change the ride experience.
It would but it looks sillier this way
Kind comment here to balance some mean ones
Always appreciate it ❤
what did the people at the department of licenceing say when you came in to register it lol
They googled it and thought it was cool lol
Put a modern 400V battery in it and see how much power the motor does with that.
It would explode 😂
Overheat.
I'm surprised I've never heard of this car before given I've been an EV fan for decades and converted 2 and built 1 full custom (call them ground-up is not a good phrase..I think my custom car will actually have the fiberglass ground up as I will dispose of it and swapping the drivetrain into what looks like a PT Cruiser now) I much prefer a modern quiet car the hardest thing about a diy car is getting the doors and windows working well, and I see your suffered the same problem as mine and many others. The exo-frame cars figured out the best way to deal with it is just eliminate the doors altogether.
I want one! Not at $82,000 though...
See you at Electrify Expo! If you ever route north up 83 and need someone to help push it lemme kno lmao
Can’t wait! It is 100% possible that will happen in the future lol
A Curtis controller and some lipos and I bet you could hit 100 mph.
I considered it but I don’t wanna change the overall driving feel of the car
Well I can't help you with the electric on that car I'm still learning myself but please fly me out there to do upholstery , just joking my sister works at Cessna Aircraft she doesn't aircraft seats I learn from her. I think you could make it beautiful if you reupholstered and then paint it it's very [unique]
Definitely want to reupholster when I can afford it lol!
Pretty cool in an ugly sorta way. Kind of a mashup of a Chevy Vega, Monza and Dodge Omni. 😅
Any thoughts of doing some basic cosmetic restoration?
I am a broke college student but when I can afford it I want to get it professionally repainted and reupholstered
who says electric cars have to be quiet
we have 3 phase motors in our cars now but when can we hear them
Dailying a 1979 electric car is comparable to a modern electric bike..
You’re not entirely wrong 😂
Wait, what? An asbestos hair dryer to heat up the cabin? Rip that out! :) I'm baffled they came up with that :D.
Declan, this was a spectacular walkthrough. Subscribed both here and on yours. Love quirky EV content and gay people. fcevs too!
Thank you! And yassss we love gay people lol 🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈
It's ugly, it's weird, I LIKE IT!!!
Your very brave contradicting the design figures from the manufacturer did you happen to not factor for losses maybe
Ha ha just noticed out of spec renew man that name is just too ironic as you seem to quote things out of spec is you channel a satirical take on yourself??
What’s up with the nail polish? Did you just get back from a Alice Cooper concert?
My boyfriend did them for me :) I like to look slay
Declan, are you going to school for Electrical Engineering?
I am! I’m a student at Arizona State University!
I don't mean to hate on you, but how does an Electrical Engineer/EE Student mix up kW and kWh? Haha.
I get fucked up when talking. Don’t worry, when I’m doing my equations and real work I get it right
So you arent going to mention how you came to own (and like enough to daily drive) a car older than you are? (ok your praise at the end is cute!)
Thank you! And the story isn’t very interesting, it just showed up on Facebook marketplace and I bought it lol!
😊
⚡️👍