@@BigCar2 yeah that's what's blown my mind. This quality of content and research immediately off the bat. Have you done professional television production before? This channel will (hopefully) be huge! I started off watching the videos that interested me and soon realised I watched the whole lot because I enjoy your presenting style so much. Cheers!
I own a City-el, I have fitted it with a mix of lead acid and lifepo-4 cells. top speed is 40 mph and it has a range around 40 miles. The car was built in 1999.
I've got a Sinclair C5 - Living at the top of a steep hill, I've had to upgrade it with a modern front hub motor and lithium battery. Now it's a fantastic way to get to work. I know several people in the C5 world using the original on a daily basis so it's really proven it's engineered to last. It was a failure compared to the dream Sir Clive had for it, but was the best selling electric vehicle ever made until the Nissan Leaf took the crown in 2011. Let me know if you are ever in Bristol and want a go!
Around 20 years ago a 'Cityel' drove past me while walking through Vevey. It struck me at the time that this was the future as it silently glided by. It made conventional cars seem like overweight dinosaurs. Since then I have never stopped ranting about SUVs.:))
Weight is actually the smaller problem, bigger problem is air resistance. In electric cars though there will be weight, the bigger batteries (range) you want, the more. I think the future is that people who like to drive will have more cars, so that cars are suited for the purpose. You can have small car with small batteries for short distances like commuting. And you can have a bigger and better cars for long distances. That way you are most of the time driving efficiently. Also, remote working will be more common, so that the need to commute will reduce.
@ThePatUltra The problem with the batteries has so far been their price. Even having one Tesla worth of batteries is very difficult to make the car cheap enough. If you double the amount of battery capacity, you are quite soon looking at well over 100k $€ vehicle that has less range than double the range of a Tesla. The price will go down though until a certain point, that is that the availability of battery materials is going to be a problem if the production is to be scaled with current chemistries. In the other hand there may be coming new promising battery types quite soon, like the solid state battery that at least Toyota is working on.
@@Stefan_Dahn Here in Finland, average people drive with ~6,000 € cars. 😂😅 The average car age here is 12 years. Which means, some people are driving 20 years old cars. So, yeah . . . We will see how many Tesla's will be on the road at the age of 20 and how can you maintain them at that point.
@@wopmf4345FxFDxdGaa20people can’t afford to buy two separate vehicles for different types of driving. Buying one EV is out of the price range of 80% of the people who drive now. The push to go 100% EV shouldn’t be happening for another 15-20 years when hopefully the Ted will be less expensive and the range and charging time will be closer to that of an ICE vehicle. Also, there needs to be a massive increase in the power grid and a cleaner source of energy, if not, you are doing nothing to reduce pollution. But since the whole global warming myth is about money, it doesn’t matter to the left.
The EV1 was one of the first quick EVs and had a faster zero to sixty than many gasoline cars such as the V6 Camry of the same era.. Though the drive train is a direct ancestor to what appeared in the Tesla Roadster.
Patchuchan that’s because Elon was mad at GM for what they did with the EV1. He said himself that Tesla was started because of the EV1 story and what GM did
@@princesssolace4337I wouldn't laugh too much at a Toyota V6 in a fairly light car The V6 Camry SE of that era could do zero to 60 in 7 seconds which was very respectable beating many so called sporty cars.
@@Patchuchan the range of the car is much more important to most car buyers the EV 1 seems irrelevant to me now after seeing the Amitron of 67 and knowing it went 150 miles per charge that's a longer range than the EV 1 they were still looking for a viable electric car in the 80's why? we had already found it
@@robinsss It used some very cutting edge for the time lithium-nickel-fluoride batteries but they were too expensive to produce and to get the price down a battery company would have to make a lot of them but they're not going to make a lot of them unless they have a big order. Ended up being laptop computers of all things that drove the need for mass produced lithium batteries in the 1990s.
This has been a good series! I was impressed to see that Chrysler and and AMC had electric concepts!! Thanks for your easy to digest, yet highly informative shows.
I owned a City-EL in1992- 1998 and it had an updated 48V system instead of the original 36V, a range of 130 km on lead acid batteries. I later changed the motor for a LEM-200 22kW motor, so top speed was 96 km/h and 0-60 in 4.5 seconds. Quite the monster. With a similar weight of Li-ion batteries 128 kg, it should be able to go 500 km, so when the current specs from Citycom today only specs 120 km range, the are going cheap on the batteries and use to few of them to reduce cost.
Another electric car from the 70s not mentioned in the video or the previous one is the Electric Fuel Propulsion Company (EFP) Electrosport, otherwise known as the Electric-sport. It was a compact-sized electric vehicle using AMC Hornets that were converted to EVs in Ferndale Michigan. It was produced from 1971 to 1974.
Great video. Have you considered mentioning the Better Place project with DONG Energy (yes, it was the name of the biggest danish energy supplier based basically on windmills). Together the made the project involving Renault and the very visionary concept of replaceable batteries as an alternative to gasoline stations.
Big Car I used to work in DONG Energy at that time, but I wasn’t much involved in the project, but saw the car and videos of the concept. I will write if I find some materials about it. I know that DONG Energy actually had already started investing in the needed infrastructure to support the charging stations
We talk about having "range anxiety" nowadays even with thousands of EV DC fast charging stations around. Imagine what it must have been like to be an early adopter back then with NO way to fast charge even if that technology even existed at the time _AND_ also having very small ranges in the first place. I have to hand it to them! I also need to give credit where credit's due and say that although it has taken the legacy automakers a long time to catch up to Tesla, they at least DID try several times over the decades to make it work but the costs and technologies involved were just insurmountable at the time.
You are missing the Bedford CF and Freight Rover Sherpa K2 vans converted by Chloride in about 83 to 86. They made hundreds of them. I know one chap who still uses one (with secondhand emergency lighting batteries for power). Prince Philip had one, fitted out as a plush limousine, and made quite a bit of use of it.
The cityel or "Ellert" in Danish was also made in a 2 seater version and a faster model was made too that could go 70km/h and was infact approved for highway use.
I just started watching your channel and it's great. Thanks. Also LEGO rules! Would you entertain a history of Saturn? I sold the Saturn brand in Canada (also SAAB) from 1995 until 2007.
Another great video! I'm hoping for a video about the Orginal Mini through to the lastest Mini. There's a lot fof informative videos about the orginal Mini online but im sure you'll make something with new information in!
Yes, but that's been covered by so many people in the past that most people have heard the story already. I find it more interesting to find stories I didn't know before.
@@BigCar2 There's got to be loads of unheard or less popular information out there about the car! But nevertheless, any video you put out is very interesting! :)
I think we knew about global warming long before the 1980's. It was called the Greenhouse Effect and was known about at least as far back as the 1970's. The film Soylent Green from 1973 was based on a book from 1966 and was (among other things) all about the 'Greenhouse Effect' AKA Global Warming and it's effect on the planet. Just saying :-)
Look at me with a straight face and say the car at 4:11 doesn't look exactly like the car Jeremy James and Richard built on top gear 😂 damn check out those rims though 😮
YegoLoda they never did make any, not even a real project.... all these cars did have the same design, small wheels make them all the same for you, FIAT did the same.... why hahaha?
I’ve owned three A2s and I always thought that Audi should have followed up their stunning electric concept car from the early nineties as the Space frame would have provided plenty of room for the batteries and extra electric motors. I saw some videos of people converting their A2 to electric power and I actually sold my last one to a guy who was getting it converted in London. To be fair, the A2 is a fine economical car, regardless of what engine it comes with. Looking back, the problem with electric cars is not the car, but the industry,the supply and the economics, infrastructure, regulations and battery supply that to me now would make any electric car undesirable, uneconomical and more of a liability. You can extend the vanity and fashion appeal from a few thousand cars to millions, but it’s still not enough. In hundred years, electric cars developed less than internal combustion engines have and there is a good reason that they are not widespread in industry apart from forklifts and milk carts.
Thank you for the two videos of electric cars, please when you do the 90s do all ranges charge times top speeds and costs just like these two videos. Great job thanks.
@@BigCar2Aww. Such a boring car. The 850 was the car that saved Volvo but ultimately killed it, and is a much much more interesting story. The biggest engineering project in Swedish history, the BTCC etc. Ah go on.
In the eighties, I drove a Larel, a Fiat Panda reduced to a two-seater with 600 kg of lead-acid batteries in the back and a clutch with a four speed gear box.
I'm glad you enjoy the videos! Sorry, no 90's electric car video is planned as they weren't very popular 😢, but that doesn't mean I might in the future. But many more cool videos planned!
That C5 trike actually looks pretty cool to be honest. If they sold a remake of it with Li-Po batteries, a windshield, and an extra front wheel for around $1,000 I’d totally be down for buying one. :)
Despite their shortcomings then and now these cars with their limited tech would have been more than enough for most people just like with city cars today. I drive a Smart Fortwo in one of the coldest cities on Earth and its a really popular car here because most people here don't like or want flashy cars, just practical ones... 50 mpg and a $20 CAD full tank will do that! I just wish they had released the E-dition here earlier as I could only buy a diesel one that got that mileage...
I'm a huge aviation fan and especially Grumman...Glad to see you mention the Grumman LLV postal truck..it's a go to for me when I want to stump someone with obscure triva ( that and the Lunar Lander)
I’m disappointed there was not mention of US Electricar Corp and their Renault 5 conversions-marketed as Lectric Leopard, I believe several hundred were sold-and my brother still drives one today.
The u36 which became the Miniel was designed and built while the c5 was also being designed and took no "cue's" from the c5 at all, the body shell was designed by a Scottish designer called Ray Innes working in the sw of Scotland, the idea for the vehicle came from a Dane called Steen Jensan , they had been working on it from around 1980, we made the body in 1982 it was the first time Ray and I worked together, the U36 was displayed in a bank in Randers Denmark for a while, when the ill fated C5 was announced the U36 was dusted of and by public subscription in Denmark a factory was built and production started, they enjoyed moderate sales success but the electronics were a source of problems, by the time that had been sorted out the factory had run into cash flow problems and the Miniel was sold to Germany. The concept was for a fully enclosed vehicle with the same or less frontal area as someone on a moped or scooter, which it was to replace, it was never seen as a car replacement, the project was first mooted by Steen when he worked for the Danish company Dronnjngborg who made combine harvesters, the combine market was in a down turn and they were looking for other products to fill the factory, Steen who was working there as a designer contacted Ray with whom he had worked for at Rover Triumph, with the upturn in combine sales Dronniingborg lost interest and shelved the project, when Steen left not long after he was aloud to take the project with him, the rest they say is history.
Thank-you for these two videos.Can you please add more electric car videos to the playlist? The EV 'revolution' is gaining pace rapidly, with Norway selling more EV's than fossil-fuelled cars. Thanks.
Thanks, an interesting history. I now drive a PHEV, and my particular driving routine averages about 90mpg including converting the charging costs into fuel equivalent. These pioneers got us this far, but all failed. I test drove a Tesla model 3 last week, and WOW, what a machine, hope Elon survives. The model 3 was just too small for me. Keep up the good work, your videos are very informative.
@@joeyknight8272 Plug In Hybrid Vehicle, it has a battery good for 30 miles, then an engine as well, great if you do 30-40 miles a day. The engine only fires up when the battery is exhausted.
elon is yet to create anything. so far he just picks vague concepts that were floating around for decades, patents them and then hires so college kids to develop them for chump change.
It seriously surprises me you don't have more sub's/views. All your videos are so interesting.
It's early days. This channel only got started 2 months ago.
@@BigCar2 yeah that's what's blown my mind. This quality of content and research immediately off the bat. Have you done professional television production before? This channel will (hopefully) be huge! I started off watching the videos that interested me and soon realised I watched the whole lot because I enjoy your presenting style so much. Cheers!
@@cromulence Far from television level production.
@@tomtalk24 also, nothing an AI couldnt churn out 50000 versions of in 13 seconds
A+ for content and ideas but F for everything else.
Petrol car: How fast does it go?
Electric car: How far does it go?
Jaunty Angle guess you live under a rock and haven’t seen the Porsche Taycan or the model s/x 100D, model 3 dual motor...
@@goclunker No, I haven't. Are they electric? If so, how fast do they recharge?
Jaunty Angle are you kidding me? The Taycan is running an 800v charger. 5 min to 80%
@@goclunker Not bad if you can find a charge point. How much is it?
@@jauntyangle5667 here you can see how many charging stations are in your country and plan your route abetterrouteplanner.com/
I own a City-el, I have fitted it with a mix of lead acid and lifepo-4 cells. top speed is 40 mph and it has a range around 40 miles.
The car was built in 1999.
I've got a Sinclair C5 - Living at the top of a steep hill, I've had to upgrade it with a modern front hub motor and lithium battery. Now it's a fantastic way to get to work. I know several people in the C5 world using the original on a daily basis so it's really proven it's engineered to last.
It was a failure compared to the dream Sir Clive had for it, but was the best selling electric vehicle ever made until the Nissan Leaf took the crown in 2011.
Let me know if you are ever in Bristol and want a go!
got a 500w 48v hub on mine and a 42Ah battery. it pulls clean uphill now. never have to pedal. now i dream of a cityel
Around 20 years ago a 'Cityel' drove past me while walking through Vevey. It struck me at the time that this was the future as it silently glided by. It made conventional cars seem like overweight dinosaurs. Since then I have never stopped ranting about SUVs.:))
Weight is actually the smaller problem, bigger problem is air resistance. In electric cars though there will be weight, the bigger batteries (range) you want, the more. I think the future is that people who like to drive will have more cars, so that cars are suited for the purpose. You can have small car with small batteries for short distances like commuting. And you can have a bigger and better cars for long distances. That way you are most of the time driving efficiently. Also, remote working will be more common, so that the need to commute will reduce.
@ThePatUltra The problem with the batteries has so far been their price. Even having one Tesla worth of batteries is very difficult to make the car cheap enough. If you double the amount of battery capacity, you are quite soon looking at well over 100k $€ vehicle that has less range than double the range of a Tesla. The price will go down though until a certain point, that is that the availability of battery materials is going to be a problem if the production is to be scaled with current chemistries. In the other hand there may be coming new promising battery types quite soon, like the solid state battery that at least Toyota is working on.
@@wopmf4345FxFDxdGaa20 January 2021: Tesla lowered the price of the Model Y RWD (60 kWh LFP) to ~45,000 €.
@@Stefan_Dahn Here in Finland, average people drive with ~6,000 € cars. 😂😅 The average car age here is 12 years. Which means, some people are driving 20 years old cars. So, yeah . . . We will see how many Tesla's will be on the road at the age of 20 and how can you maintain them at that point.
@@wopmf4345FxFDxdGaa20people can’t afford to buy two separate vehicles for different types of driving. Buying one EV is out of the price range of 80% of the people who drive now. The push to go 100% EV shouldn’t be happening for another 15-20 years when hopefully the Ted will be less expensive and the range and charging time will be closer to that of an ICE vehicle. Also, there needs to be a massive increase in the power grid and a cleaner source of energy, if not, you are doing nothing to reduce pollution. But since the whole global warming myth is about money, it doesn’t matter to the left.
PEOPLE!!!
LET'S ALL SHARE HIS VIDEOS, HE TRULY DESERVE MORE SUBS!!!!
Honestly I do have a life. It’s just a coincidence that I’m here at this time. Interesting and well presented. Thanks from Dorian’s path.
All these experimental cars sure make me appreciate my 1st gen Nissan Leaf so much.
Hello from Denmark. I remember the HOPE presentation. Hehehehe! They sold a few to the danish postal service.
The EV1 was one of the first quick EVs and had a faster zero to sixty than many gasoline cars such as the V6 Camry of the same era..
Though the drive train is a direct ancestor to what appeared in the Tesla Roadster.
Patchuchan that’s because Elon was mad at GM for what they did with the EV1. He said himself that Tesla was started because of the EV1 story and what GM did
A V6 Toyota?🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@princesssolace4337I wouldn't laugh too much at a Toyota V6 in a fairly light car
The V6 Camry SE of that era could do zero to 60 in 7 seconds which was very respectable beating many so called sporty cars.
@@Patchuchan the range of the car is much more important to most car buyers
the EV 1 seems irrelevant to me now after seeing the Amitron of 67 and knowing it went 150 miles per charge
that's a longer range than the EV 1
they were still looking for a viable electric car in the 80's
why?
we had already found it
@@robinsss It used some very cutting edge for the time lithium-nickel-fluoride batteries but they were too expensive to produce and to get the price down a battery company would have to make a lot of them but they're not going to make a lot of them unless they have a big order.
Ended up being laptop computers of all things that drove the need for mass produced lithium batteries in the 1990s.
Another nice informative video, well done, more please.
This has been a good series! I was impressed to see that Chrysler and and AMC had electric concepts!! Thanks for your easy to digest, yet highly informative shows.
Another great video mate.
Cheers from an Aussie fan 🍻
You got a excellent and clear Voice and vocabular for these Type of Documentarys or anything Else for making a synchronising speaking for Videos 👍
Always a good day when there’s a new Big Car video out ☺️
4:10 It's Geoff from Top Gear.
Geoff's , half cousin from the stig?🤭
new top gear is shit
Keep on keeping on...Thanks!
Thanks for your support JTA!
I just stumbled across your channel. Great stuff! Sub'd and now to binge watch your stuff.
Same
My Dad built one of those Lego motorbikes you have on your shelve for me when I got one for my 6th Birthday - I’m nearly 34 now and I still have it!
I love this comment section
I didn’t know I was so into cars... until I started watching these vids. So interesting!
I'm not that into cars, but I like history, and cars, sort of...
Big Car I think I’m with you. I like modern product history generally to be honest.
Good God , i remember the C5 . I was and still am a huge fan of Sir Clive. All your videos are top notch !!
Thanks James - me too! I had a Sinclair TV. Very cool.
@@BigCar2 excellent! Although His inventions didn't always work well , he had and still has a "volcanic" mind. I still have my Speccy 48K 😊
Thank you for all your hard work these videos are excellent hats off to you sir
Thanks mate, I've been waiting for a new video from you.
I owned a City-EL in1992- 1998 and it had an updated 48V system instead of the original 36V, a range of 130 km on lead acid batteries. I later changed the motor for a LEM-200 22kW motor, so top speed was 96 km/h and 0-60 in 4.5 seconds. Quite the monster. With a similar weight of Li-ion batteries 128 kg, it should be able to go 500 km, so when the current specs from Citycom today only specs 120 km range, the are going cheap on the batteries and use to few of them to reduce cost.
sounds like a dream i need one
Very well researched pair of videos. Thanks so much!
Pleasantly surprised that you brought up the Audi Duo. Well done!
I think all of your videos are outstanding. Plus, you're a dead ringer for Brian Eno!
Very good Englishmen. Thank you for electric knowledge
The channel called garage 54
This channel is the best of all on youtube
Lol
I just watched the one where they took the Lada engine and changed the firing order. Genius Clowns!
4.05 that is the taxi from total recall with arnie.
You're like Scott Manley's car loving brother.
Brilliant!
The dealership I bought my latest Volt from had an original electruck mail wagon. 🥰
The Sinclair C5 was for kids and 19,000 were sold. The last one was made in Japan in 1986 and was solar powered. She was named the Sanyo Amorton Car.
Loved the video!
I guess too many electric and hybrid cars were made in the 90s for it to be in one video?
also that Sinclair looks amazing!
Yeah, the 90s are going to be harder as there were so many.
Another electric car from the 70s not mentioned in the video or the previous one is the Electric Fuel Propulsion Company (EFP) Electrosport, otherwise known as the Electric-sport. It was a compact-sized electric vehicle using AMC Hornets that were converted to EVs in Ferndale Michigan. It was produced from 1971 to 1974.
Looking forward to that EV-1 video.
Sinclair is Britain’s Steve Jobs, he was a genius, but he should have used it as the first electric mobility scooter.
Excellent work from your fans in Canada. :)
I've got more than one! Cool!
Great video, HOWEVER, I feel we need to address the fact you remade your Chaterham in blue. You absolute legend. 👏👏
www.aliexpress.com/item/4000107317337.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.d9a648b2EtcLOs&algo_pvid=68fd6fa5-53ef-4022-b6ad-c0425716eed9&algo_expid=68fd6fa5-53ef-4022-b6ad-c0425716eed9-10&btsid=a2f2b307-20cf-48a7-9108-d089620eb644&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_10,searchweb201603_52
I remember the Sunraycer. If memory serves, I don’t think it had any sort of a/c system. Bet it was hotter than hell in that thing.
Watt another shockingly inductive video about E-Cars i'd never even heard of....Truly amazing research...Get in...:)
Electrifying witt :-)
Great Video as always thank you.
Love your Spectrum T shirt :)
@@psynrg I stand corrected > I was a spectrum plus man haha!
It's very old, so really faded, but I love it.
You should create a graph plotting the cars range/speed and how the evs improved over time
That would be interesting (at least to me)!
Great and interesting video
4:46 so love this van coz it is so cutesy funny!
Great video. Have you considered mentioning the Better Place project with DONG Energy (yes, it was the name of the biggest danish energy supplier based basically on windmills). Together the made the project involving Renault and the very visionary concept of replaceable batteries as an alternative to gasoline stations.
I wasn't aware of that. Do you have a link to more information?
Big Car actually it is quite well described on Wikipedia with lots of links: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Better_Place_(company)
Big Car I used to work in DONG Energy at that time, but I wasn’t much involved in the project, but saw the car and videos of the concept. I will write if I find some materials about it.
I know that DONG Energy actually had already started investing in the needed infrastructure to support the charging stations
We talk about having "range anxiety" nowadays even with thousands of EV DC fast charging stations around. Imagine what it must have been like to be an early adopter back then with NO way to fast charge even if that technology even existed at the time _AND_ also having very small ranges in the first place. I have to hand it to them! I also need to give credit where credit's due and say that although it has taken the legacy automakers a long time to catch up to Tesla, they at least DID try several times over the decades to make it work but the costs and technologies involved were just insurmountable at the time.
This is fascinating l had no idea about these vehicles other than the c5.
You are missing the Bedford CF and Freight Rover Sherpa K2 vans converted by Chloride in about 83 to 86. They made hundreds of them. I know one chap who still uses one (with secondhand emergency lighting batteries for power). Prince Philip had one, fitted out as a plush limousine, and made quite a bit of use of it.
There are sooo many different cars, and it was so hard to get them all! Thanks for letting me know.
The cityel or "Ellert" in Danish was also made in a 2 seater version and a faster model was made too that could go 70km/h and was infact approved for highway use.
thank for your beautiful clips
you did really good home work
I just started watching your channel and it's great. Thanks.
Also LEGO rules!
Would you entertain a history of Saturn? I sold the Saturn brand in Canada (also SAAB) from 1995 until 2007.
Saturn might be fun. But North American content doesn't do so well unfortunately...
@@BigCar2 We'll it was GM's idea to compete with the Japanese. I'll bet a lot of people would be interested.
Another great video! I'm hoping for a video about the Orginal Mini through to the lastest Mini. There's a lot fof informative videos about the orginal Mini online but im sure you'll make something with new information in!
Yes, but that's been covered by so many people in the past that most people have heard the story already. I find it more interesting to find stories I didn't know before.
@@BigCar2 There's got to be loads of unheard or less popular information out there about the car! But nevertheless, any video you put out is very interesting! :)
Very nice ! Thank you .
Another great video and tshirt.
Sir Clive still tinkering to these days? that is some dedication right there.
I think we knew about global warming long before the 1980's. It was called the Greenhouse Effect and was known about at least as far back as the 1970's. The film Soylent Green from 1973 was based on a book from 1966 and was (among other things) all about the 'Greenhouse Effect' AKA Global Warming and it's effect on the planet. Just saying :-)
Pauline Hunter soylent green is people!
Here's an article from over a century ago that talks of global warming: pbs.twimg.com/media/C36fxHnUMAAavvs.jpg
In the 70’s it was global cooling. I remember seeing tv shows that suggested we’d put coal dust on the poles to melt the snow.
They also said the oceans would be dead by 1980.
You are mistaken. In the 1970s many environmentalists were worried about global *cooling*
Look at me with a straight face and say the car at 4:11 doesn't look exactly like the car Jeremy James and Richard built on top gear 😂 damn check out those rims though 😮
The famous Hammerhead Eagle iThrust!
@@AtheistOrphan lmao yessss that episode is hilarious. unfortunately the grand tour just isn't the same.
4:50 I have one of these cars. They’re so much fun
The Volvo Electric Car looks like a 70s Peugeot 1007 haha.
Got a 1007 and it is fun car, coming from a C5 V6.
Design-wise, the Peugeot 1007 is to the Volvo EC as the Model Y is to the CyberTruck.
YegoLoda
they never did make any, not even a real project....
all these cars did have the same design, small wheels make them all the same for you, FIAT did the same....
why hahaha?
I’ve owned three A2s and I always thought that Audi should have followed up their stunning electric concept car from the early nineties as the Space frame would have provided plenty of room for the batteries and extra electric motors. I saw some videos of people converting their A2 to electric power and I actually sold my last one to a guy who was getting it converted in London. To be fair, the A2 is a fine economical car, regardless of what engine it comes with. Looking back, the problem with electric cars is not the car, but the industry,the supply and the economics, infrastructure, regulations and battery supply that to me now would make any electric car undesirable, uneconomical and more of a liability. You can extend the vanity and fashion appeal from a few thousand cars to millions, but it’s still not enough. In hundred years, electric cars developed less than internal combustion engines have and there is a good reason that they are not widespread in industry apart from forklifts and milk carts.
Fantastic video as always 👍 keep it up!
Thanks for another great video!
Thank you for the two videos of electric cars, please when you do the 90s do all ranges charge times top speeds and costs just like these two videos. Great job thanks.
Another excellent video. Can't wait for the Volvo 850 one!
You might be waiting a while! It'll be the Volvo 240.
@@BigCar2Aww. Such a boring car. The 850 was the car that saved Volvo but ultimately killed it, and is a much much more interesting story. The biggest engineering project in Swedish history, the BTCC etc. Ah go on.
@@KarlHamilton Maybe the 850 will be a follow-up. I loved my V70XC!
@@BigCar2 It's just an 850 in a dress haha. Brilliant cars, love my 850 T-5R. Can't wait!!
@@BigCar2 I second the 850, it hides interesting story under it's dull boxy chassis
Suggestion for next time: hibrids before the insight/prius. Kick start tip: Alfa Romeo 33 ibrida
Not a bad suggestion. Thanks!
@@BigCar2Cheers from Portugal!
You know who knew about climate change before most? The oil companies.
Tomorrows World demoed a VW Hybrid in the 1980's (I think it was the 80's) If anyone can find a video of that, please share.
damn this channel needs more views and subs!
Loved the video by the way, but could you maybe do a story on the Lotus Excel please?
Maybe - there's a lot backed up!
@@BigCar2 No problem, only do it if you can be bothered
In the eighties, I drove a Larel, a Fiat Panda reduced to a two-seater with 600 kg of lead-acid batteries in the back and a clutch with a four speed gear box.
Wasn’t there also a factory Panda Elettrica for postal delivery fleets or something?
How about the Bradley GTE?
1:51 nice roomy boot for comradeship ;)
I saw a C5 driving round Edinburgh in Dec 2019 at rush hour. The person appeared to be using it to commute.
Will there be a 90's Electric cars AS well? Very well made videis. I'll be a patron!
I'm glad you enjoy the videos! Sorry, no 90's electric car video is planned as they weren't very popular 😢, but that doesn't mean I might in the future. But many more cool videos planned!
Loved the T-shirt! :D
Always fun learning those postal trucks came from a military contractor and are old as dirt lol
Yeah, I can't look at one now and think about that.
Hi! What about the 1980 Briggs Stratton Hybrid...
4:12 isn't that Hammerhead Eagle i-Thrust (aka Geoff ) from top gear ?😂
That C5 trike actually looks pretty cool to be honest. If they sold a remake of it with Li-Po batteries, a windshield, and an extra front wheel for around $1,000 I’d totally be down for buying one. :)
Check out the Renault Twizzy. A bit more than $1000 though.
Despite their shortcomings then and now these cars with their limited tech would have been more than enough for most people just like with city cars today.
I drive a Smart Fortwo in one of the coldest cities on Earth and its a really popular car here because most people here don't like or want flashy cars, just practical ones... 50 mpg and a $20 CAD full tank will do that! I just wish they had released the E-dition here earlier as I could only buy a diesel one that got that mileage...
The VW Type 2 electric was missing also.
what about the Zenn made in Quebec Canada ???
3:25 The b pillar deformation - oh my.
You forget the City zenn from Zenn motors from Canada nice looking electric car.
I'm a huge aviation fan and especially Grumman...Glad to see you mention the Grumman LLV postal truck..it's a go to for me when I want to stump someone with obscure triva ( that and the Lunar Lander)
I can't look at one the same way now!
4:47
The LLV has been in the news. For being on fire (US)
I had to put one out back it 2019.
At the time i was a fire man
Have you seen the “Pod Racer” (CityEl) from RichRebuilds?
You would think the audience more forgiving of the crash, considering the car performed pretty well in its surprise safety demonstration
Why do companies over design electric cars and end up looking twxty
Areodynamics
I dunno, some of these 80s cars looked really sleek. Wouldn't mind having those instead of these horribly ugly Teslas.
@@GlamStacheessnostalgialounge Tesla makes some of the most beautyful cars out there
@@Rafael47936 Um? Have you ever seen one of those hideous things?
@@GlamStacheessnostalgialounge nope, I've only seen the good looking ones
I’m disappointed there was not mention of US Electricar Corp and their Renault 5 conversions-marketed as Lectric Leopard, I believe several hundred were sold-and my brother still drives one today.
I usually don't comment until I've finished watching the video but holy heck! That UQM Electrek! :D
I think the poor thing had a stroke.
12:34 Audi Duo will be great hybrid car and will sell better than Prius at it's times.. pitty Audi didn't invest more in it
The u36 which became the Miniel was designed and built while the c5 was also being designed and took no "cue's" from the c5 at all, the body shell was designed by a Scottish designer called Ray Innes working in the sw of Scotland, the idea for the vehicle came from a Dane called Steen Jensan , they had been working on it from around 1980, we made the body in 1982 it was the first time Ray and I worked together, the U36 was displayed in a bank in Randers Denmark for a while, when the ill fated C5 was announced the U36 was dusted of and by public subscription in Denmark a factory was built and production started, they enjoyed moderate sales success but the electronics were a source of problems, by the time that had been sorted out the factory had run into cash flow problems and the Miniel was sold to Germany. The concept was for a fully enclosed vehicle with the same or less frontal area as someone on a moped or scooter, which it was to replace, it was never seen as a car replacement, the project was first mooted by Steen when he worked for the Danish company Dronnjngborg who made combine harvesters, the combine market was in a down turn and they were looking for other products to fill the factory, Steen who was working there as a designer contacted Ray with whom he had worked for at Rover Triumph, with the upturn in combine sales Dronniingborg lost interest and shelved the project, when Steen left not long after he was aloud to take the project with him, the rest they say is history.
Thank-you for these two videos.Can you please add more electric car videos to the playlist? The EV 'revolution' is gaining pace rapidly, with Norway selling more EV's than fossil-fuelled cars. Thanks.
I'm thinking about it.
We need to bring the Sinclair C5 back into production. Bring her back!😭.
Thanks, an interesting history. I now drive a PHEV, and my particular driving routine averages about 90mpg including converting the charging costs into fuel equivalent.
These pioneers got us this far, but all failed.
I test drove a Tesla model 3 last week, and WOW, what a machine, hope Elon survives. The model 3 was just too small for me.
Keep up the good work, your videos are very informative.
Whats a PHEV car?
@@joeyknight8272 Plug In Hybrid Vehicle, it has a battery good for 30 miles, then an engine as well, great if you do 30-40 miles a day. The engine only fires up when the battery is exhausted.
@@johndoyle4723 oh nice
and Some people think elon musk created all these technologies
Elon creates all! Lol
@@Network126 he invented the subway
elon is yet to create anything. so far he just picks vague concepts that were floating around for decades, patents them and then hires so college kids to develop them for chump change.
@@punker4Real and a sandwich
Elon is more like Edison
4:12 That looks like the electric car that the original Top Gear trio built.
Yes, thought exactly the same! :D The "Hammerhead Eagle i-Thrust": ua-cam.com/video/WfNfwNWWphI/v-deo.html
Original trio? Top Gear started in the 70's chap.
You man the 2000s trio, not the original lot. I don't think any of the earlier groups built anything.