Getting an Electric 'Vespa'!

[eider]

So, quick question --- how does weather play a part in this? Have you just endured inclement weather and just soldiered on, or has it altered plans on occasions?

[Cow Poke]

A year and two months on from the last post, I thought I would update this thread after a year of riding my electric vespa.

I've only ridden 1300 miles on it but it was only purchased for local use, and it is a brilliant little machine and ideal for local travel. I now know that it costs 0.90p to travel 9 miles in to Canterbury city and 9 miles home, stuff like that. It was built to be a moped with a 30mph restriction but the more it has been run so the faster it can travel, it can now get up to 37mph on the flat, but I don't know why that has happened because I haven't fiddled with it.

I've learned a lot more about EVs in this last year and have lots to write about that. This post just updates the thread so that I can find it easily tomorrow.

So, quick question --- how does weather play a part in this? Have you just endured inclement weather and just soldiered on, or has it altered plans on occasions?

[eider]

A year and two months on from the last post, I thought I would update this thread after a year of riding my electric vespa.

I've only ridden 1300 miles on it but it was only purchased for local use, and it is a brilliant little machine and ideal for local travel. I now know that it costs 0.90p to travel 9 miles in to Canterbury city and 9 miles home, stuff like that. It was built to be a moped with a 30mph restriction but the more it has been run so the faster it can travel, it can now get up to 37mph on the flat, but I don't know why that has happened because I haven't fiddled with it.

I've learned a lot more about EVs in this last year and have lots to write about that. This post just updates the thread so that I can find it easily tomorrow.

[eider]

If the lock looks like this

shopping.png
with where the shackle or shank goes into the casing in a secure manner, those aren't easy to open using the beer can method

But if it looks anything like this

shopping (1).png
with the shackle exposed (see red arrow), they are incredibly easy to open. It takes only a few seconds to utilize the modified beer can (and by modified I mean snip out a section of it in a particular shape) to pop it open.

goliath magnum.jpg

[rogue06]

As explained, I've given it to a family friend who owns a Harley.

It is a Goliath Mega (key operated) with a 6' square section chain. Weighed about 30 lbs I would think.
I've seen similar locks on ebay but with less heavy (round section) chains.

I put values on locks in terms of 'time', the time it would take to defeat them in different places at different times. I've purchased a 7'wire and combination lock which I value at about 5 minutes in a high street. I wouldn't give it a minute in a quiet location at night-time.

If the lock looks like this

shopping.png
with where the shackle or shank goes into the casing in a secure manner, those aren't easy to open using the beer can method

But if it looks anything like this

shopping (1).png
with the shackle exposed (see red arrow), they are incredibly easy to open. It takes only a few seconds to utilize the modified beer can (and by modified I mean snip out a section of it in a particular shape) to pop it open.

[eider]

Do you have a picture of the lock? I pride myself on being able to open any padlock that I've come across with just a beer can (empty and "modified") and am curious if the same method would work.

As explained, I've given it to a family friend who owns a Harley.

It is a Goliath Mega (key operated) with a 6' square section chain. Weighed about 30 lbs I would think.
I've seen similar locks on ebay but with less heavy (round section) chains.

I put values on locks in terms of 'time', the time it would take to defeat them in different places at different times. I've purchased a 7'wire and combination lock which I value at about 5 minutes in a high street. I wouldn't give it a minute in a quiet location at night-time.

[rogue06]

Do you have a picture of the lock? I pride myself on being able to open any padlock that I've come across with just a beer can (empty and "modified") and am curious if the same method would work.

[eider]

[rogue06]

Yeah I was googling it after my last post. Apparently cold weather affects the batteries efficiency directly, as well as running an electric heater will also lower range. I saw figures of around 40% less range in winter. Some newer cars are using heat pumps to replace electric heaters. But heat pumps really lose efficiency themselves below 30-40 degrees Fahrenheit (around 0C) so I am not sure how well that is going to work.

I think they need to come out with newer battery technology. Wonder what ever happened to Fuel Cell technology? Basically they work by converting Hydrogen directly into electricity to run the electric motors. Waste product is just water.

Sounds like they would be more feasible down here in the Sunny South than up north.

Gotta be utterly useless up where mossy lives.

[eider]

Yeah I was googling it after my last post. Apparently cold weather affects the batteries efficiency directly, as well as running an electric heater will also lower range. I saw figures of around 40% less range in winter. Some newer cars are using heat pumps to replace electric heaters. But heat pumps really lose efficiency themselves below 30-40 degrees Fahrenheit (around 0C) so I am not sure how well that is going to work.

I think they need to come out with newer battery technology. Wonder what ever happened to Fuel Cell technology? Basically they work by converting Hydrogen directly into electricity to run the electric motors. Waste product is just water.

Yes. Agreed to all.
If hundreds of cars got stuck on a motorway on a snow deluge, those in EVs would need to take refuge in IC vehicles.

The really popular EVs around here are the hybrids. Easy for long journeys, heaters, emergencies, etc but they can still run through a city or large town as EVs. That makes sense at present.

If you are far out from anywhere then I don't think that pure ev is ever going to suit.

[Sparko]

Fast charging is a big big problem at present. The faster batteries are charged so the more heat and lower life expectations.

Running a heater will dig deep in to a full charge.

Frozen batteries are still much less efficient.

A new difficulty is where lithium batteries are in a fire. Our fire brigades are discovering very real problems. When an ev has been on fire it is shipped to huge tanks and completely submerged in them. I saw a program about this recently.

So it isn't good news yet.

Yeah I was googling it after my last post. Apparently cold weather affects the batteries efficiency directly, as well as running an electric heater will also lower range. I saw figures of around 40% less range in winter. Some newer cars are using heat pumps to replace electric heaters. But heat pumps really lose efficiency themselves below 30-40 degrees Fahrenheit (around 0C) so I am not sure how well that is going to work.

I think they need to come out with newer battery technology. Wonder what ever happened to Fuel Cell technology? Basically they work by converting Hydrogen directly into electricity to run the electric motors. Waste product is just water.

[eider]

The first few years I owned it, I only drove it on the weekends and on trips (of about 100/200 miles a few times a year) because I took the bus to work. And even when I did drive it to work, it's only about 10 miles round trip. And for the last two years I have been working from home because of COVID. And I keep it in a garage. It looks practically brand new. It is the only new car I have owned since the 1980s. The rest of my cars have been hand me downs and used cars.

That's why I have been thinking of getting an electric. Most of my driving is less than 20-30 miles a day in town. I am just waiting for the prices to come down, and the technology to mature a bit more (including having the infrastructure in place to do charging during the occasional trips I make). I really don't want to have to sit at a charging station for an hour or more to charge up my car. If they can get it down to a reliable 15 minutes, I can deal with that. Right now a full charge takes 30-60 minutes even on the rapid chargers.

I am also wondering how well EVs do in winter when you have to run the heater. On an EV the heater would have to be electric and I wonder how much that drains the battery?

Fast charging is a big big problem at present. The faster batteries are charged so the more heat and lower life expectations.

Running a heater will dig deep in to a full charge.

Frozen batteries are still much less efficient.

A new difficulty is where lithium batteries are in a fire. Our fire brigades are discovering very real problems. When an ev has been on fire it is shipped to huge tanks and completely submerged in them. I saw a program about this recently.

So it isn't good news yet.

[Sparko]

Is such low mileage normal for vehicles outside of Texas?
My current vehicle is about the same age, with probably three times the mileage. My first car was about 25 years old when we sold it, and had almost 300k miles on it. That includes minimal driving in England for three years; only half of those 25 years were spent in Texas.

The first few years I owned it, I only drove it on the weekends and on trips (of about 100/200 miles a few times a year) because I took the bus to work. And even when I did drive it to work, it's only about 10 miles round trip. And for the last two years I have been working from home because of COVID. And I keep it in a garage. It looks practically brand new. It is the only new car I have owned since the 1980s. The rest of my cars have been hand me downs and used cars.

That's why I have been thinking of getting an electric. Most of my driving is less than 20-30 miles a day in town. I am just waiting for the prices to come down, and the technology to mature a bit more (including having the infrastructure in place to do charging during the occasional trips I make). I really don't want to have to sit at a charging station for an hour or more to charge up my car. If they can get it down to a reliable 15 minutes, I can deal with that. Right now a full charge takes 30-60 minutes even on the rapid chargers.

I am also wondering how well EVs do in winter when you have to run the heater. On an EV the heater would have to be electric and I wonder how much that drains the battery?

[eider]

I lived in England in 1987! About an hour and 45 minutes north of London.
The car was not a diesel. There was a diesel option though, and my dad considered getting it but decided against it. I bought the car from my parents when I started driving. My dad currently drives a diesel sedan though, and it gets crazy good fuel efficiency.

I'm guessing that 1 hour 45 minutes North of London would have been Birmingham area, or at least West Midlands.
Yes....... the mileage that modern diesels can reach on a gallon seems quite fantastic when compared with MPG of similar sized vehicles 30 odd years ago.

[QuantaFille]

Was it a diesel? Diesels seem to go on for ever.
In 1987 I drove a company car 75,000 miles....in one year. Some weeks I exceeded 2000 miles. That was a 1.6 Vauxhall Astra petrol. My territory was mainland UK.
There were no speed cameras back then...... and I did 'push it' to keep appointments.
There was an intersection about 40 miles from home which I classed as 'home' because I could arrive home within 30 minutes or less in the late evening.
Today that same journey would seem like 'forever' to me, because I don't drive more than a few miles these days.

I lived in England in 1987! About an hour and 45 minutes north of London.
The car was not a diesel. There was a diesel option though, and my dad considered getting it but decided against it. I bought the car from my parents when I started driving. My dad currently drives a diesel sedan though, and it gets crazy good fuel efficiency.