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Flat pack EV
adithorp - 17/6/23 at 08:46 AM

What do we think?

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/news/electric-vehicles-news/are-flatpack-and-sustainable-light-vehicles-the-future-of-urban-transport


JoelP - 17/6/23 at 08:53 AM

The weight of cars is one major factor in how much energy they use. You only need a 2 tonne car because everyone else is in one. So yeah, there's good potential to save energy by driving the weight well down. No idea about the flat pack part though!


gremlin1234 - 17/6/23 at 03:47 PM

triumph made some 'flatpack' cars CKD completely knocked down. where the cars were built, then taken apart a bit, then shipped to places like NZ. where they were built up again.
landrovers were also designed so they could be stacked, and dropped by parachute.

the idea of a lightweight ev is not new see the citroen ami


cliftyhanger - 18/6/23 at 07:26 AM

If we are going into a tiem where we have to trundle about in electric cars, it makes an awful lot of sense.
I travel less than 50miles a day 90% of time. Often much less. However, I often carry "stuff" for my property maintenance work. At the moment I have a double bed sitting in the car, and occasionally need to use a roofrack.

But the number of people who could use one of these small EVs for the vast majority of the time is huge. However, so many want the "look at me" SUVs etc to take their kids to school. As to the cocks who drive up my road in their "pop and bang" mapped cars at stupid speeds, I want to buy stinger!

I digress. My "exit plan" for work is at an early stage, but once done, I may well get a small electric car to potter around town. It will make an awful lot of sense.


Mr Whippy - 19/6/23 at 12:06 PM

tbh my experience with normal sized EV's like our Leaf is that it cost so little to run anyway that getting one as small as that thing doesn't make any sense, you're just ending up with a tiny not very useful car that would kill you in a crash. Its like buying a smart car to save money when petrol costs 50p a litre...

[Edited on 20/6/23 by Mr Whippy]


MikeR - 20/6/23 at 08:34 AM

It's not just about driving, how much space does that take up to park? You'd probably get two per space. Meaning all the flats in London have just doubled the parking arrangements. The principle is good and a stepping stone but missing the point we need to use less resources. Look up donut economics.


Mr Whippy - 20/6/23 at 11:05 AM

quote:
Originally posted by MikeR
It's not just about driving, how much space does that take up to park? You'd probably get two per space. Meaning all the flats in London have just doubled the parking arrangements. The principle is good and a stepping stone but missing the point we need to use less resources. Look up donut economics.


A valid point and one of our neighbours has a smart car and actually parks nose into the pavement rather than side on and it works just fine. I have no issue with tiny cars and my dream car would be a Autozam AZ-1. However watching some review vids on the ami and seeing just how flimsy it is, there's definitely a point where small and lightweight starts to equal death trap.


MikeR - 20/6/23 at 08:23 PM

Friend used to be a consultant engineer. Explained something I'd not realised. Ncap tests the car against itself and therefore the rating is against itself. You can't compare different cars in an accidental. A 5 star luxury SUV Vs a 5 star small car in a crash - the small car gets demolished due to the much larger mass of the luxury SUV.


Mr Whippy - 21/6/23 at 07:13 AM

quote:
Originally posted by MikeR
Friend used to be a consultant engineer. Explained something I'd not realised. Ncap tests the car against itself and therefore the rating is against itself. You can't compare different cars in an accidental. A 5 star luxury SUV Vs a 5 star small car in a crash - the small car gets demolished due to the much larger mass of the luxury SUV.


We saw that with the Merc vs Smart car crash tests... The Smart bounced off like a ping pong ball.

An old couple died just up the road from me both from broken necks after a T bone crash with a large car swatted their little car right off the road. Personally I think there should be an upper weight limit of 2000kg on cars and testing against small cars to make sure large cars have sufficient soft crumple zones so both are survivable.