[acsinuk (OP)]

According to the motor magazines Toyota and developing the following vehicle " as-yet-unnamed two-seater is referred to as an ultra-compact battery electric vehicle (EV) and has been designed “for short-distance travel with limited impact on the environment”. It is 2490mm long, 1290mm wide and 1550mm high and built to meet new micro car regulations in Japan.

With a claimed range of 62 miles, an "extremely tight" turning radius of 3.9m and a top speed of just 37mph, the model is aimed squarely at drivers in built-up urban environments, and more specifically the elderly. Charging time is a claimed five hours from a 220-volt power unit. 
See https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/motor-shows-tokyo-motor-show/toyota-launch-two-seat-ev-2020.

Citroen are developing the AMI  " A quadricycle also jinks around car crash-safety rules, but then it’s limited to 45kph, or 28mph. The underfloor battery is small and cheap, providing a range of just 60-ish miles – still surely more than a day’s city driving – and the motor drives the rear wheels.
The two seats are decently roomy, with space for bags around them. At 2.5m long, it parks end-on to the kerb. Parisians always park in a space smaller than their car, so they’d probably just drive this one right into the cafe."
See      https://www.topgear.com/car-news/electric/new-citroen-ami-car-14-year-olds   for more details.

For sure these electric cars will be the only cars allowed in cities in possibly the next decade so where is the English version?? Boris needs a nudge,  why with high unemployment here cant we start making our own???

[alancalverd]

1. Because we have had electric milk floats and factory tugs for around 100 years

2. Because Boris's predecessors destroyed UK manufacturing and gave all your money to failed bankers gamblers.

3. We don't have the charging infrastructure to support a significant number of electric vehicles

4. The UK has the most expensive electricity on the civilised world now that we have to pay windmill owners not to generate electricity in the summer, and Russian oligarchs for gas in the winter

5. However the fact that President Cummings has rendered public transport dangerous for the elderly for the foreseeable future means that the streets will soon be filled with dead urban EVs that didn't make it home.

We used to have a thriving battery industry but when a Chloride director was interviewed on the radio around 30 years ago he said "The reason we are closing the UK factory and moving production to Germany is because I can borrow money there for 3% instead of 15% annual interest, and shareholders are prepared to invest in manufacturing rather than banking on those terms."

[Bored chemist]

where is the English version?

Post Brexit, the best answer is probably "somewhere else in the EU".

[alancalverd]

As it was pre-Brexit. Renault have been selling a neat little UEV in Europe for years, because it was better than the Indian one.   

Has anything come of the Welsh hydrogen fuel cell car recently? Definitely the best idea around, as the citizens of Kirkwall can testify.

[rhinegold]

If you allow me one more comment:

Chief executives in the German manufacturing industries, are most often have a higher degree in engineering or even a PhD in a relevant technical field. German chief executives have long term goals to grow their company and often look 3 to 5 years ahead. More highly skilled PhD females are being recruited to head companies, than this is happen in the UK.

 Whereas UK Chief executives most often run technical companies without any engineering background,  as banks use their influence in boardrooms, by placing willing accounts in positions of power. Longterm plans are seldom found in UK boardrooms, as short termism is the rule in the UK.

[alancalverd]

A good point.

Years ago I was tasked to buy some £5,000,000 worth of equipment for the NHS (when £5M was a lot of money). The best deal by far in terms of technology and support was offered by a German company. During the final negotiating lunch I asked how many accountants were on the main board of the company. A quick phone call to headquarters, and the salesman said "One, and twelve engineers."  I signed the order. Everything was delivered on time and worked perfectly, to the utter amazement of my managers.

[rhinegold]

I have been living in the UK for many moons now, have a child and are married to a nice English lady. When I came over to the UK in the late seventies, England was a different place than.  In those days we have had lots of Toolmaking firms and companies like Plessey, Marconi, Ferranti, Phillips and Ultra where names the world recognized for their quality and innovation-  firms which given thousands of employees regular employment.

Now, most of those toolmakers engineering firms have gone, and also most of the electronic companies I mentioned above.   .... the most simple things have now to be imported from outside the UK, or made local at very high cost.

Having been trained in Germany and worked on contracts around the world, I say now to you that my time spend with Marconi in Cambridge was one of the best times of my live, and the quality of both the technicians and engineering staff was superb, I would even say the organization was slightly better in the UK as in Germany.

"Again we have the craft labour and design force in the UK to create an Electric vehicle" let us think how to go to the second step."


Thank You.

[alancalverd]

The second step requires government commitment to infrastructure and legislative support, and medium-term venture capital. Sadly, Mr Cummings lickspittles are too busy trying to blame everyone else for killing 60,000 people and destroying the economy, and AFAIK my venture capital chums are looking to democracies like Canada, Scandinavia, Singapore and Australasia that have got their COVID act together.

[Bored chemist]

short termism is the rule in the UK.

Reminds me of a cartoon I saw in Punch magazine (so it must have been about 20 years  or more ago).

A bunch of politicians sitting round a Table and one of them saying "Short termism isn't working  quickly enough; let's ditch it".

Even then, it was recognised as a problem; but the politicians- in pursuit of FPTP power - had no option but to go with it.

[alancalverd]

PR doesn't work any better. People vote for the party that appears to offer them the shiniest short term prospect, but you don't get a personal representative in Parliament. What we need is a novel form of multi-tiered non-party government as originally proposed by Karl Marx and almost realised by the Trades Union Council, combining personal representation with strategic planning.   

[acsinuk (OP)]

Renault have the Twizy but with no doors it is not secure.  These EV;s have Lithium ion batteries typically 8 kWhr and can drive around a city for a couple of hours doing 40 mph when not stopped at traffic lights.   Environmentally friendly, and cheap to run if you charge the battery off-peak in middle of the night.  We need manufacturing jobs now, and this is the future city transporter which we can produce in the UK and save foreign currency at the same time.

[alancalverd]

You still need to charge it, and if you don't have a private driveway, that's quite a problem.

[rhinegold]

We have the brains in the UK, to design such an Urban Vehicle, financed by an ownership pool, made up from private investors, local communities and local government.

It is perhaps a case to knock on James Dyson's office, and seek to acquire his hitherto not used IP, to jump start such a unique community project.

In order to make the start up as economical and widespread as possible, the vehicle should be distributed in kitform
or be available readily assembled.

May the  "Young Ones" step forward, it's their opportunity.
==========================================

[alancalverd]

The vehicle is not the problem - there are plenty available of all shapes and sizes. The lack of charging points is.

Most of the people who live in cities do not have a private driveway with the potential for a charging point, and they are generally well served by public transport anyway. The whole point of "congestion charging" is to reduce the number of private vehicles in cities.

People who do not live in cities need a guaranteed minimum range of 100 miles per charge to commute to a city and get home again. You may as well have an electric or hybrid SUV that you can use for other tasks. Except HM Government has decreed that you can't buy a hybrid after 2035.

An electric taxi might have some value, but in  the longer term, hydrogen power still offers better range and recharging.

[Bored chemist]

May the  "Young Ones" step forward

I'm not sure that's going  to help.

[alancalverd]

Vauxhall are advertising the all-electric Corsa as a British car, with > 150 mile range. Might just be interesting - the regular  Corsas are quite pleasant to drive. Admittedly the company is now French-owned and the Corsa design is German, but I'm sure the badge is made in Luton.