Remember Backfire? It’s the proposal for a simple, low-volume EV roadster along Caterham lines that we dreamed up (using practical wisdom from Equipmake and WEVC) in our Christmas double issue. Since then, I’ve carefully collected reactions from readers who spotted it – and liked it enough to write and say so – and the tally has just reached 30. Thank you, Bill and Lizzie Stanley of Herts; your note is the latest.
Thirty people isn’t exactly a football crowd, but I believe it’s a modest validation of the idea, given that there must also be others who approve but didn’t write. I must say I grow ever more impatient for some enterprising niche vehicle maker to tackle a project like this: EV-dom needs proof that driving will be simple fun tomorrow.
No gears, true, but Backfire would have brilliant weight distribution and great torque characteristics. And if someone built a car like it, we’d soon understand how small a roadster’s battery can be, and how little such a car can weigh. In the original feature, our experts were all optimism, but I’d love to see it proven.
Tuesday
This week’s story about Rolls-Royce redesigning the age-old Spirit of Ecstasy emblem for superior aerodynamics and a smaller frontal area – to better suit the drag-busting shape of the forthcoming Spectre EV – reminds me how much activity there seems to be in badge engineering (the proper kind) nowadays.
Both McLaren and Gordon Murray have for years been conscious of saving badge bulk and weight, and now we hear that even the nose badge of the forthcoming Morgan 3 Wheeler, whose official launch is a couple of weeks away, has had ‘work’ to ensure its edges comply with global safety regs. The radii of various edges have been changed and the thickness of the whole badge has been shaved by one millimetre (to 4.5mm) just to be sure.
Wednesday
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I missed the Backfire article in the Christmas issue, with what you describe bringing to my mind something looking like the Yamaha OX99-11with a carbon fiber body and tub and an electric motor with around 200 BHP.
A 75 kWh Tesla Model 3 battery weighs in at 460kg, (and I’m confident now there are more weight efficient battery’s available), so I’m sure you could get a 37.5 kWh battery pack now weighing around 200kg, so if the rest of the car’s weight can be kept down to 300kg, (something that should be possible with today’s modern lightweight materials and manufacturing techniques), including the battery you’d have a really thrilling to drive very aerodynamic sports car with 200 BHP that only weighed 500kg – I’d expect even with only a 37.5 kWh battery pack a car like that would give a range of over 250 miles.
With a long history, (and some of their best cars), being inspired by Colin Chapmans obsession with light weight, I’m surprised that Lotus haven’t already designed and built an electric sports car along these lines as I think it would be winner, one that I’d certainly consider if a car like this was on the market.
Another advantage of light weight and brilliant aerodynamics allowing the use of smaller and lighter batteries would be charging time too, with smaller batteries needs far less time to recharge.
EV sports cars are already being made and there are lots of conversions of former ICE sports cars. The Chesil Speedster Electric, for example, is a re-engineered Porsche 356 replica, based on a new chassis with wishbones and coil springs all round, not original torsion bar suspension. Apparently it's well engineered, fast and even comes with heated seats. There are also EV conversions of the Mazda MX5, MG Midget, DeLorean, Porsche 912 and 911, Westfield, Cobra replicas and even a Jaguar XJS and Merc SL, though perhaps they are GT cars, not sports cars. So this is already happening, but the market is definitely crying out for more new, mainstream models like an electric Porsche Boxster, Mazda MX5 or BMW Z4. EV technology perfectly suits occasional use cars, because you don't have all the probems that are associated with rarely used hobby ICE cars, like oil leaks, unreliability, poor starting, sticking clutches, failing MOTs on emissions, etc.As for the whole manual gearbox thing, most people seem to forget all about their nostalgia for manual gearboxes, once they experience the instant torque and acceleration of an EV. People said they would miss steam trains, but most people don't.
Inertia is a powerful force; otherwise manuals would not still be a majority of car sales. If two-pedal with some sort of automatic were the established standard, and someone came up with the idea of adding a third pedal, and having to take one hand off the wheel, to disconnect the drive from the engine for a short time in order to take out one transmission ratio and engage a different one, this would be regarded as madness, a source of distraction, a complication and a safety hazard. Rightly so. Regardless of the supposed cost savings, economy gains, "superior control", fun (?) or whatever else. But inertia has worked in the favour of manual, for a very long time. Technological advances in autoboxes are slowly but surely shifting the tide in favour of what is - without the shadow of a doubt - the sensible option.
Giulivo, everything yoy say may be true, yet i much prefer driving a manual, and there are many cars i simply would no longer buy as they dont offer them any longer. Long live choice!
One day we will all be driving EVs, with no gear changing at all, and then we will think just how poor even the best current automatics are, and yet i will still wish i was driving a manual. But then who wants to be 'sensible'
I agree with Giulivo. I have always liked the refinement of automatics (especially torque converter ones) and used to toy with the idea each time my company car came up for replacement. Back then however, availability of automatics was very sparse; for economy reasons I needed a diesel but there were very few offered as automatics (remember how late a diesel automatic was made available on the Jaguar X-Type?). Even with petrol engines, automatics were often restricted to one state of tune or engine size (not always the most powerful or largest). I still don't have an automatic, but have decided that if I ever change my car one more time, it will be a self-shifter of some sort. I try and convince myself that a manual is more fun but trying to drive well (ie smoothly) is tiring and just increases the stress of modern motoring. Many use to laugh at me for pining after an automatic saying it wasn't proper driving, but they who laughed loudest were often the worst drivers, making a jerky mess of every gearchange!!!