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Electric Vehicle Road Tax in the UK is now Free

With petrol getting more and more expensive I decided to have a look around at electric vehicles and decided that they were a fairly practical way of getting around.

I'm sure there are many people out there in cyber-space like myself who haven't got a clue on even where to start and there are a hundred or so people who use electric vehicles, be it an electrically assisted push bike through to a full blown car or van. If you are such a person please E-Mail me and lets get together, swap ideas, send me a picture of your EV (if you have one) for me to put up on my site or a link to your site.

I am now a year down the line and so far all is well, I have found out a hell of a lot about EV's, there downfalls and there best bits. Currently the Fiesta is undergoing a total rebuild, well ok a re-shell , in other words taking all the electrical parts out and fitting them into a newer Fiesta, which as I have found is so much easier than trying to replace a engine in a normal petrol car. Just disconnect the wires pull out the batteries undo a few bolts and off come the motors and out comes the controller.

The refit into the new car is a little more time consuming but generally its trying to work out what bits you don't need and getting rid of them which is taking the time.

Well where am I now?? The new Fiesta is back from the spray shop with a new coat of paint on it. A new battery tray has be fitted to the front to hold the extra battery ( I am now going to run 10 12volt batts) The controller is fitted and the throttle has been wired. All the heavy wiring from the main pack is wired. I am now sorting out the 12 volt side of things and safety isolators. Something new I have added is a vacuum pump to allow the use of a break servo which hopefully will assist the brakes. The other fiesta did not have one of these and stopping proved rather challenging.

I will post more when I get round to it...............

This is my collection of electric vehicles. I have found these to be a very good way of travelling around short distances. Many people ask me what's the point of having a car that can only travel around 10 miles in one direction and then have to remember to turn around to get back home before the batteries go flat. Well, my answer to this is, think how many times you get in your car to pop up the shops or take the kids to school or the other little journeys you make, and I think you will be surprised at just how often your car only does a 20 mile round trip. Obviously this is not my only form of transport (take a look at my buggy page) but when you look at petrol costing nearly £3.80 a gallon here in the UK and on short journeys you could easily use that if the car is started from cold, the recharge cost for my journey is just 25p it starts to make sense that owning an electric vehicle as a second car can start to be beneficial. Also electric vehicles now are free of road tax so this again is another saving. I have had comments such as ' what about battery replacement costs' well yes these can cost a fair amount of money. My new set of Elecsols cost nearly £900 but you must remember that you are buying your power upfront rather than a little bit at a time. £900 worth of petrol would soon get used up (in around a year) but the batteries will carry on they will require replacement again in the end but generally this shouldn't be for several years.

Electric Bedford CF Van

This van was produced in a limited run by Bedford/Lucas/Chloride for a short time in the 80's. It has a 40Kw motor running at 216volts from 36 X 6 volt batteries. Giving it a range of 50 miles (new battery range) and a top speed of 55mph Click on the picture for more details and pictures.

Ford Fiesta Electric Car

This Fiesta was originally coverted by London Innovations and is powered by two Lynch 60volt electric motors in series. Supplied by 108 volts nominal (9x12volt traction batts) It has a top speed of 65mph and a range of 20 miles. Click the picture for more details and pictures.

Other EV stuff

This is a collection of sites and other bits of information relating to electric vehicles that I have found useful. I am a relative new comer to the world of EV's and have found that they are a real alternative, useful form of cheap transport that can be bought relatively cheaply if you look hard enough. Click the picture for more.

Well here we are some links to help you on your way. This page will always be under construction as the more I find the more I will put up. Click on the digger and off you go.

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This is my collection of electric vehicles. I have found these to be a very good way of travelling around short distances. Many people ask me what's the point of having a car that can only travel around 10 miles in one direction and then have to remember to turn around to get back home before the batteries go flat. Well, my answer to this is, think how many times you get in your car to pop up the shops or take the kids to school or the other little journeys you make, and I think you will be surprised at just how often your car only does a 20 mile round trip. Obviously this is not my only form of transport (take a look at my buggy page) but when you look at petrol costing nearly £3.80 a gallon here in the UK and on short journeys you could easily use that if the car is started from cold, the recharge cost for my journey is just 25p it starts to make sense that owning an electric vehicle as a second car can start to be beneficial. Also electric vehicles now are free of road tax so this again is another saving. I have had comments such as ' what about battery replacement costs' well yes these can cost a fair amount of money. My new set of Elecsols cost nearly £900 but you must remember that you are buying your power upfront rather than a little bit at a time. £900 worth of petrol would soon get used up (in around a year) but the batteries will carry on they will require replacement again in the end but generally this shouldn't be for several years.
*Electric Bedford CF Van* This van was produced in a limited run by Bedford/Lucas/Chloride for a short time in the 80's. It has a 40Kw motor running at 216volts from 36 X 6 volt batteries. Giving it a range of 50 miles (new battery range) and a top speed of 55mph Click on the picture for more details and pictures.

*Ford Fiesta Electric Car* This Fiesta was originally coverted by London Innovations and is powered by two Lynch 60volt electric motors in series. Supplied by 108 volts nominal (9x12volt traction batts) It has a top speed of 65mph and a range of 20 miles. Click the picture for more details and pictures.

*Other EV stuff* This is a collection of sites and other bits of information relating to electric vehicles that I have found useful. I am a relative new comer to the world of EV's and have found that they are a real alternative, useful form of cheap transport that can be bought relatively cheaply if you look hard enough. Click the picture for more.	Well here we are some links to help you on your way. This page will always be under construction as the more I find the more I will put up. Click on the digger and off you go.