So, do you STILL want an Electric car?

[Stanglover]

Our future is a lot closer than most of us think. It's that goody time perception thing. When you are young, everything that happened before you was slow and glacial in its progress...50 years of history was like eternity. But when you hit 60, or near enough, the last 30 years seems like it flew by.
I still don't really feel old at 58. I look at tech development with this in mind: my grandfather was born in 1915. Biplanes, horse drawn wagons were still the norm for many, no radio, more often than not, you had a well for water.
By the time he was the age I am now, we had put men on the moon, television was everywhere, Al Gore had invented the internet (actually it was DARPA, but thanks to the internet people still think he actually said that...), and the template for the modern supercar was already in production.
Just 58 years. And we're accelerating our development. Compare a 70s EV with a 90s EV and then a current EV.
They are just getting started.

58!!! You're just a young pup.
I remember back the last 50 years like it was yesterday. I moved to Canada in 73. I even remember the names of the girls I was ............ well let's not go there eh!

 

[detritusmaximus]

So, you know what I'm saying, right?....

 

[Spike Morelli]

For me personally, I'm not drawn to own an EV. Not putting 'em down, I just don't care to own one. In fact, If I were to get another car, and told that I could have ANY car I want, it would probably be one of maybe 2 or 3 OLDER cars than my 71. Anyone can buy a new car, they're disposible. To own an old , and be passionate about an old car, to appreciate an old car and maintain it, well, that takes someone who is an enthusiast. I consider myself in the latter category.

 

[Stanglover]

So, you know what I'm saying, right?....

Oh yeah, indeed I do.
I'm now and old dog at 76, so well qualified.

 

[secluff]

I know the EV vs Hybrid vs ICE has initiated many spirited discussions for a while now. It has been made clear that our current electrical infrastructure cannot support a total EV society. The fact that our Government leaders seem to be intent on their continual push to shove the EV issue on us makes many understandably leery. Our distrust, many of them have earned, honestly.

As these EVs evolve, I'm sure all negative issues will be sorted out, including improved battery technology, just as the ICE-powered vehicles have over these many years.
There is a justifiable concern about lithium-ion battery fires. There are now numerous FAA and TSA regulations on how they can and cannot be transported in cargo and passenger aircraft. These batteries burn extremely hot and are difficult to extinguish. A battery fire in the cargo hold of an airplane would be catastrophic.

A Hybrid option has been around for a while and has been a good compromise between gasoline and battery power. Ford first offered a hybrid option on the 2005 Escape, an already strong-selling SUV. It was also an option starting with the 2010 Fusion until the end of production in 2020. These vehicles use regenerative braking to recharge the battery. With this system, when the brakes are applied, kinetic energy is generated and transferred into the batteries.

Another issue was brought up by Big Red Mach 1. Besides, the point of energy expended in the mining of materials needed for battery production is the replacement cost of the drive motor batteries. The battery warranty for the '23 F150 Lightening is eight years or 100,000 miles. There is an exclusion about the battery is not covered if it is damaged due to improper vehicle storage. I am sure that is covered in the fine print buried somewhere in the owner's manual.
If, for some reason, you need a battery replacement at your expense, this is what you will be facing. The standard range battery for the '23 F150 Lightening (240-mile range) retails for $34,393.48. The extended-range battery (320-mile range) retails for $46,907.03. And for the Mach E owners, in-between the F150 batteries at $37,188.73! YIKES!!

 

[TheDude]

OK well this is going to piss some people off, but here goes. I'd consider converting my 72 to electric if there was an affordable way to get there that didn't require cutting up the car too much and didn't have too many sacrifices. My car was already not very stock when I got it, so I'm not worried about keeping it super original.

I mean these days, LS's are swapped into just about everything, just like SBCs were swapped into everything for decades. I've seen LSs in 71-73 Mustangs at car shows and while blasphemous here I get why they do it. Cheap, reliable, efficient power. At some point there will be a path to do that with electric and at that point, why not at least for some people?

Don't get me wrong, I love the smell of gas in the morning and the rumble of my 351C as much as the next guy and don't want to see them go away. But for guys like me that don't have a perfect car and won't ever be able to get mine into original quality, trying new stuff is just hot-rodding. Not for everyone, but I appreciate anyone making an effort to do something different. Slap a 2JZ in a 69 fastback, sure what the hell. Not for me, but if it's done well, you did something different and I can appreciate the effort and work involved. Same with making it an EV.

Make one an EV? If you aren't destroying a museum piece, why not? There have been loads of these cars around for 50+ years now with various states of the same formula, so I say go for it. I think it's also a way to get a new generation of people interested in older cars so an EV conversion at a cars & coffee might be a gateway drug that'll pull in some kids into appreciating classic cars and some might even want to tinker with carburetors once we have them hooked.

So there, I said it, I'd consider converting mine to an EV. Let me have it ... or group buy on batteries?

 

[Cleveland Crush]

I was reading about one idea of running power conduits under the roads and using induction technology to charge as you drive. Probably something to combine with getting our power transmission lines out of the trees...

detritusmaximus, this article is sort of to your point on underground road power conduits but at an even more future tech level:

https://www.science.org/content/art...n-houses-and-roads-nearly-limitless-batteries

 

[ib4stangs]

Ford has lost over $6 billion in just the last 3 years jumping on the EV trendy bandwagon. During last weeks investor call Ford ceo Jim Farley told us he's rethinking the timing and "all in" (at any cost Mr Farley??) commitment to EV's. As the attached article states hybrids are taking center stage. Evidently it took 6 billion dollars for someone to wake up.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/28/ford-embraces-hybrids-as-it-loses-billions-on-evs.html

this news was posted the 27th...

"Ford also said it now expects its EV business unit, Ford Model e, to post an operating loss of about $4.5 billion this year."

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/27/ford-pushes-back-ev-target-warns-of-wider-losses.html

 

[Stanglover]

OK well this is going to piss some people off, but here goes. I'd consider converting my 72 to electric if there was an affordable way to get there that didn't require cutting up the car too much and didn't have too many sacrifices. My car was already not very stock when I got it, so I'm not worried about keeping it super original.

I mean these days, LS's are swapped into just about everything, just like SBCs were swapped into everything for decades. I've seen LSs in 71-73 Mustangs at car shows and while blasphemous here I get why they do it. Cheap, reliable, efficient power. At some point there will be a path to do that with electric and at that point, why not at least for some people?

Don't get me wrong, I love the smell of gas in the morning and the rumble of my 351C as much as the next guy and don't want to see them go away. But for guys like me that don't have a perfect car and won't ever be able to get mine into original quality, trying new stuff is just hot-rodding. Not for everyone, but I appreciate anyone making an effort to do something different. Slap a 2JZ in a 69 fastback, sure what the hell. Not for me, but if it's done well, you did something different and I can appreciate the effort and work involved. Same with making it an EV.

Make one an EV? If you aren't destroying a museum piece, why not? There have been loads of these cars around for 50+ years now with various states of the same formula, so I say go for it. I think it's also a way to get a new generation of people interested in older cars so an EV conversion at a cars & coffee might be a gateway drug that'll pull in some kids into appreciating classic cars and some might even want to tinker with carburetors once we have them hooked.

So there, I said it, I'd consider converting mine to an EV. Let me have it ... or group buy on batteries?

Last year at a local car show, there was a 67 (I think) Mustang that had been converted to electric. I talked to the owner who was a mechanical engineer. He did a very nice job and to be honest, it didn't look out of place. I forget all the details, but here are a couple of pics.

 

[TheDude]

wow, that thing is nicely done. You'd almost think it came that way.

A little googling and was able to find an article about it https://www.autostradamagazine.com/editorials/muscleelectrified

 

[Stanglover]

wow, that thing is nicely done. You'd almost think it came that way.

A little googling and was able to find an article about it https://www.autostradamagazine.com/editorials/muscleelectrified

Yep, that's it and it WAS a 68 as I first thought but then wasn't sure.