Oil tight Austin Seven?

[Bob Culver]

Perhaps the owner viewed the regenerative braking as the only braking solution.  Or he found usual dynamo/lighting  troubles daunting.
I have not driven a huge range of other cars, but Sevens were the only ones where performance definitely eclipsed handling. With a powerful motor the owner may be in for surprises.
The rear saet area of an RP is not designed for greta weight. Nor the axles, or spokes.
Hopefully all the bits will be kept together.
I have seen it happen with other makes. One person meticulously rebuilds an absolute wreck, and another nonchantly scraps a sound low mileage vehicle.
Hope the steering arm is OK. Running into anything solid with all that battery could get messy.

[Dave Wortley]

It seems pointless at the moment to have an electric car when only 30% of the Uk’s energy is accomplished by renewables. Hence you charge up your 100 mile range vehicle with 70% of nasty greenhouse gas producing energy combined with nuclear (with its currently unsolvable decommissioning problems). I realise that areas of pollution in big cities are having a disastrous effect on people’s health by vehicle pollution but electric vehicles don’t address the overall issue.
Having said that, it looks as though the electric A7 owner is having fun. Pity he has used an original unadulterated A7.

[Dave Mann]

I should have added that he has experience of the Seven having worked on them since his school days, also he is an electrical engineer by profession. With the whole of the roof area used for solar panels it will extend his 100 mile range.

[Chris KC]

I'm not really understanding though that his list of reasons for doing this do not sound like the words of a vintage car enthusiast. Perhaps I should mind my own business...

[Colin Morgan]

An interesting exercise.  However, if you put an electric motor in a Seven, it may produce something usable, but the driving experience will be nothing like the original.  If the idea is to be appearing to run round in a Seven, this might also work - but it is more like a fairground attraction than an historic vehicle?  With modern advances in motor and battery technology, with some expenditure, the electric installation could mimic the petrol engine in terms of performance and range without a weight gain, I imagine?  But why in a Seven - what does this add?

Those silicone gaskets that Ruairidh mentions elsewhere appear to be the way towards keeping the garage floor drip free for most of us.

Colin

["Slack Alice" Simon]

I quite like the idea, but I am afraid he is trying to re-invent something that never hit the mark, starting back in the 1900's and continuing to disappoint until the invention of the lithium battery.

The figures of available ampere hours versus horsepower required don't add up.   (At least, not by my admittedly dubious calculations)

He is, in effect, building something like the "G-Wiz", the write up on Wikipedia gives an idea of what will be needed in terms of battery capacity to get 50 miles or so.

Simon

[Dave Mann]

Reading the diatribe something isn't right, removing 240 kg of engine and gearbox from the front and adding 136 kg to the rear (four 130 amp hour batteries at 34 kg each) may compromise the handling and braking and accelerate the rear body sag. I think I'd put the batteries under the bonnet.
Having dispensed with the motor which I use to slow my car down I think I’d want regenerative braking, or an anchor, to assist the abysmal brakes, his words not mine.
I thought my Seven produced 13 bhp at 3500 rpm to give a top speed of 54 mph from 747 cc, before I bored it out to +0.040”. So the 10 hp (7.6 Kw) 2800 rpm motor performance will be disappointing and want 152 amps at 50 volts.
I'm interested because the electric option has crossed my mind as has fitting a modern engine of similar power to shut the green lobby up who think our cars are polluters. I stress it is just a thought as I find the big end jet lubrication system and the thermo syphon cooling system wonderfully simple and proven over 90 odd years. The engine starts first go, even in winter, although with the Zenith 22FZB does require nursing till the engine has warmed up whilst the car is snug even in winter. That’s all part of running a Seven including windows misting up in the autumn rain.

[Colin Morgan]

It is possible, I think, that by moving up the scale a bit in terms of electric car technology from the G-Wiz - lighter motor, newer battery technology, clever control and electronics - this would allow equivalent performance and range without (much) additional weight - but at a relatively high price.  Tricky to get right as a one off - but a lot could be learned along the way?

However, I think the Seven engine has always been one of its best features.  

Colin

[Chris KC]

I'm interested because the electric option has crossed my mind as has fitting a modern engine of similar power to shut the green lobby up who think our cars are polluters.

I suggest you invite them to explain where they think their 'green' car came from. Consider the resources involved in mining ore, smelting steel, shipping it half way around the planet, rolling it into sheets, casting it into shapes, forming it into parts, painting it, shipping it half way round the planet again, all those workers trundling backwards and forwards in order to do the above, then there's the plastics, the electronics, tyres, glass, foams, textiles, etc. etc. etc. - all so they can claim a marginally lower CO2 ranking over the few miles they will cover before trading it in for a new one?

[Dave Mann]

Taking the whole life carbon footprint of a car, our cars with over 80 years to spread the manufacturing carbon footprint have the one of smallest carbon footprints.