Electric 2CV

greyteam1959

I stand corrected.................

lemondrops69

greyteam1959 said:

I stand corrected.................

Said the man in the orthopedic shoes

Ditzy_Mitzy

Goudy said:

Renault have mocked up an electric Renault 4 https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/renault/354670/new-renault-4-shapes-join-electric-car-range

The R4 was far more popular than the 2CV ever was, plus the Citroen was a bit of an embarrassment to the French, they didn't really like working in the factory, that was staffed by mainly immigrant workers.

If any classic Citroen needs an electric convertion, surely it has to be the DS.

It looked like it came from the far reaches of our galaxy in 1955 and it still looks super cool today.

 

I can't see an electric DS working.  I've owned hydraulic Citroens and they rely on circulating pressurised fluid; the car effectively has a beating heart and bloodstream.  Whilst it would be possible to run the hydraulic pump electrically, it needs to run all the time; batteries wouldn't last very long in consequence.  

BOWFER

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

 

I can't see an electric DS working.  I've owned hydraulic Citroens and they rely on circulating pressurised fluid; the car effectively has a beating heart and bloodstream.  Whilst it would be possible to run the hydraulic pump electrically, it needs to run all the time; batteries wouldn't last very long in consequence.  

I don't think the pump side of it is needed all the time though, it's just on demand.
And with more modern and efficient pumps, I can't see the demand on the battery being huge.

tedted

i had a c5 and the pump was electric to keep the ride height correct even when parked for long periods never had battery prolems even when away for three weeks

Ditzy_Mitzy

BOWFER said:

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

 

I can't see an electric DS working.  I've owned hydraulic Citroens and they rely on circulating pressurised fluid; the car effectively has a beating heart and bloodstream.  Whilst it would be possible to run the hydraulic pump electrically, it needs to run all the time; batteries wouldn't last very long in consequence.  

I don't think the pump side of it is needed all the time though, it's just on demand.
And with more modern and efficient pumps, I can't see the demand on the battery being huge.

It's not that sophisticated, and I don't recall the pumps on mine being clutched.  It ran all the time the engine did and nothing worked without it.  The C5 mentioned elsewhere used a different version of the setup and isn't a true centralised hydraulic car.  

AdrianC

Ditzy_Mitzy said: 

I can't see an electric DS working.  I've owned hydraulic Citroens and they rely on circulating pressurised fluid; the car effectively has a beating heart and bloodstream.  Whilst it would be possible to run the hydraulic pump electrically, it needs to run all the time; batteries wouldn't last very long in consequence.  

It does work... There's several been built.

The pump runs light most of the time - when the accumulator sphere is up to pressure, it just pumps back to the tank.

BOWFER

AdrianC said:

It does work... There's several been built.

The pump runs light most of the time - when the accumulator sphere is up to pressure, it just pumps back to the tank.

Thanks for confirmation.
It didn't seem too unrealistic for an EV system to cope with this, not when they can cope with all manner of other electrically operated 'stuff'
As happens with other EVs it maybe works off the 12V battery, which is then topped up during the recharge process.
So the range of the traction battery isn't affected.

Goudy

Someone's made a load of videos and posted them on Youtube of their Electric DS conversion.

You can see the electric motor/ hydraulic pump here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gipBjSTR1-w

It doesn't need a clutch, the motor is just switched on and off to maintain pressure, though it's a bit noisy!

NBLondon

BOWFER said:

Getting back to the point of the the thread, there's a growing cottage industry in people converting classic cars to EVs.
Like one twitter post I saw yesterday, an ancient Land rover that can now do 0-60 in 4 seconds.
As much as I love electric cars, i don't get this aspect of it at all.

Do you mean electric classics in general or that specific oddity?    No I can't see any sense in a Series LR with that sort of performance; I can just about see https://lunaz.design/cars/range-rover-classic as a way of keeping your classic going.

If like me, you'd love to have a classic and (also like me) are no good at repairing them - then I can see the appeal of a classic Mini or an MGB updated and converted to electric.  It might well be a hobby / weekend car but if you already have a suitable charge point for your everyday electric SUV, why not?   I'd expect the kit car makers to possibly get in on the act if  the powertrains are available.   There might be a point where an electric Caterham makes sense - you'd have limited range from fewer batteries (otherwise the weight would be a problem) but for a weekend toy it might not matter.