Electric Exeter

At the 2008 Exeter Kit Car Show, I was particularly struck by the range of electric cars on offer. It seems that the kit car industry, by virtue of its smaller size, is in a position to respond to environmental pressures more quickly than mainstream manufacturers. The Battery Vehicles Society had a stand at the show and featured among the more obvious alternative technologies this Mulliner bodied Wilson, which was built from 1935 to 1936 in Leicester. As built, this car would have had a 40 mile range for every charge and a top speed of 27 mph. Only 40 were made but the owner of this example has another and rumours persist of others languishing in gardens in places like Birmingham. He told me that the realistic range for this car is now down to 20 miles because the batteries are a bit tired.

I think that is allowed. A drop-off in performance is only to be expected after 70 years but that is definitely what I call sustainable motoring.

The guys on the electric vehicle stand were very excited about the prospect of new power packs. Lithium ion cells offer a significant improvement over conventional battery technology in terms of charging time and increased vehicle range and there is now a mad scramble by all the major motor manufacturers to put this technology into the marketplace. However, most worlds natural deposits of lithium are in Bolivia in the salt flats of Salar de Uyuni, high in the Andes mountains and the country's leaders are concerned about the impact that multinational corporations might have upon their country. The Bolivian government is keen to expand state control over its natural resources rather than allow foreign industry to do it, which would almost certainly divert the wealth that this would create back towards the industrialised West.

"We will not repeat the historical experience since the fifteenth century," says Bolivia's minister for mining, Luis Alberto Echazu. "Raw materials exported for the industrialisation of the west has left us poor."

Good luck to the Bolivians I say. Demand for lithium will outstrip supply in 10 years unless their reserves are exploited. Lithium is also in demand as a cure for motor neurone disease so, of all the world economies, the future for Bolivia's looks rosy.

The Battery Vehicle Society members gave me a free copy of their club magazine "Plugged in" (usual price to non-members -- five pounds) and I must admit that the prospect of a zero emissions vehicle that will satisfy my shopping trips and short local journeys appeals immensely. At the moment most of my fuel seems to be used up in heating a cast iron engine block during the three mile trip into Liskeard and all those cold starts aren't good for my beloved engines.

The trouble is, at the moment, there doesn't seem to be a reasonably priced second hand solution. The alternative is to make a vehicle yourself and, although I'm quite happy to have a go with things with internal combustion engines, I don't know enough about electronics. The technology doesn't inspire me with as much enthusiasm as the old reciprocating piston engine to learn about it from scratch but if I had a small electric trundler that gave reasonable performance around the country lanes, my petrol powered dinosaurs would have a much easier life. The long-term prospects of such a vehicle have to be good.

All I would have to do is plan ahead a bit and make sure I've charged up my electric vehicle before hand.

All we have to do, is get used to the idea of charging our electric cars in readiness for use the next day. It strikes me as odd that people see this as such barrier to using electric cars where they are quite happy to make a pit stop at a filling station somewhere.

I would have taken more photographs of the exhibits at the Exeter Kit Car Show, including this venerable Wilson. Many of the photos that I did take are slightly blurred through camera shake. This was because I couldn't use the flash within the hall.

And that was because I'd forgotten to charge the batteries in the camera overnight.