FUEL IN THE FUTURE

[Mark Jesic]

If everyone in the U.K. had an electric car, the national grid would collapse, and where will you dispose of all the used batteries ? Yes i am worried about this fuel issue.

[gerrykan]

gas and diesel will always be here, they will just raise prices till we stop using.....

I kept buying leaded gasoline during the switch from leaded to unleaded until they raised the price so high that it did not make sense.

To that end, I made a choice not to buy the product, the local stations did not discontinue leaded gas until sales fell to levels where it made more sense for the station to convert the pump to the better selling unleaded.

[Mark Jesic]

This is an issue that affects ALL of us with classic vehicles, and people want to see vehicles moving and being driven, putting them through their paces etc, not stuck in a museum. I fear for our hobby.

[zepher11]

I've actually started thinking about restoring one of my Dodge WC's as an electric vehicle. First was thinking my WC22 or WC53, lately I have been pondering one of my WC63's. I have heard they are a bit under powered, so an electric motor might be able to beef it up a bit. Then when I start thinking about how the winch would work, of how to couple the electric motor to the drive train, my mind begins to smoke. I know zip about electric vehicle conversions at this time.

I do know a guy locally that converts older vehicles to electric power. If I see him, I'll have to run it by him to see what he thinks. I know it would be expensive, but might be an interesting build.

[mdainsd]

Zeph, the easy way forward and what many of the conversion shops do is ditch the gas motor and make a plate to install the electric motor right onto the bell housing. Even the clutch is still in use, you get to shift, and since the tranny stays, zero issues with the winch! Its really pretty straight forward these days. Hiding the batteries is about the biggest obstacle. everything is plug and play.

[zepher11]

Zeph, the easy way forward and what many of the conversion shops do is ditch the gas motor and make a plate to install the electric motor right onto the bell housing. Even the clutch is still in use, you get to shift, and since the tranny stays, zero issues with the winch! Its really pretty straight forward these days. Hiding the batteries is about the biggest obstacle. everything is plug and play.

Well, that's good to hear. I haven't researched anything related to electric motors yet, but I like the idea of only replacing the engine with an electric motor and keeping the balance of the drive train. Would be a pretty interesting build, and something a little different to learn. Of course, anything electric related is my weak link, so if I were able to pull it off it would be a miracle.

[parker007]

do we have the technology to power a 40k pound truck with transmission? what will a 250hp motor and batteries cost and where would they go? my next question is most military trucks sit mostly, so spending your life savings on batteries to watch them sit is not my idea of fun. most old trucks can be made to run with fresh fuel and battery. Do the math!

[zepher11]

do we have the technology to power a 40k pound truck with transmission? what will a 250hp motor and batteries cost and where would they go? my next question is most military trucks sit mostly, so spending your life savings on batteries to watch them sit is not my idea of fun. most old trucks can be made to run with fresh fuel and battery. Do the math!

Costs to convert to electric likely will not be inexpensive. I have heard that companies like Tesla are testing semi-trucks which can haul up to 80k pounds on California highways...of course the whole trailer will be filled with batteries. I would imagine the technology for batteries will continue to advance and cost come down. At least one can hope that would be the case, however I looked at new trucks and to replace what I have is about $90k. I think I will hang onto mine for a while longer.

I think this thread is a good on in getting us thinking of the future of our hobby. I love to restore US WWII vehicles. Have quite a few. I don't do it to sell them, but I do like to drive them. My kids don't want them. I guess I have my own little museum now, but my wife will want everything gone when I'm gone. Actually, this month there was a little article, due to the lack of a Veterans parade in our area, on a rinky-dink museum. Need to go to page 12:

http://www.northstate.news/Archives/Aft ... 1%20AF.pdf

Anyway, this is a great discussion and something worth discussing and considering where the hobby will be when fuel and oil, as well as maintenance parts, become scare and very expensive. Worth the debate. Plus, I like to learn new things if I can.

[Fushigi Ojisan]

One of the places to poke around is "Rich Rebuilds" where they buy and restore wrecked Teslas. Salavgebid.com is where you can buy your own.

An electric WC series would get a lit of attention

Sent from my SM-T820 using Tapatalk

[Fushigi Ojisan]

A little something to show Zeph the possibilities

https://www.shiftev.com/blogs/service-e ... us-tesla-s
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a3355 ... onversion/
https://electrek.co/2020/08/06/tesla-po ... unique-ev/

Basically a company rebuild Johnny Cash's Rolls-Royce and refitted it with a Tesla drivetrain



This pic shows the engineering that went into the refit in the back.