Modec have just released a van that will be hated by Ken Livingstone and Gordon Brown. It will carry a 2 ton payload and reach 50 mph, with a 100 mile range, but is battery powered. This means it is exempt from the Congestion Charge and Road Tax.
www.modecvehicles.com/
www.greenfleetawards.co.uk/modecvehicles/
May be we should all consider having one?
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Roger
I read frequently, but only post when I have something useful to say.
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I have to say, despite the fact its powered by duracel bunnies, thats is the sexiest looking van I have ever seen.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Looks like a Belgian dust cart.
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>>I have to say, despite the fact its powered by duracel bunnies, thats is the sexiest looking van I have ever seen.<<
Sexiest? Van?!? Pull yourself together man. That VW's warped your mind.
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When will the greenies realise that battery technology probably has even more noxious substances than diesel and petrol?
I personally think hydrogen is the way to go for vehicles like these. (Not dirgibles)
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Looks like a Belgian dust cart.
beat me to it :(
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LoL it looks like a plastic milk float ...... :-)
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looks like something out of the Judge Dread film. Good idea though!
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"I personally think hydrogen is the way to go for vehicles like these. (Not dirgibles)"
Providing the H2 is made by electrolysing water, using electricity generated by renewables. The amount of energy required to make H2 out of hydrocarbons is staggering (10 tonnes of CO2 produced per tonne of H2!)
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RichardW
Is it illogical? It must be Citroen....
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'Renewables'? Nuclear more like. Be realistic.
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Looks good to me. If it really has got a 100 mile range and can provide good performance throughout that range it could do well.
Also zero pollution and quiet. OK, it needs energy to charge the batteries but for most users that can be off-peak, when there is surplus electricity supply anyway.
Ideal for stop-start work and localised multi-drop.
While pure electric vehicles can't compete on the range/performance combination with i.c. engined ones, for localised work where mileage can be predicted they're fine.
Next step a hybrid version with a small get-you-home diesel engine/generator to extend range?
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Is this the rebirth of the British motor industry? Let's hope so.
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That looks brilliant. No price though ...
But be in no doubt that if/when the sales of these vehicles take off the 'government' will come up with some excuse to tax it, like the steady increase in tax on LPG.
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Why do you think they're already making plans for charging by the mile instead of by the litre?
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Are you trying to make us all feel ill OilBurner?
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Bet you wouldn't see John Prescott in one..:-)
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Don't hold with this zero emissions nonsense. Electricity in this country is another way of moving the pollutants away from the vehicle exhaust pipe to a distant generating station chimney. And the fall-out from battery manufacture is another story entirely. If we think this is the answer we delude ourselves. Before anyone else says it; yes, we are all doomed.
Now excuse me while I go slurp some Optimax through the bike's 4 carburettors. Hehe ...
Hawkeye
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Stranger in a strange land
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Something on the wireless tonight - basically I have radio 4 or tapes - on how much more gas guzzling our houses are than our cars. The guy was a zealot but needs a carfreak bronze medal. All true of course. 'When I was young we turned the light out when we left the room because energy was expensive'.
It still is, and we still should. No need to feel guilty about our increasingly clean and economical cars. Not very anyway.
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Would John Prescott fit in it, or would he have to use the cargo space? What would the range be with, ahem, a "full load" (you did say it could only carry two tonnes, didn't you??)
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Drive Your Way - If anything can, TerraCan
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Re: 'Zero emissions'. The vehicle creates zero emissions in use. The electricity used to charge the batteries might or might not or might not have come from a zero-emissions generating source.
My point is that the emissions problem is shifted away from the vehicle. In a few years' time, if most city delivery vans, taxis, commuter cars etc. were battery powered, that would have a measurable effect on urban air quality. Also there would be reduced noise and vibration, not least for drivers of electrics. Dealing with the emissions from fossil fuel burning power stations is a separate (although real) problem.
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Also this van has regenerative braking that does provide a degree of free, zero emission power.
What sort of driving licence would be necessary for the Modec though? It has a GVW of about 5 tons. If it were diesel powered, that would put it in the C1 category,mening that drivers who passed their test after 1997 would need an LGV C1 licence (covers vehicles 3.5 - 7.5 tons gvw).
However my interpretation (if correct) is that category L covers all electric vehicles and if that is so it would mean that any car drivers could drive a Modec. Another advantage?
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