Would any of you drive a Twizy?

[SB1500]

You know the one I'm on about. The Renault Twizy. For the price of a new Fiat Panda you could alternatively have a two seater, fully electric odd looking sort of four wheeled vehicle.

It's not new or anything. Does 50mph. Seems like a safer bet than a motorcycle or bicycle since it has an airbag and seatbelt. For city use only of course.

As someone who'd gladly depend on a bicycle if he wasn't terrified of a driver hitting him I wish I could take to the idea.

Do I need my head checked? Your thoughts.

 

[jackwhoo]

I don't think the world is ready for the twizzy yet,
Unless you have pots of money and live in London.
The on going battery rental charges payable to Renault are off putting.
Would you ever be able to sell it?

 

[PuntoHowTo]

I know someone who has one of these, it's quite a fun little thing but I've not driven it. The price might seem cheap but with Renault there is usually a battery rental price to pay which can be £60+ per month, so be aware.

It means that in the future the car is likely to be worth nothing and still cost you a fortune each month.

The person I know who owns one has it for his business, it makes people turn their heads and he can right off the costs against the business. Plus costs him nothing in tax and he runs a factory so the cost of charging it doesn't make a dent in his electric bill

 

[SB1500]

The battery rental has got to be the biggest downside. It brings the cost up to a petrol engine but as you mentioned with the added disadvantage of no value without it

 

[StevenRB45]

No for a few reasons, first the lack of heating and weather proofing isn't great. Then there's no boot and the range. It's basically a bike.

We looked at leafs given my wife's car never moves more than about 40 miles at once it would be perfect but...no off street parking to charge it in..unless I get rid of the garden.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

We looked at leafs given my wife's car never moves more than about 40 miles at once it would be perfect but...no off street parking to charge it in..unless I get rid of the garden.

With a range of about 100miles on a charge we could conceivably replace one of our cars with a leaf but again same problem as yourselves no easy access to charging at home as our garage and parking is about 50 yards from the house/electricity supply.

Planning to move in the not so distant future, so you never know, next car might be a tesla.... if I sell a kidney...... worth it !

 

[Liquid Knight]

You need a Panda Electtra.

At last those have some sense of cool about them.

 

[SB1500]

You need a Panda Electtra.

At last those have some sense of cool about them.

I'd love one! Pity they're so rare and old [only on the mark1/2 weren't they?]

 

[Liquid Knight]

Find a scrap G-Wizz (or hybrid thing) and a tidy enough Panda shell (from Italy where they are reasonably cheap) and some duct-tape.

No need for IVA as it's basically an engine swap and no radical alteration required.

 

[SB1500]

I'm always in search of a more simple, lower energy future form of transport. Quite like Smart cars but paying £250 for a dealer service on a car with a Renault Engine at Mercedes is too big of a rip off to me

 

[StevenRB45]

I've got nothing against electric cars as is. I'd rather buy a an electrically assisted push bike than a twizy given they have similar capabilities but at least I can put one of them on charge in my hall way.

I fully expect electric cars can replace the majority of white goods type cars within the next few decades if there is an effort to bring charging infrastructure up to the standard required.

 

[portland_bill]

There's a guy near here with a BMW i3. Could park it outside his garage around the back of the house, and run the charge lead under the door, but chooses instead to park outside front door, and leave charge cable lying across footpath. Whilst most people on his estate don't walk anywhere, occasionally he finds it unplugged in the morning. Despite this he can charge it at work, so doesn't stop him using it. Shame.

 

[jackwhoo]

Ooooo finally a justifiable use for no win no fee sharks.
Plus a what had made you grumpy today winner.
Plus a test for those insulated wire cutters.

 

[portland_bill]

Need one of those £1.50 B&Q buckets. Half fill with water. Unplug car, drop cable into bucket. Scamper away. Worth the investment in a bucket?

 

[jackwhoo]

Totally ha ha

 

[PuntoHowTo]

I'm always in search of a more simple, lower energy future form of transport.

Well today we achieve a quarter of our total electricity production coming from the sun.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-40058074

And in April we hit another mile stone of a full 24 hour period of electricity generation without fossil fuels since the industrial revolution (1882 when the first central power station was built) people were still heating their houses with fires and lighting them with candles back then!!

I'm really excited by the prospect of everything being free of burning fuels.

Cars are not quite their yet but they are very close. With tesla announcing electric trucks and more and more manufacturers offering fully electric options, its only a few years now before internal combustion sees the end of its days.

I would love to have the money to build a house with a roof full of solar panels, ground pumps powered off those panels to run the heating and a power wall to store the energy and make it available 24/7 even when the sun goes down.

Large ground tanks installed to capture rain water for flushing toilets and wash with easily available filtration to make sure it's free of dirt and bugs.

This stuff isn't prohibitively expensive and is all available now it's just we all keep plodding on with our square box houses paying a fortune to energy and water companies and lining the pockets of over paid executives.

I'd like love an electric car sadly though they are currently just too expensive for anything decent and the twizy is a nice idea but just not a practical choice day to day.

It's basically a modern day robin reliant, but a lot more expensive.

 

[SB1500]

Well today we achieve a quarter of our total electricity production coming from the sun.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-40058074

And in April we hit another mile stone of a full 24 hour period of electricity generation without fossil fuels since the industrial revolution (1882 when the first central power station was built) people were still heating their houses with fires and lighting them with candles back then!!

I'm really excited by the prospect of everything being free of burning fuels.

Cars are not quite their yet but they are very close. With tesla announcing electric trucks and more and more manufacturers offering fully electric options, its only a few years now before internal combustion sees the end of its days.

I would love to have the money to build a house with a roof full of solar panels, ground pumps powered off those panels to run the heating and a power wall to store the energy and make it available 24/7 even when the sun goes down.

Large ground tanks installed to capture rain water for flushing toilets and wash with easily available filtration to make sure it's free of dirt and bugs.

This stuff isn't prohibitively expensive and is all available now it's just we all keep plodding on with our square box houses paying a fortune to energy and water companies and lining the pockets of over paid executives.

I'd like love an electric car sadly though they are currently just too expensive for anything decent and the twizy is a nice idea but just not a practical choice day to day.

To be honest you've made it sound like we all have hope after the fossil fuels run out!

 

[PuntoHowTo]

To be honest you've made it sound like we all have hope after the fossil fuels run out!

The oil will never run out but it will become uneconomical to keep going after it. Costs a lot of money to drill a hole in the ground, build an oil platform and then tanker the oil all over the world, however its comparatively cheap to point some panels at the sun or a one off cost for a wind turbine.

 

[SB1500]

The oil will never run out but it will become uneconomical to keep going after it. Costs a lot of money to drill a hole in the ground, build an oil platform and then tanker the oil all over the world, however its comparatively cheap to point some panels at the sun or a one off cost for a wind turbine.

Here in Northern Ireland they've turned the entire country into a huge windfarm. Not many nice sights left with them in the way now up on the mountains - but to be honest everyone approved of them until they found out how little of the country they actually power :-( Perhaps in the future newer models will be more capable of powering a larger area

 

[StevenRB45]

The oil will never run out but it will become uneconomical to keep going after it. Costs a lot of money to drill a hole in the ground, build an oil platform and then tanker the oil all over the world, however its comparatively cheap to point some panels at the sun or a one off cost for a wind turbine.

Although we do have 300 years of coal left so perhaps the Stanley Steamer will make a comeback! We even have large reserves of it at home...

It's like a convertible twizy but faster and with a longer range..