Battery Vehicle Society

hi im new here .was looking at these elcat vans online and was wondering are they any good? thinking about placing an order and wondering if the importer john lilly has a good reputation or not .anyone have any good or bad experience.

Hi, we bought an Elcat from John Lilly about 6months ago and use it for most of our local trips. He delivered it to us and was fairly helpful.
We have rung him a couple of times and he has continued to give us advice.

Regarding our Elcat, it is a heavy vehicle and has to cope with very steep hills in this part of the country and the speed drops back on these steep inclines and so does the range. It can keep up with the general traffic (everywhere except inclines) but not without reducing the range. We tend to stick to minor roads whenever we can and keep the motor speed indicator "in the green" as much as possible.

You asked what we know of the reputation of the importer, John Lily. Well, he is the Chairman of the esteemed Battery Vehicle Society, whose forum you are on. What else can I say!
I bought an Elcat through him 2 years ago and it is going quite well.
One problem with them is that they are being sold second-hand from a dealer in Finland and there is no real contact with the people who did the original conversion. So it could be difficult to get detailed documentation if you have a problem that needs sorting. However John has been helpful to me with the couple of problems I have had.
The conversion is nice and professionally done. The actual motor is robust, the controller is a standard curtis controller. However the battery charger seems to be a bespoke design and has many adjusting pots including temperature control system for the batteries (maybe needed for the Finnish climate but rather over-complicated for British needs). If it goes wrong, it could be tricky to sort out.
John has had some Elcats (at a cheaper price) that are missing some of these items, so you can install your own favourite. You need to discuss with him exactly what you want.
They have a nice roomy battery box which is easily accessible. So there is a lot of scope for experimenting with batteries of various types - you could use a variety of cheap-and-cheerful lead acid batteries or blow your savings on some top-of-the-range Lithium Ion.
Would be happy to chat if you want. 0117 9560825