Battery Vehicle Society

I am going to test drive a Vectrix maxi scooter. If I were to buy one it would cost me around £5500 which I will need to find from somewhere. It would give good top speed, good range and, hopefully, no reliability issues as a new vehicle. But it does mean that I will get wet and have to wear all my bike gear which is a bit of a pain and carry security chains and locks around and use my body to protect the machine rather then the other way around.

So, I thought given that amount of money, what else could I do with it that would give me a dry cockpit and less security risk by adding sweat equity to the process?

Could I convert a small car or kit car to a similar performance and gain the dry cockpit?

You've got various options for that amount of money. You can convert a car yourself, or you can go out and buy a second hand electric vehicle.

The Citroen Berlingo Electrique is a popular choice because it's got good performance and a decent range. There's is a van on eBay at the moment up in Warrington - not a million miles from you - and there is a five seat car in the 'For Sale' section of these forums as well.

The eBay listing is here: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 26_fvi%3D1 . Why not see if you can get yourself a test drive so you can see what they're like to drive?

The other alternative is to buy yourself a second hand G-Wiz. £5,500 will get you a decent used one. You're probably looking at a one to two year old ac-drive car in your budget, which will give you a top speed of 48mph and a realistic range of 40 miles on lead acid batteries.

The problem with the G-Wiz is that the importers - GoinGreen - do not have servicing facilities in Manchester. This gives you two options - either you service the car yourself or you get it serviced by a local garage who isn't scared off by the electrics. For electrical work you can always approach a local fork lift truck servicing company who should be able to do the work for you.

I don't have either but from what I've heard I think the only one likely to actually manage the journey in reality is the Blingo You could keep your eye out for a Prius or an Insight I'd go for the Insight I think

Shame about the time remaining on Ebay, MB, I won't have time to sort out finances for it otherwise it would have been very tempting as it would allow me to carry goods as well (or more batteries).

I guess for that sort of money I have more options then just a Maxi scooter.

I shall have to get some funds together and get work to agree to some sort of charging provision so I can go with whatever is suitable when it comes available.