Hey Glort, for once I disagree with you. I think that for city dwellers EVs are the way forward, your average commuter/house wife does not need a vehicle that will be able to drive from Melbourne to Darwin, nor do city dwellers need to be breathing in the toxic emissions from IC engines. They need a simple small vehicle that will get them to work and back and to the supermarket. Perhaps vehicle hire companies can fill the void by hiring out longer range IC vehicles to people planning a long trip.
I still have very severe reservations about the ability of the grid system to power the city EVs, however the idea that generating capacity could be maintained after midnight to charge EVs might have some merit. Cycling generators up and down to meet demand is very inefficient, so having a heavy night time load may make economic sense.
Bob

I think that finding an enlightened forward thinking government is about as likely as finding fairies at the bottom of the garden.
Much more likely that market forces and advertising will dictate the direction we go in.
Bob

Hi Mike, I think that in any country with a surplus of renewable energy electric vehicles make perfect sense. Most people only us their personal transport to commute short distances to work, schools, shops & etc. so range is not a huge factor. Cost however is a big deal, why would anyone in their right mind pay a lot more money for a vehicle that won`t do what its predecessor did and will probably need a new battery pack in five years time?

Bob

Hey veggie, great videos showing some great ingenuity. I wonder how they check the oil level on an engine mounted at a thirty degree angle.
Bob

Hey guys, I concur. I can buy a whole new cylinder casting for about one third of the price of repairing the original. There are different qualities of replacements available, as far as I know, no one is supplying a chrome plated cylinder block to the original specification. If anyone knows otherwise please let us know.

Bob

Who is this guy and what is his secret? He managed to strip and get that old engine running without getting his hands dirty! Hat off to him for a great video.

Bob

Hi Arve, the engine you have there is a Lister ST2 air cooled diesel. It should indeed normally run at 1500 RPM but it may have been throttled back to match the generator head. You say that it produces 240volts it would be helpful to know if that is at 50HZ .
My ST2 generator needs to run at 1500RPM to give me 240 volts at 50HZ. I believe that American units run at 1600RPM to give them 60HZ output. That said it could be that because it is a three phase generator it needs to be run slower.
The expert on these old generators is Lucien Nunes, you can find him on the stationary engine forum.

Good luck and please keep us posted.
Bob

Interesting times and big challenges. I notice that the Australian government has ordered 20 Hyundai hydrogen fuel cell cars, for experimental purposes. There is presently only one hydrogen fuel pump in Australia so how they plan to fuel these vehicles is a mystery. I believe they have a range of around 800 km, so comparable with many gasoline vehicles. They can be refueled in about ten minutes which is bearable, plug in the fuel line, go get a coffee, pay and drive away.

I suspect that these vehicles will be very popular if people can generate hydrogen from solar and safely store it. I have reservations about home hydrogen storage in Australia due to the constant threat of bush fires. God help our firemen.

Bob