Club contact: Andrew Grant
andygrantrwg@yahoo.co.uk
January 2026 – update
Our first meeting in 2026 had one of our members giving a talk:-
“Development of the Electric Car”
Steve explained that this talk had taken a long time to prepare as it had to be updated frequently given the rate of change in the automotive industry with new electric cars and battery changes. He started with a short history of the car from Leonardo da Vinci drawings in 1350 which included a differential drive, the first steam powered cars in 1769/70 which were used to tow cannons and would tend to fall over when the cannons were removed. The Benz Motorwagen 1885 looked more like a car than a cart, the Flocken Electric car 1888 was used in the cities but not useful over long distances. The first Ford Quadracycle 1896, Haynes cars 1894 – 1908, Lanchester 1899 – 1955 were luxury models eventually the brand being sold to Daimler and then becoming Jaguar Land Rover. Ford Model T 1908 – 1927 were widely available and affordable seeing the introduction of the production line concepts.
Today each car is composed of about 30,000 parts included in 1800 major assembly units. The Model T Ford comprised around 100 major assembly units. The Austin 7 Served as a template for cars around the world, from BMW to Nissan. It also had cable-operated brakes
1922 – 1939, Citroen Traction Avant 1937 first front wheel drive, VW Beetle 1938 – 2008, Morris Minor Series 11 1953 exported throughout the world, Fiat Cinquecento 1957 with only a 479cc engine by1975 had sold more than 4 million. BMC Mini 1959 was first car with a transverse engine, but although popular lost the manufacturers £400 million during its life. Jaguar E-Type 1961 – 1975 made only 72,500 which are among the most collectable cars today, Fiat 124 1966 – 1974 24 million sold worldwide noting that they disowned the Russian Lada version produced until 1988. Range Rover 1970 – Early Range Rovers had a very poor accident record because of their high centre of gravity and soft suspension, so they would roll excessively. This was ultimately addressed by the manufacturer. The new Land Rover Defender sales have now surpassed the Range Rover, which was selling 225,000 annually.
Toyota Prius 2003 was the first Hybrid Petrol Electric car now at version 5 with up to 10 million sold. The Tesla Model S first went on sale in June 2012, when series production officially began at Tesla’s Fremont Factory at a cost of £54000 it was initially sold with free electrical charge ups and this model had a 300-mile range and 0 – 60 mph in 2.7 seconds.
Electric cars are about half a tonne heavier than a petrol car due to the battery weight, with 56% of cars having an accident in their first year due to their high performance, however, passengers are safer in that there is no front engine to crash into them. Insurance is higher for electric cars with battery repairs carried out only by the battery manufacturers and not by the car makers. It will cost between £17 to £20K to replace a complete battery but this is likely to reduce in the future, however, Some Insurance companies are charging £2000-£3000 per year, and sometimes will refuse to cover them. Electric car manufacturers in the UK are in Sunderland, Oxford, West Midlands, Goodwood and Norfolk with electric vans made in Ellesmere Port and Bicester.
Major worldwide manufacturers are Tesla and BYD (Build Your Dreams) based in USA and China and spreading to other parts of the world. The BYD Yang Wang costs £115,000 and is comparable to a Bentley and as a Hybrid can do 90mpg on Petrol alone but on one charge can do 620 miles as a Hybrid. In the UK the BYD Seal is overtaking the Tesla models and costs between £37000 – £47,000. Currently there are about 100 Chinese manufacturers of electric cars but are likely to reduce quickly to about 15 and therefore it is very risky to buy from these as they may not be around long enough to support your car – better to source through a European manufacturer. Toyota is the biggest car selling company in the world, but no electric car company has yet to make a profit from them. Pollution wise the Petrol and Diesel cars are roughly equal but although electric cars are good on emissions, they are worse on particulates given their high usage of tyres and brakes and may not be healthier. Other types of vehicles such as Hydrogen fuelled are not viable with only one model on sale and only 7 recharge points country wide. Safety issues do arise with batteries with a large number of Lithium-Ion units but the new LFP Blade battery pack is safer. Other battery types are Sodium Ion, Aluminium Ion and Solid-State batteries in development. Development is ever changing with driverless vehicles already in use in some major cities, but countries in Europe must beware that their car manufacturing industry for may be driven to bankruptcy and ultimately destruction.
Please contact me for any further information at the e-mail address above or on 02920252422.
Although our membership is growing, we still have room for new people and I would be glad to hear from any interested parties. We meet on the second Thursday of each month at the Llanishen Golf Club in Cardiff at 10am for coffee before starting the meeting proper at 10.30am. Lunch is available at the club and the great majority of the members stay for this excellent value meal.
Please note the e-mail address above is not hyperlinked so please enter my address manually.
Andrew Grant (Secretary)