Carver & Quasar at Beaulieu 2003
An old photo freshly excavated from the Blez archives: Harry Kroonen, one of the key men behind the Van Den Brink Carver, in one of the tilting, 3-wheeled Dutch creations, and Mark Crowson in the Quasar that he bought from Malcolm Newell, long after Quasar production had ceased. This Quasar is the one that Malcolm Newell was filmed in for the Top Gear feature in 1988 and it was also featured on the cover of Classic Bike magazine in July 2000, but the wheels had been changed since the millennium. In this photograph it is sporting a pair of lightweight Dymags rather than the original heavyweight Quasar items.
Looking at this photo 17 years after I took it, having ridden all manner of electric machines in the interim, I can't help thinking that electric versions of both of these creations would perform far more efficiently than most of the electric two, three and four wheelers currently on sale! PNB.
PS. I should add that there is in fact a scaled down, moped-legal (28mph/45kph) all-electric version of the Carver already on sale in the Netherlands; see here: https://carver.earth/en/
And some Californians are working on a full-size electric Carver-alike called the Helix. See here: https://www.helixmotors.com
Photo: © Paul Blezard 2003
Electric FFs
As we're investigating in the "Some costs" thread on the front page, the main problem with an E-FF is simply packaging enough batteries. Then there's the cost. Obviously pretty much any FF, including the Quasar, will be more aerodynamically efficient than other PTWs and something as big as a Quasar would have enough room for the 2,500 cells (plus) needed for decent range. That would currently cost 5,400Eu.
But if one had that sort of money for a battery pack, plus the £2-3K needed for a motor and controller and the time needed to develop the management software, would one fit it into a Quasar? Any E-FF is going to be a mobile battery box, albeit a different shaped box to a C-Evo and one would hope it had HCS and a smaller footprint and less all-up wieght than a Quasar! The whole idea of converting some favourite vehicle, from a bygone age, to electric just doesn't make sense. E-power, post millenium aerodynamics and materials render anything done before irrelevent, except as a hobby.
Really, like motorised bicycles, there should be a 'classic' section on this site for all those people interested in the past. I'm not alone in being much more interested in the future. In the next five years dry cell Li-ion batteries will arrive in production and then 'Voyager scale'* FFs with decent range will be possible. Start saving for then!
*"Voyager Scale" Actually the smallest FF that will comfortably fit two 90% Euro Humes.
The Advantages of a Retro Electric Quasar
There are three main reasons that I find the idea of an electric Quasar very attractive: 1/ It would still look great 2/ It would not have the worst thing about a traditional Quasar: the gearbox. 3/ It's the perfect shape for cramming in a lot more battery than a conventionally-shaped motorcycle, or even a Voyager-shaped one. Bearing in mind that the latest Energicas now come with a 20kWhr battery pack (and Zeroes have an 18kWh option), there must be room for at least 30 if not 40kwhrs' worth of battery in an electric Quasar if you filled the space originally occupied by the Reliant engine and gearbox and the fuel tank. That would be very heavy and very expensive, so I think I'd go for a max of 30kWhr and probably start with 20. I'm sure that even with 30 it could be still be a lot lighter than the 320kg of an original Quasar. If it were as light as Mark Crowson's QuickaQuasar, that would be absolutely fine, and I'm sure it could also top 120mph with ease. And of course, one would build it with the roof raised by 2 inches compared to the originals, the way the QQ now is. Personally, I think a 21st century electric Quasar would be just as attractive as the converted Porsche 911s, VW Kombi camper vans and Messerschmitt bubble cars that are already becoming more and more popular amongst electric vehicle enthusiasts. I wouldn't want to convert one of the rare original Quasars, mind. I'd just build a 'replica', or rather, pay someone else to build it! PNB
PS It's perhaps worth mentioning that even the Mk1, learner legal '11kW continuous' BMW C-evolution of 2015 actually recorded a peak of 52bhp at the rear wheel on the PDQ dyno, which is more than double the figure recorded (on a different dyno) by my perfectly healthy standard Reliant 850-engined Quasar. See here: http://www.bikeweb.com/node/3305
Photo of the massively modified QuickaQuasar here, complete with a description of many of the mods: http://www.bikeweb.com/node/2074