[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Polyal

I agree but perhaps one upshot of EV's is alot of these mechanical issues simply disappear. There will be other risks with them but so many less bits to worry about.

Imagine if Ford/Holden had the foresight to develop a local EV platform!

Holden did, twice,

In 2000 teaming up with the CSIRO for development and again in 2011 with another company on the VE.

The long gone, but not forgotten, Electric VE Commodore

In 2012 ‘EV Engineering’ developed an all electric version of the VE Commodore on behalf of Holden. The plan was to develop and test the technology and possibly shift it to market if response was good, the cars held up to general abuse and proved to be a viable business proposition.

Holden originally wanted to try and put it on sale for about $50,000. $10,000 less than the imported plug-in hybrid Holden Volt sold at the time.

Seven V6 powered Holden Calais (five sedans and two wagons) were dumped of all their oily bits and a 30 kWh lithium-ion battery pack was put in its place. A 30kWh battery isn’t huge by modern standards but it was 6 kWh larger than the Nissan Leaf at the time and 14kWh bigger then the Mitsubishi i-Miev that were both on sale at that time.

The aforementioned lithium-ion batteries were hooked up to an electric motor located between the rear wheels that made 145 kW (194 HP) and 400 NM (295 lb-ft) of torque.

https://thedriven.io/2021/11/01/the-...-ve-commodore/

It's like the Ford Territory Turbo and the F6X - decade ahead of it's time before the market was keen.

Holden Commodore EV 2011 review

The first generation car we're driving is powered by a 145kW/400Nm electric motor matched to a Borg-Warner electric single-ratio gearbox and differential.

EV Engineering's chief engineer Tim Olding says it is good for at least 140km/h and the seven "proof of concept" vehicles the company will by July will have a range of around 160km. They'll also be at least 40kg lighter than the first-gen cars.

The development has already led to the company filing several patents.

"We can buy a standard energy cell and then we have to adapt them to make it into a battery for us. So the first thing we have to do is attach a set of terminals to it. As a high-volume production cell they actually weld all the cells together. That's not a good idea for a small-scale battery because if something goes wrong we have to throw the entire battery away. So essentially, this (the terminal construction) is our technology we've had to develop. You lay a sheet of copper on the ground, lay a sheet of aluminium on top of it and then you put 50 grams of ammonium nitrate on that and explode it."

https://www.carsguide.com.au/ev/hold...1-review-82693

They also did a hybrid in 2000 for the $ydney Olympics

Holden unveils ECOmmodore

HOLDEN has unveiled its hybrid electric-powered ECOmmodore, the car that will silently lead the opening 70km stage of the Olympic torch relay from Uluru, central Australia, on June 8.

The one-off technological showcase was developed by Holden, the CSIRO and 26 domestic component suppliers. It is intended to demonstrate what is realistically available with existing technology.

The car uses a General Motors Family II, 95kW, 2.0-litre, four-cylinder, petrol engine from the Vectra and is mated to a 50kW electric motor charged by lead acid batteries backed up by super-capacitors.

Where a standard V6 Commodore produces 304Nm of torque at 4000rpm, the hybrid makes 290Nm at 4000rpm but has 100Nm of torque on trap from rest, courtesy of the electric motor.

Drive is to the front wheels via a five-speed manual box, a first for a Commodore.

Holden says the ECOmmodore would provide similar performance to a standard V6 petrol engined version but has not rated acceleration against the clock just yet.

The concept is designed to show how fuel consumption could be almost halved and emission levels cut to 10 per cent of a regular Commodore, while maintaining the virtues of an Australian-made full-size family car that suffers no cut in performance.

Holden estimates the 45-litre fuel tank would offer a range of 800km.

https://www.goauto.com.au/news/holde...-24/21540.html