Every legend has a beginning...
In the following link I've posted some pictures from the early Vectrix prototypes.
If you are a vectrix owner, sure you'll enjoy them! Some are really curious!
http://www.voltforum.cat/voltforum/YaBB.pl?num=1257899722/all
Very nice and interesting!
Wow! Great photos, shows how much effort has gone into it all and how many false starts....or maybe not starts, but how many preliminary designs.
It remains to be seen if the "EV's are simple and reliable"-brigade will eventually come up with a working product, or if the endless string of miserable failures continues despite the efforts. I'm not just talking about Vectrix here, I mean the lot of them.
Again and again there are lengthy delays after numerous product announcements, but the reality of the complexity of designing a series-production-BEV is that you have to try again, and again, and again, until you get it right.
Once the sales and marketing people get in and give the orders, your product is stuffed, because all sorts of fictitious constructs will rule from then on, instead of engineering facts and figures; but it's these engineering facts which will in the end determine if the EV works in consumers hands!
I take my hat off to the people who have worked so long and hard on making the Vectrix work - the photos look like you must have had a lot of fun, too!
This information may be used entirely at your own risk.
There is always a way if there is no other way!
Thank you all, you're welcome.
I find specially interesting the last picture. In 2006 the red test bikes in Milano used a kind of fast charger to recharge the bikes. This external chargers used the waterproof connectors... in 2006!!!. In the vectrix chronology there's some missing bikes, from 300-700 2nd wave. I suspect these pigtailed bikes were frozen because the factory was forced to replace all the pigtailed chargers with waterproof ones. That could be a lot of work!!!
At the end of production in December 2007, these stored/frozen bikes may have been retooled and upgraded with the new charger. This may explain why we find a 00260-00510 units in the middle of 2008... and then the VINS suddenly jump again to 2100..
great pics, R!
really enjoyed them!
btw, seeing some early designs, I'm glad it turned out like it is :-)
"doing nothin = doing nothing wrong" is invalid when the subject is environment
pure delight great info/ pictures .kev