[John The Bike Man]

Hi. First post and looking for information or advice to get a handle on the whole EV thing.

Learned of an '08 Aixam Mega City that seems very cheap (400 quid) but has unspecified 'charging problems'.
Fixable? Or Avoid? Is there any parts backup in the UK or do I have to get everything from France?

A bit about me. I mend bicycles for a living and have dabbled with electric bike conversions however I've given up because the vast majority are dreadful. Up until 8 years ago I was in car parts but became increasingly dissatisfied with it. My mechanical knowledge is better than average although, as yet, I have very little knowledge of EVs. Ambitions to build an electric motorycle based either on a Honda S-Wing or a 650 Burgman.

So I'm here to learn stuff. Don't shoot, I'm only a bike mechanic.

 

[80698]

Welcome!

Well that’s a vehicle I haven’t heard of in a very long time... In fact I totally forgot they even existed!

I guess the question to ask is do you have the money in a rainy day fund to take the gamble and not be too annoyed if you find you can’t do anything with it?

There are probably 1001 different possible issues, and for the most part you’re going to be on your own to attempt to troubleshoot and work out exactly what is wrong. When it comes to getting the parts, unless the thing you need happens to be on eBay andin the UK then you are going to struggle there too.

There are some EV Specialists you can visit who I’m sure will be able to help with this, but it’s going to put up the price and make it hard to justify vs picking something up cheap that’s already working. Whilst the EV prices have been on the rise recently, people are getting more desperate to sell at the moment so you can still get a deal especially if you stumble upon the right eBay/Gumtree listing at the right time for example

My instinctive answer would be to avoid it, but I admittedly know almost nothing about this vehicle, and have very limited experience of carrying out such repairs. All I would say is this - If it was a fairly easy or simple fix, the seller probably would have had this done rather than try to sell it off.

 

[cah197]

Obsolescence is a big problem with these early, low volume cars.

I did see an interesting video about a battery and motor swap in a Twizy. This is probably the route I would go, however it's at least £5k just in parts.

Meanwhile you could pick up a Zoe or Leaf (which would have better safety and comfort) for around £6k.

 

[Mark Cornwall]

I hate to dash your hopes, but I think the imiev, ion, or citreon e zero triplets are probably the cheapest entry to EV ownership which gives you a relatively repairable EV
and dealer network support if you need it.

 

[Hitstirrer]

I have never heard of these cars so looked them up. As they use lead/acid batteries I suspect that solving the charging problem could be trivial as such tech is not as sensitive as Lithium can be. But the downside then is that they do not last long and the entire pack will probably need replacing every few years. Could be that is the reason that charging now is a problem - the batteries won't accept a charge. Could cost £2k immediately, and will not be a cheap ongoing expense. Then there is the range of 40 miles when the battery pack is fully functional, and a max speed of 40 mph, coupled with abysmal acceleration figures ( there are faster glaciers ) and even worse braking performance. Almost all of these points would lead me to give it a swerve and look for a better option.

BTW - Welcome to the forum and I hope that you find a suitable project for both car and bike.

 

[JWilde]

Do not go near it. It's that cheap because it's almost certainly already been looked at and is scrap.

Oh and welcome to the forum BTW

 

[John The Bike Man]

Duly noted...