How England’s Most Old-School Car Brand Is Embracing Electrification

[@shad0wyenigma]

You could argue that a car like this Morgan having bi-directional charging makes infinitely more sense than an everyday run around because generally Morgan owners only use these cars maybe 1-2 times a week. Therefore it probably sits idle more than any other type of car.

[@willdclarke33]

That's a house battery with flair!

[@spankeyfish]

@@willdclarke33 A self-propelled house battery, lol

[@richardschofield2201]

I wonder if I can convince the wife that our home battery needs to be easy to transport

[@Singlej13]

It’s going to be a bugger to fit in the loft.

[@xc43t]

@@richardschofield2201 A sensible woman surely would see the benefits and actually be the one to suggest this completely necessary purchase.

[@mev202]

This is wonderful, Morgan is a tiny company that can't afford to make concept after concept, This approach, to patiently build a car, perfect it and release a genuinely great car is great to see. I also love that there was no special lighting or effects, just a painted green floor and fluorescent lights, real enthusiasts stuff.

[@thisthat283]

I Have a Morgan 3 wheeler from 34 I converted it to electric ten years ago runs perfectly. Way better than the petrol it were before now it is actually a useful motor car for the first time in it's life.

[@roodick85]

Dang! I want to see!! I have an electric motorcycle I want to make into a three wheeler...it's too dang heavy for two wheels

[@MegaDRKSTR]

Legend

[@PerdixDesignLtd]

This needs a feature episode

[@knowledgebyte]

SOS is a good band BTW. Very tight bunch of musicians.

[@mikeuk4130]

What does “from 34” mean, please?

[@DavidKnowles0]

It funny a few months ago lobbyists were saying the UK need to delay or cancel the ban on fossil fuel cars to save these companies and yet many of them are embracing electrification and preparing their brands for the transition/

[@PiDsPagePrototypes]

It shouldn't have been a surprise that the small volume manufacturers responded quickly to the changes, and no doubt driven more by customer requests then by any government legislation.

[@TechnoViel]

Bidirectional charging sounds like an odd priority for such a car... but at 2nd thought makes sense: Such a car will be parked in a garage so much time, at best be used on weekends for fun... so it can serve as battery for the home most of the time - nice!

[@kcebliks]

And you can justify it by saying it's to reduce the electricity bill!

[@ZicoTheMysticalWarrior]

@@kcebliks That's just what I was going to say to the missus 😆

[@petesig93]

Terribly over-priced home battery !!

[@francisboyle1739]

@@petesig93 Who wants something boring like a Powerwall!

[@forton615]

That's one of the nicest prototypes I've ever seen.

[@adamw9764]

I really wish I could afford a Morgan....what an amazingly fun vehicle, got to drive one at a track day many many years ago and it was the most fun I had in a vehicle

[@PiDsPagePrototypes]

Affordability isn't the only issue - trying to buy something like this DownUnder depends on the local distributors actually wanting to take orders, at the moment the website says they're not allowed to sell any of the Plus range in Australia. There's a similar thing with Caterhams, where they only want to sell the top-of-range models, and not the self-build versions.

[@tonysimi1776]

I Absolutely Love it! Nice to see real prototypes that will translate into a real car! Much better than unrealistic concept cars that will never see production.

[@mr.b6789]

Awesome to see a small company making the effort to change 👍

[@alistairl]

Thanks for covering this Jack and Fully Charged - between Morgan and Caterham I'm encouraged by our small car makers. I'm going to be good and not say any more about the first EV from the folks in Norfolk :) (To be fair at least their SUV is for sale). The transition to electric is a big challenge for traditional car makers, all the best to the smallest and I wish them every success and survival. Tuning the sound from the drive train is fascinating - embracing the NVH! Only feeling slightly guilty for enjoying electric driving round corners :)

[@tommyfred6180]

morgan have always made nice stuff. if anyone can do this kind of car justice as an ev. its going to be morgan.

[@LostsTVandRadio]

In the 70s I remember seeing Peter Morgan out and about testing new cars around Malvern on a regular basis. He would always give a friendly wave. Nice chap.

[@mattbentley2152]

Well done, Morgan. Looking forward to seeing the finished product

[@paulbennett4548]

Well that was a trip down memory lane for me, the company I served my apprenticeship at was Chance Brothers in Oldbury/Smethwick they had a small division in Malvern right next door to the Morgan factory. On one of the small annealing ovens had a Thermocouple that could only be accessed from a hole in the wall in the Morgan factory. On our quarterly trips to the plant for service work we wonder in to replace the T/C and have a chat with the fellows working on the wood for the cars. I see it still runs at the same frantic pace of the old days. Thanks for the time travel.

[@briandowling8372]

This feels like a LOT more than Morgan showing off a prototype. They're preparing their staff (and company) for a just transition to electric. They could have stayed doing what they're doing and stood up a in decade and said - "what about us?" - instead they're taking control of that. Great to see and nice to see that Chris from Zero EV/Fellten is involved also.

[@Owen-wc1wr]

Thought I recognised that guy

[@judebrown4103]

That was brilliant Jack, love the Morgan brand, the wood, the coachbuilding traditional skills, so lovely to see. Hearing about their transition to electric from the start offered a sort of microcosm of what the big OEMs have to go through, I thought. As you said though, so much better than the reluctant big manufacturers that they have chosen to teach their craftsmen the new skills required to make the switch. Good on yer Morgan, cant wait for the next installment from the Fully Charged Show, seeing Jack do the "backseat Jack test" should be very🤔 interesting! 😂

[@ARepublicIfYouCanKeepIt]

Two of the best knock-on effects of transport electrification are the sheer variety of vehicles on offer, as well as planned, and that boutique manufacturers are able to thrive in an environment that's so much less complex than ICE powertrains. The Morgan XP1 is a thing of beauty and an engineering marvel. I, for one, cannot wait for the _Fully Charged_ test drive, hopefully in the not too distant future.

[@CampGareth]

'It's the natural sound of electricity flowing through the inverter' - My old Leaf sounds fantastic pushing hard from 20mph to 60mph, the whine of the inverter sounds like a (quiet) jet engine spooling up, which makes sense given some bits are spinning at 10k+ RPM. It tickles the noise-loving bit of my brain and I totally agree natural sounds like that should be played up for a Morgan or any EV focused on the driving experience.

[@swecreations]

Same thing with my 2014 Renault Zoe with the Q210 Continental motor! 😁

[@juliandclarke]

Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. Very exciting. Great vid Jack - why didn't you call in for a cup of tea? I'm just down the road 🙂 And bi-directional charging - whoop!!!!

[@sktaylor99]

I had a Morgan Plus 4 for a day in October. They are an amazing company and I am so pleased to see thebroute theybare taking.

[@MrAdopado]

I notice Chris from Zero EV/Fellten working in the workshop ... an excellent connection for an EV development expert IMHO! (well done for changing the previously awful title to this video)

[@A-Lovely-Bit-of-Kit]

I'm intrigued. What was the original title?

[@teklife]

yea what was the original title?

[@MrAdopado]

@@A-Lovely-Bit-of-Kit Pick any clickbait title you've seen in a newspaper recently ... I'm not going to specifically propagate this example!

[@mcstaal]

0:04 Love the submarine prototype. Oh, it's a fan.

[@Mardy72]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@apexerman1]

As a long-time petrol head, I've begun to embrace electrification more and more. That doesn't mean I don't enjoy my vintage machines, but electricity adds another dimension to the driving experience. The XP-1 looks like a fantastic way to expand this excitement. And as an aside, I like the "XP-1" designation. I had the good fortunate of riding in the McLaren F1 XP-4 some years ago, so the designation made me smile. These prototypes can lead to very good things. 🙂

[@jamesengland7461]

I hope they don't half way this thing- make the ev bits stylish and steampunk, maybe brass or copper-coated, with 1903-vintage gauges (you only need speedo and range), kerosene-lamp-style lighting, boiler-style wheels, and to top it all off, a big copper blade-switch-style gear selector. NO SCREEN! Wooden dash, brass and leather everywhere. Sleek styling like a Sopwith Camel meets 1903 Morgan.

[@SimulatorAdventures]

Grammar work needed on the title... EDIT: It's fixed now

[@robbiepmusic]

It's just a typo.

[@robbiepmusic]

Or a brain fart lol

[@Chasingthelight_67]

Random capitalisation doesn't help either🙄

[@gingernutpreacher]

How should it read?

[@t1n4444]

​@@gingernutpreacher How about ... "Robert encourages famous three wheel car builder to go "all out hydrogen power" in mystery volte face epiphany moment shock boom sensation as he subs for the Sun newspaper motoring page. "I woke up this morning" roars well known former galactic cyborg space farer, "And finally smelled the hydrogen!!!" That would work for me alright.

[@shortbuslife3440]

I see they have a Plus 4 in EV bay 2, that would be amazing. Bi-directional charging is a great idea well done Morgan.

[@PiDsPagePrototypes]

Drift potential of that chassis with EV driveline,.... :)

[@DeathByPollaxe]

I live in Malvern, just a stone's throw away from this factory. Still haven't done the tour despite having lived here for 7 years...

[@tsl56]

Wow! Morgan have really gone somewhere since the John Harvey Jones reviewed their business on BBC back in the eighties. And yet they still in Great Malvern in the same premises with a great crew. I used to live near the hill where the Reverend Morgan tested his personal prototype, reversing up the hill because that was the best gear ratio. And my father had a Morgan 3 wheeler for a few years in the late 40s. My own guess is that with the Chinese manufactuers in the ascendant, the best thing we can do in the UK is to innovate many different and cutting edge transport formats, like the flatback quadricycle van/car you featured earlier this week. This is a most interesting development.b

[@koomaj]

Build it! Absolutely love this.

[@patrickburns9015]

Beautiful car….. but I kept getting distracted by the silver beauty in EV Bay 2 … 😍 outstanding work.

[@SevenDeMagnus]

Cool shape, I hope they'd made a 4 wheeled one. I think that's a Morgan in the Sound of Music in the scene where Maria and the kids went out. God bless.

[@richharper8159]

A powerwall in your garage that has 3 wheels and you can drive it now and again. Brilliant!

[@The1trueDave]

1:35 you can say that but did anyone else spot what looks very much like a 4-wheeler in 'EV Bay 2'? :-)

[@HLife719]

I was shocked to see that Morgan is putting together an amphibious 3 wheeler ! 😉 (0:05)

[@EliotHochberg]

Excited to hear a manufacturer who’s taking the consideration how their electric vehicle sounds. I predict 20 years from now or less, all of the fake sounds and back up noises and everything will be made fun of relentlessly. Those few manufactures who use the actual sounds from the vehicle will likely age the best.

[@EdBonds]

Nice to see felten involved.

[@peterrenn6341]

There's another, much earlier 3-wheel electric Morgan in their museum. It's the EV3 from 2016. When I was there last year and looking (hard) at the Super 3 it struck me that this was a much better idea than the 3 cylinder de-turbo'ed Ford Ecoboost they are using in that. I think I'll wait a little longer 🙂

[@urbanstrencan]

I Hope Morgan really makes it and gets it to production. A perfect second or weekend car :)

[@16jocko]

Very good, fun! And we all need a bit of fun.

[@justinweatherford8129]

Electric cars used to be about as prominent as internal combustion engines. It was Henry Ford's mass production of vehicles with internal combustion engines that put electric vehicles on hold.

[@davisbradford7438]

The electrical starter motor is really prime success driver for ICE adoption over EV's. The convenience factor was the main selling point for EV's at the turn of the century that allowed them to compete with ICE vehicles.

[@cosmodoc]

It does not need more range, it is a car for driving to a local open air pub in the summer❤. love it!

[@PiDsPagePrototypes]

"Wood" needs better marketing, how about "Organical sourced sustainable carbon monostructures."

[@skeptibleiyam1093]

I think that losing range in cold weather would be a feature in this car, not a bug. Even someone mad enough to drive it in an English winter would be grateful for an excuse to come back inside.

[@orishaeshu1084]

Not even a winter vehicle unless the roads are clean. But really it’s a 3 season car.

[@swecreations]

Electric cars don't really lose much range in winter. It's all about the fact air has a higher density when it's colder, and winter tires have a higher rolling resistance, especially when pushing through snow. But both of those have a pretty small impact, the big one is really just cabin heating (though this is made much much smaller with an electric car with an efficient heat pump). Without that you really don't lose much range at all, maybe 5-10%.

[@orishaeshu1084]

@@swecreations it’s not about that fact at all. You use the heater and the battery is heated

[@swecreations]

@@orishaeshu1084 Are you sure the battery is heated? Because I can see many reasons for why they wouldn't be spending the small amount of extra weight and money on that when it's something the absolute majority of owners will never use.

[@orishaeshu1084]

@@swecreations no I’m dumb.

[@fredquimby5409]

Very nice, however as the waiting list for current production Morgan's is approximately 3 lifetimes, I doubt I'll live to see one on the road.

[@tsl56]

Yeah, but many queuing customers might very well be tempted to change their order. It's so low volume, that they are probably quite a flexible organisation. And perhaps as it is not timber construction as such, they might even be tempted to license the production of these, across the globe, to manufacturers with a rep for precision engineering. That approach is definitely going to become more common, as manufacture becomes easier to practice in just about any country. Perhaps that is why this time, they are developing their own motor.

[@showme360]

I was always of the opinion that small sports cars like Morgan, which are generally used for hobbies and fun cars, should be given more thought about what the car does when not in use. The V2G is the answer of course working for the owner even when at rest or bring new ideas to going for a picnic or at the classic car club. Well done Morgan look forward to having a go Jack!

[@AnagramAutoclassics]

Daft question. If you tune back the power of the motor, does this create a proportional increase in range? eg 300 bhp equivalent motor reduced to 200 bhp gives an extra 33% range?

[@christophmartin5381]

Oh I really waited for that. Can't wait to drive it!

[@johnhornblow4347]

Saturday morning watch from down in New Zealand

[@fredbloggs72]

Jack, re the chassis, if you had ever seen a stripped early 3 wheeler you would appreciate this new one being built along sound engineering principles instead of being a few tubes and bits of angle iron held together with U bolts, even the owners club agree they where a bodgers delight.

[@TheBrokenEclipse]

This car is just plain cool.

[@recumbentrocks2929]

What I want to know is what about that four wheeler EV Morgan in bay 2?

[@jannepeltonen2036]

That thing is stunningly beautiful. A future where everyday transport is taken care of by public transport, electric freight trains, bicycles, and pedestrians - and some people could have these things as toys.

[@bengladston5175]

I would love this! Hope they can keep the price down

[@ausfoodgarden]

This has a nice retro-futuristic look imo. Sounds like a great second vehicle for town and doubles as a house battery. Where do I sign?

[@palemale2501]

In white, it looks a lot like a bath tub on pram wheels. Do they do it in Avocado ?

[@dfpguitar]

They should change the front of the body to more of a cone shape. Its silly when EV's still have the flat grill of the combustion version. Might improve aero too.

[@TheSujanroy]

Why isn't there a Fully Charged Electric Show India? More of us speak English than the rest of the world put together and we'll soon be buying more electric cars than the rest of the English speaking world!

[@craig8638]

Come on bring this to market I would buy one in a heartbeat. Just take my money.

[@brocluno01]

In addition to the points made, it is also how Morgan can sell these in Kallifornia Kollective. Currently their ICE versions are probably banned for emissions or safety, or something ... But an EV version should qualify as a "motorcycle" w/o any emissions requirement, so bigger market - yeah 😁

[@padderick325]

That little battery might charge quickly as well. Nice!

[@chargeheadsuk]

I spotted Chris Hazel from Felten 😉

[@kevinphillips9408]

I would love one of these. 👏👏👏👏👏

[@troyboy4345]

Great video, but whats with the rising inflection ?

[@EugeneLambert]

Good effort, Morgan.

[@DiegoMartinezCoria]

I love that cuban heel style rear.

[@AmateurBMS]

I just can’t help wondering about what the reaction will be among the “car enthusiasts” who have been whining about the lack of passion and engagement in driving an electric car. (Although I suspect most of them haven’t even touched one, maybe except for a golf buggy).

[@swecreations]

Exactly, they are plenty of fun to drive, that's coming from a car enthusiast who can definitely appreciate those things. They just have to be fun to drive, if you're just looking at all the huge electric car models then of course you won't find that.

[@martinwinlow]

Looking like that, I'm surprised they even let you in!

[@xc43t]

How would two in-wheel motors compare weight and space wise against one standard motor?

[@swecreations]

Probably very similar

[@adrianaspalinky1986]

More fun than you can shake a stick at

[@MarkSanders77A]

Dude what about Felten's input ? and Chris (he even starred in the 'morgan's own powertrain development' insert 🙂

[@vfr800ch]

A Cd figure of 0.42 was quoted I think? The new Tesla 3 is 0.219. I know this is like comparing apples and oranges, but quite a difference

[@matthewbaynham6286]

I'm sure Nikki from Transport Evolved will be hoping they export those to the US.

[@billycan8852]

Well done Morgan 👍

[@Flyingwigs]

They talked about it having a specific sound, but we didn't get to hear it 😕

[@DrTeeHenry]

An alternative: The Aptera is hardly a "boring" EV. However, about the only things the Aptera and the Morgan EV are three wheels and batteries.

[@jameshinde8312]

I was pleased to learn that the Morgan engineers agree with Aptera that a forward weight bias is important for good handling in a three-wheeler. Clearly the Morgan is a test bed, whereas the Aptera is a thoroughly engineered design that is ready to go into production and features all-wheel drive via in-hub motors, a carbon-fiber chassis, 10 miles per kilowatt-hour efficiency and a 0.13 drag coefficient.

[@drunkenhobo8020]

@@jameshinde8312 How many years has it been "ready to go into production"? I fear it may be "jam tomorrow".

[@aussieideasman8498]

They insist it's just a prototype; Aptera pretends prototypes are real, even when they are half faked.

[@eeblatter]

I'm not new to electric vehicles but I wonder how their customers will accept not having a transmission to shift and no throaty exhaust sounds that were a vital part of the originals? It saves Morgan from emission compliance issues and will be interesting to see a production version road test.

[@bedguru4340]

Impressive to see,looks fun

[@FairlyOldGit]

Morgan 3-wheeler is an antidote to any boring 4-wheeled cars - why pick on EV's? The designer seems to have run out of ideas around where the radiator grille might go (and the charge port is currently located) - should have something looking like that on the classic 4 wheel Morgans - would probably be more aerodynamic too!

[@Cadcare]

Love the 'drawings' at 3:49. I bet that makes the old guys squirm. Back to the drawing board, indeed. They don't look like blue 'prints' either. Where's his tablet?

[@DavidKnowles0]

There only so much the old geezers can take!

[@MasterIvo]

I want to hear that sound of the inverter😂

[@everestyeti]

I need one, won't be able get into it or out but god it looks good. 👍

[@Iowa599]

Wood…the new environmentally correct, self-replicating, plastic.

[@peterrenn6341]

"wood is nature's carbon fibre" - Gordon Murray

[@NighteeeeeY]

whats with the 50p? The video looks unnaturally in flow somehow. Did you change something?

[@vbc2059]

New concept, new approach to EV and new English 👍

[@marcusoutdoors4999]

Brilliant to hear it only weighs 600kg. The range will only improve as battery tech evolves. Very curious to hear the noise, let’s face it the Super 3 petrol has lost a little soul with the move away from a V twin. It would be ironic if the EV version adds mojo.

[@danielenstrom1873]

I think they need to release it today. It is the new traveling stories we need. Not more of the old. I would love it even if it’s made out of wood dressed with painted twill. No problem

[@narrowgauge7.25]

What happened to the lat ev 3 wheeler that was supposed to happed?

[@DavidKnowles0]

It will have to happen or in 11 years time Morgan won't be able to sell cars.

[@john3Lee]

Looks like something Toad of Toad-Hall would drive !!

[@janhanchenmichelsen2627]

I want this car! In another colour, and after some design tweeks.

[@thamesmud]

What that car needs is a nice V twin on the front driving a generator to sort out the range issues. 😅

[@ajw1811]

Looks like Felten involved!

[@TheRealAndyR]

I'm sorry, especially as I'm just up the road from Malvern, but this is just embarrassing. In 2016 Morgan claimed to have a 3 wheeler EV ready to go, it was even put on sale through Selfridges, but despite launching the car then they completely failed to deliver any cars. The whole thing was quietly brushed under that carpet despite the project swallowing up £20m of Government money (which was never refunded). Seven years later the 3 wheeler EV is back, but it's design is now bloated and utterly devoid of retro charm and it's gone from supposedly production ready to not even letting journalists have a drive!

[@MarkSanders77A]

I have to agree

[@RWBHere]

Hmm... nice idea, and it will be good to see it come to fruition, but it's concerning to hear how many times he says 'ahh' when going into the marketing spiel. It doesn't inspire people to trust what's being said. There are some obvious areas where the vehicle's drag coefficient could be improved at minimal cost. A few thoughtsinclude: First would be to delete those headlights and to sculpt them into the front of the car body. The mudguards can benefit from some sculpting. The nose and the front suspension will need reshaping. Maybe a windscreen would improve turbulence around the driver, passenger and those roll hoops. The wing mirror needs attention. It should be able to manage 10 km/kWh (6.2 miles/kWh) in November, at the very least. I'm seeing that figure today, 11 December, admittedly with urban driving, but in a more Northerly area than Malvern. And our car is a Zoe ZE50. But as he said, it's a prototype; a testbed, from which Morgan can learn, improve and go on to produce something which will be something special. Give it 40 kWh of available battery, and then people will be able to drive for as far as they wish, and in the manner which they choose, with no concern about draining the battery. 33 kWh is fine when the battery is new and if the driver has a gentle right foot, but what is it going to be like when the battery capacity drops to 75% of a new battery? That would result in early Nissan Leaf range concerns. I wish Morgan every success with their EV plans. 🙂👍

[@willmac5642]

Made in England only. Kicking out Charles Morgan, then once sold to an investment company the prices were jacked up.

[@CurtiMado]

Anyone else see the Plus4 sitting *nearly* out of frame in “EV BAY 2” during their conversation? 👀

[@MrErichuizer]

Check title please

[@Pottery4Life]

Cool. Thanks.

[@theweekthatis]

I want to hear the VVVF noise!

[@michaelharlaar403]

Espcialy for prototypes, charging, electronics, oem> Phoenix Contact is the Company to support Morgan.

[@gb9727]

Morgan's cars look old for their age