Urban Deliveries - The Humble British Milk Float

The humble British Milk float,
The most successful electric vehicle ever built?

Discussing urban infrastructure with some friends, it occurred to me that folks outside the UK may not be aware of the humble British milk float.
I remember growing up in the early 1970s and seeing these on the streets then.

There are a couple of variations in the design, including some with only one front wheel, and one headlight, and a more ponted front end than the squarer milk float shown above.
Sometimes petrol (gasoline) powered vehicles are used for milk delivery, particularly in rural areas, but the "classis" milk float is a battery-powered vehicle, with a string lower frame (to take the weight of the batteries!) and a lightweight upper body.
Some have plastic/grp bodywork, and some have metal bodywork, and some have side door (or no doors at all!) rather than the rear-entry cab shown above.

Such vehicles have a top speed of about 20 mph (32 km/h) and I remember cycling to work about 30 years ago on an unlit road being chased by this eerie light, I cycled faster and faster and was able to stay well in front of it. When we got to the next section of raods that had streetlights, I saw that I was being followed by a milk float (a single-headlight model).

So what is the relevance of this now?
Well, two things really:
Firstly, the electric milk float is probably THE most successful electric vehicle ever made;
Secondly, when we are thinking about how our towns and cities should be planned in the future, we need to think about what services (if any) we wish to provide.
For example, should we allow milk floats into cuty centre areas, but only before, say, 7 am?
In my experience, milk floats usually deliver somwhere between about 5 am and 7 am, 6 days a week.
Is that what we want in our cities?
Does having door-to-door milk (or whatever) deliveries mean that urban citizens cut down on car use as a result?
We discuss such things over on the Car-Free Cities community, and there is a currently a survey about ... (wait for it) ... milk floats.
Why not join us, and share your views!

The Sinclair C5 - the "green" vehicle that was way ahead of its time

The Sinclair C5 - shown here superinposed with a "Mini" for size comparison.
Picture from the official press release that accompanied the launch of the C5 on 10th January 1985
(and, therefore, as it was part of a press release,
my use of it in this article would appear to be both legal and ethical)

Read my C5 review here.

The Sinclair C5 was released in Britain on the 10th of January 1985, and initailly priced at about 400 pounds (640 dollars, 480 euros, at current exchange rates, but not allowing for inflation!).

Although it was a commercial failure, it is a very good case study of a "green" vehicle.

I remember the original release (I'm nearly 50 years old!), and later, the C5s being sold at half-price to get rid of the stock.

I didn't buy one, as back in January 2005, I was a clerk at the Ministry of Defence (if you're an American, think Department of Defense, and you're pretty close!), and iirc, my MONTHLY wage was about 400 pounds before taxes etc. and about 300 pounds by the time it actually reached my bank account, so being priced at five-and-a-half weeks pay, the Sinclair C5 (at the original price) wasn't exactly cheap!

Iirc, about 10 or 15 years, some C5s were uprated to have solar panels on them and were sold in iirc California.

I am posting this article because it might inspire someone to design a practical, modern, "green" vehicle, but do read my review first, for my comments on actually driving (riding?) the Sinclair C5!
Anyway, onto the dimensions.
There are a few link at the end of this piece where you can go to download manuals etc. for the Sinclair C5.


Size

• Overall length: 1.744m (5' 9")