EEVblog #501 - Sinclair C5 Electric Car Teardown & Test Drive

Dave goes back to the future and takes a 1985 vintage Sinclair C5 electric "car" for a spin, one of only a handful in the country. This was Sir Clive Sinclair's vision for personal transport.

Schematic and service manual:

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[bigclivedotcom]

When the C5 flopped the motors were widely available from technical surplus companies and were much sought after as they were a pretty good motor at that time.  As far as safety goes, my favourite line was "The C5 has had a major impact and should bounce back."  I like the simplicity of the single driven wheel.  Ghost-train cars could have learned from that.  They tended to have two locked wheels on a single driven axle and the current tends to rocket when they go round the many tight corners.

[iwanttocomplain]

"When this baby reaches 8.8mph", jokes. :D

[JulianIlett]

I suppose the Renault Twizy is what the C5 always wanted to be - a full size, sensible range, sensible speed electric vehicle. But with no windows, it's still pretty useless in cold, rainy Great Britain.

[MikeWaltonPro]

Truly a rare treat. I love the 80s aesthetic.. a child of the 80s myself. Before you introduced it I thought, wow, Buck Rogers. Micronauts. Totally 80s style and 80s electronics. Give that thing a tech upgrade, some shocks, regen. braking and real power in the drive train and batteries.. a canopy.. (ok, basically everything but the Lotus/Sinclair style) you've got a big seller. Great trip to the days of future past. G'donya you Aussie 'tronic beauty. Can't wait for your next vid.

[thecrikster]

Awesome teardown Dave. I'm old enough to have had a Sinclair spectrum back in the 80's so I have a lot of fondness for that logo.

[RinoaL]

Mr. Sinclair was born on July 30th 1940. just check google or wiki. thats why i thought you where doing this video was for his birthday. if this was just by accident then thats fricken awesome.

then again your channel is fricken awesome anyway.

[TaiViinikka]

On a small island or an isolated community without long commutes you'll see lots of people getting around in golf carts or driving e-bikes of similar power... To me this looks like a better design, with better stability than an e-bike and better road feel and cornering than a golf cart -- also much lighter, giving better range. The one thing I couldn't live with would be the all-or-nothing "speed control."  Thanks for the time travel, Dave!

[Ecobion]

Sir Clive was definetly years ahead of his time. This is a true candidate for a modern re-work, new materials like carbon fibre, battery technology, etc.

[Mosfet]

They look like a lot of fun to drive, and the shape they’re in for the year they were made, pretty good!

[michaelyoung]

Loved it Dave!!! Thanks so much for your efforts to teach ...
sense of humor is priceless!!!!

[jamesvalentine]

There was something very satisfying about watching this. Where I live (Margate, UK), the local funfair (Dreamland) offers Sinclair C5s for hire to get you around the park at £35 per day. They're also let out occasionally when the local classic car club is out and about.

[SciStarborne]

Three things I would love to see;
1) Those reflective strips replaced with EL panel strips for the true 80s cyberpunk look.
2) A C5 getting pulled over by a police officer on a Segway. Best car-chase ever.
3) The sped-up sections with the William Tell Overture added in the background.

[BeckyRoseDungeonGirl]

It's not a low serial number. V1000 <--- model number. 5 <-- the year 1985, 03 <-- march, 00679 <-- 679th made that month. Production started toward the tail end of 1984 (November?) and several thousand were made each month. The white boot is actually indicative of the revised Mk. 2 boot. Production ended 5 months after this was built, so it is pretty firmly in the middle of the production history of the vehicle.

[xenocide]

TIL I'm nobody ;)


I have to admit I like looking back on his classic episodes, but at least tune in for fundamental Fridays. This guy has knowledge he's willing to share, I think that's worth celebrating.

[blubb]

Coline Furze should Mod one to some Kilwats and 80 Mp/h

[conductive]

Thankyou Mr Sinclair for a wonderful 8 bit youth that shaped perhaps my main passion in life!

[TheTurnipKing]

Makes you wonder what they could do with a more modern production version, really.

[MarkShannonroad_videos]

BEST. TEARDOWN. EVER. Now I want one! Love the vintage 1980's LED indicators, so dim unlike today's LEDs. Looks like fun to ride, too. Thanks for posting!

[EmmittBrownBTTF]

Now with a Li-ion, LiPO, LiFePo battery, it would be even lighter, go further.

[BrunoPOWEEER]

Sinclair needs more
I’m not too far from Dave (30min drive), he’s got one but needs some serious restoration. We were talking about fitting a hub motor or mid drive, let’s see if I can convince him to get his one rolling with an Insanely powerful drivetrain hahaha ohhh yeaaahhh