Which electric car is best?

On Tue, 10 Oct 2006 09:26:03 +0200, =?iso-8859-1?Q?Roland_M=F6sl?=
> wrote:

>>>> Hi all,
>>>>
>>>> I'm interested in going electric, since all the trips
>>>> that I make are short and on local roads, and
>>>> electricity is so cheap.
>>>
>>>The electricity may be cheap but the cars aren't.
>>>
>>>This one is affordable though.
>>>http://www.revaindia.com/
>>>
>>>Graham
>>>
>>
>> The major problem with all electric cars that Ive seen so far is that
>> whilst the car has very low running costs, electricity is cheap, the
>> batteries needed to give the car any useable range arnt.
>> The most common batteries used in EVs are either Lithium Ion or
>> Nickel Metal Hydride , both of which are very good hi energy density
>> and good performance , but limited life relataive to the life of the
>> actual car.
>
>Most current EVs have lead acid or NiCd
>
>At Lithium Polymer, it seems the batteries will last longer than the cars
>
>http://www.kokam.com/english/product/kokam_Lipo_01.html
>
>> Most EV manufacturers are silent on how long the batteries will last
>> and on how much they will cost to replace.
>> From my experiance with fixing lap top computers which commonly use
>> Lithium Ion batteries, average life is about 2 years, so if you are
>> happy with having to replace your EVs battery every 2 years or so then
>> go for it.
>
>I have a 6 year old Lithium Ion in one of my older notebooks
>at 60% original capacity
>
>
>--
>Roland Mösl
>http://car.pege.org cars and traffic
>http://live.pege.org building and live
>http://www.pege.org
>

I have too , and you can get LiIon to last longer.
Thats not the problem.
The problem is that the battery manufacturers wont provide any kind of
long term warranty on their batteries, even if they claim they will
last 10 years.
Given that most existing car manufacturers arnt in the battery
business, they have to buy the batteries from 3rd parties and if the
battery manufacturer wont warrant the batteries it means the car maker
has too, and thats a huge risk when the batteries cost from $5K to
$20K each.
Just recently, Dell Computers had to recall 4 million lap top
computers to replace their defective Lithium Ion batteries.
Fortunately Lap top computer batteries dont cost $5K to $20K each .
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml06/06231.html

Mauried wrote:
> On Tue, 10 Oct 2006 09:26:03 +0200, Roland_M=F6sl > wrote:
.... <other attributions lost>...
>>>Most EV manufacturers are silent on how long the batteries will last
>>>and on how much they will cost to replace.
>>
>>I have a 6 year old Lithium Ion in one of my older notebooks
>>at 60% original capacity
>
> The problem is that the battery manufacturers wont provide any kind of
> long term warranty on their batteries, even if they claim they will
> last 10 years.

There seem to be a number of companies coming out with better
lithium batteries that last longer than older ones and are
less likely to catch fire and explode. Hopefully they'll offer
warranties if they ever start being used in EV's.

This is one of them, I believe.
http://www.a123systems.com/html/products/cells.html

That said, it's unusual to find any manufacturer that will warranty
their cars for 10 years. Most of them that do offer 10 year warranties
use weasel words to limit the coverage dramatically.

Anthony

If you can believe the press, the Tesla has to be near the top.

400 km on a charge, 3 hour recharge time, and powerful
performance. How can you beat it? (if it is true)

hls wrote:

> If you can believe the press, the Tesla has to be near the top.
>
> 400 km on a charge, 3 hour recharge time, and powerful
> performance. How can you beat it? (if it is true)

Look at the price ( $80,000 ) !

Check this one out too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PML_Mini_QED

Graham

"Lawrence Glickman" > wrote in message
...
> On Tue, 10 Oct 2006 04:49:06 +0100, Eeyore
> > wrote:
>
>>
>>
>>Lawrence Glickman wrote:
>>
>>> Eeyore > wrote:
>>> wrote:
>>> >
>>> >> Hi all,
>>> >>
>>> >> I'm interested in going electric, since all the trips
>>> >> that I make are short and on local roads, and
>>> >> electricity is so cheap.
>>> >
>>> >The electricity may be cheap but the cars aren't.
>>> >
>>> >This one is affordable though.
>>> >http://www.revaindia.com/
>>> >
>>> >Graham
>
> ===============================================
>>> good Lord, that isn't a car, its a Fischer Price Toy
>>
>>All of them are.
>>
>>You should see the rest ! I picked a decent one.
>>
>>Graham
>
> That's a *decent one*???
> It looks like a piece of crap. I wouldn't give anyone $30 for that
> piece of ****.
>
> If that's The Future, I'm glad I won't be around to see it.

It is not intended to run around highways. It is a city runabout. Perfect
for its intended use.

"Dan Bloomquist" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> Lawrence Glickman wrote:
>
>> If that's The Future, I'm glad I won't be around to see it.
>
> About the smartest comment I've seen on usenet.

Very objective and scientifically based.

>

Eeyore wrote:

> Have you actually been in a Smart ?
>
> It's is not small at all in fact it's quite a bit taller than the average
> car.

I was in one a couple years ago as a passenger.
I found it to be a very enjoyable ride. Maybe after
a while it would be small, but the diesel version
gets good mileage.

wrote:

> Eeyore wrote:
>
> > Have you actually been in a Smart ?
> >
> > It's is not small at all in fact it's quite a bit taller than the average
> > car.
>
> I was in one a couple years ago as a passenger.
> I found it to be a very enjoyable ride. Maybe after
> a while it would be small, but the diesel version
> gets good mileage.

If I had the parking space and a bit more spare cash, I'd unquestionably run a
Smart for town / city use and quite happily for 20-30 miles trips too.

They're very nice little cars in fact. And very spacious inside since they're
designed just for two. Great view of the road too.

Graham