Electric vehicles

[M Williams]

Does a purely plug and play electric vehicle exist yet that is street-legal in the US ?

My circle of life is only about a 50 mile round trip, at the most only two to three times a month.

It sure would be nice to have a vehicle that could be plugged into the wall or a solar shelter that would go at least 55 mph for 100 miles.

 Elec is fairly cheap around here.

[Ironwood]

I have a high school buddy who runs a shop in Boardman Ohio. His name is Shawn Lawless, I don't have a contact #, but he build VERY unusual electric vehicals. He is said to be planning to be building a vehical to set the electric land speed record. I also hear he has been to a number a events where he has gotten quite a reputation for his vehicals. I think James Taylor the singer is having something built on the fully electric side. I don't know who is building it but Google around you may find Shawn, he would know what is available.
 
            Ironwood

[stonebroke]

get a plug in Prius. There is a guy in cal. that puts another battery pack in and reprograms the software to go 65 mph on electric only also puts in a charger. The vehicle will go about 70 miles on elec. only. Costs about 12,000$

Stonebroke

[pineywoods]

Does a purely plug and play electric vehicle exist yet that is street-legal in the US ?

My circle of life is only about a 50 mile round trip, at the most only two to three times a month.

It sure would be nice to have a vehicle that could be plugged into the wall or a solar shelter that would go at least 55 mph for 100 miles.

 Elec is fairly cheap around here.

Check into the price of replacement batteries before you take the plunge. 2 or 3 yr old hybrids gonna be dirt cheap when the batteries go.

[zopi]

Does a purely plug and play electric vehicle exist yet that is street-legal in the US ?

My circle of life is only about a 50 mile round trip, at the most only two to three times a month.

It sure would be nice to have a vehicle that could be plugged into the wall or a solar shelter that would go at least 55 mph for 100 miles.

 Elec is fairly cheap around here.

Check into the price of replacement batteries before you take the plunge. 2 or 3 yr old hybrids gonna be dirt cheap when the batteries go.

100K mi. warranty on the drive batteries in a new toyota...wifey has a hybrid Camry and loves it.

[pineywoods]

zopi is that 100K battery warranty replacement or pro-rated?

[Don P]

Does a purely plug and play electric vehicle exist yet that is street-legal in the US ?

Remember the EV1 from GM? Their response to the California Air Resources Board zero emissions on 2% of fleet requirement. It had a 125 mile range and could get you a ticket on the interstate. The current administration joined the auto manufacturers in fighting that law. They were all leases, GM chose not to renew the leases and repo'ed the fleet, then crushed them, every single one. Even the ones with the newer good batteries. They then sold those battery rights to, ... an oil company. GM shut down the EV1 plant the day after the tax breaks for heavy SUV's passed congress. We seem to be a few years behind in the current technology, wonder why  .  Aside from the newer imported plug in hybrids there are experimental plug and play electrics with 300 mile range and 0-60 times under 4 seconds.

[zopi]

zopi is that 100K battery warranty replacement or pro-rated?

replacement as I understand it...there is always room for the legalese to.....ummmm....mess with you.

The batteries are replaceable as individual cells..650VDC..modular in blocks of whatever voltage..they typically will not go bad all at once. the car only charges to a certain % of maximum capacity, and discharge to a % of minumium with
constant battery conditioning under use...the system is pretty impressive...think very advanced locomotive.


I like the little hybrid..it'll do a buck forty...but it is a tiny little rollerskate, and the software/operator interface was designed by..well..lets just say a less than bright group of individuals.

I kinda like my big diesel dodge..and my harley for the mileage...

I would be interested in a totally electric commuter..onboard solar and plug-n-play both...but more interested in
H2O conversion for internal combustion..some guy had a working prototype awhile back, bet he quietly got bought out...wish i had time to research it..it was s'posed to be pretty easy..

[Furby]

Prius is supposed to have a lifetime warranty on the batteries.
My Mom has a Prius based on that, but I'm not 100% sure I belive the warranty though.

The vehicle will go about 70 miles on elec. only. Costs about 12,000$

That's $12,000 PLUS the price of the car correct?

[Ianab]

A local guy here has converted an old Mitsi car to full plug in electric.

I think he bought the car for $180, blown engine. He spent about $10,000 US on batteries, engine and control electronics and just hooked the electric engine up to the existing manual gearbox.

It has a range of about 40 miles, and will run at 60mph (open road speed limit) By using the gearbox he can get good performance around town, and flick it into high gear for the open road.

Here is his web page that documents the whole mission.
http://www.kiwiev.com/

Cheers

Ian

[Furby]

Wanna "convert" your own?
http://www.driveelectric.org/cars/text/evcalculator.htm
http://www.driveelectric.org/cars/index.html

[stonebroke]

Furby

Yup. That is in addition to the price of the car. I didn't say it made sense just that the guy sells them. I wondert what the payback would be? They say that the equivalent of a gallon of gas in electricity is 85 cents.

Stonebroke

[clousert]

I've had the idea to make an electric auto of some kind for quite awhile..... don't like the layout cost of those batteries though.  All the more I drive, another engine and all the gas I'd burn is still cheaper.

Anyone out there build a little farm runabout, like the size of a gator or golf cart, with all electric power?

[Ironwood]

I had an EzGO electric cart before the Gator. I had terra tires on it. It went well, you will some of the carts with a lift kit and bigger tires. Mine didn't have that. I went right to the top, I use the Gator non stop, just plowed and pee graveled the drive after the icy snowy weather we just had (I dont like salt enviromentally) The cart always made me nervous about running out of  juice.

           Ironwood

[pineywoods]

Anyone out there build a little farm runabout, like the size of a gator or golf cart, with all electric power?

You mean like this ?? I use it around the farm every day
Running gear is mostly 36 volt golf cart

 

[StorminN]

There are lots of electric conversions out there, and a few all-electric cars.

Here is an online album of electric vehicles, converted or otherwise:
http://www.evalbum.com/

What seems to be catching on is the NEV's, the Neighborhood Electric Vehicles, which are legally limited to 35mph, I think. Something like this:
http://www.zenncars.com/

And there are commercially-built electric ATV's (sort of):
http://www.gorillavehicles.com/

If you're interested, you could join one of the EV group mailing lists... I'm on the SEVA list (Seattle Electric Vehicle Association).

Keep in mind that depending on how your electricity is generated (coal, nuke, hydro), all-electric cars can actually have a bigger carbon footprint than a hybrid. If you're generating your own power with PV's or something, then this isn't an issue. Also, the cost of electricity in your area is an issue... if you're paying $0.55 per kWh, it might not make sense for you. Here in my county in the NW, our electricity is 80% from hydro (which is considered renewable, but not green) and it costs $0.062 per kWH so electric cars are pretty cool... I wish I had one.

-Norm.

[stonebroke]

Why isn't hydro considered green power?

Stonebroke

[Paul_H]

I would guess that it is because the larger hydro projects involve massive areas of flooding to store energy and the smaller projects alter stream courses and ecosystems.

There are many hydro power plants in BC,both large and small.

[Weekend_Sawyer]

A buddy here at work has a early 70s VW bug that is all electric, batteries everywhere. It goes pretty good and is real quiet. He says he cannot use 4th gear as it will slow down. Too much gear ration difference.

[stonebroke]

Yeah but think of all the really wet land you are creating. Fish habitat.

Stonebroke

[Paul_H]

Oh,I aint complaining and my appliances love it too. The best Dam power money can buy 

[StorminN]

Hydro isn't considered green here because the dams here kill salmon and steelhead.

About a half hour from my house is the Elwha river, which pre-1910 was home to some of the biggest salmon & steelhead in the world... the Chinook (King) salmon were regularly over 100lbs. There were two dams built on the Elwha in 1910 to 1927, and the salmon and steelhead populations plummeted. I mention this because hhe Elwha dam and the one that was built upstream from it a few years later (Glines Canyon dam) are slated for removal in the next few years... if this happens, it will be the first time dams of this size have been removed, and we'll see if any of the fish populations recover...

-Norm.

[Fla._Deadheader]

 And, what will happen, from the millions of tons of sediment that will be released from the dam removals

[StorminN]

Fla_deadheader,

From what I've been told at some of the talks, they are thinking the river will be silty for years... it depends on the amount of floods we have in those first few years. Overall, they are thinking the silt and gravel will fill back in on the lower parts of the river, which has been reduced to cobble-sized rocks or bigger over the years... there is hardly any gravel on the river below the lower dam. I believe they plan on removing the upper dam first.

They are predicting the gravel bars out by the entrance to the sea will grow, and Ediz Hook, which is a five? mile long sand spit a couple of miles east of the river mouth... will stop eroding, which it has been for about a hundred years... though it's been fortified with large rip-rap a number of times.