Since it's based on the Atom, we know the suspension is fine and that it's a good handling car out of the box, assuming the batteries do not weigh too much more than the motor and gas tank that the batteries replace.

The handicap I see is the 150 mile charge. I think the car would have to be about three times that range before serious track people will be buying the car.

I'd like to know how long it takes to charge the batteries, too. If the batteries can be charged over night using the regular 115 volt lines that we pay for at the track, this might catch on better than you'd think.

 

the website says the production version car will have a greater driving range then the prototype.


They also say:
"It takes about 1.25 hours to fully charge with a 220V, 80A source."
so pluging into the 220v 50amp outlets for Washer/dryer, probably 2-2.5 hours to fully charge the car off that. but that is based off the prototype and the production version sounds like it's going to have more battery life. so even double the range, less then 5 hours to fully charge most likely

 

Well. I don't think people are going to buy a track car that needs 220v.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by George Knighton &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Well. I don't think people are going to buy a track car that needs 220v.</TD></TR></TABLE>


The other caveat is the $100k+ price tag, which will hopefully drop as time goes by.

But the performance is amazing, imho.

I wouldn't mind too much the 150 mile range, that's fine for the local autox.

 

Yes, eventually, we'll all be using electric cars. What I don't care for is how these are shown as, "See, since we can beat real sports cars, you should buy this." Um, no. Look at the price, for one. Then, there's the unspoken realities of recharging it. What they don't tell you is that while they can do that one 1/4 mile really fast, that one sprint takes a huge portion of the total charge. Good luck driving the other 149.25 miles - they don't mention that. So, yeah, it beat an Enzo - once. Now let's try it another dozen times...

Then of course is battery life. To have a true apples-to-apples comparison of lifetime expense, don't forget how much a replacement pack is (think $$$$).

So, yeah, they're getting there, just not yet. And you'll be seeing movie stars driving these $150,000 "economic" cars long before normal people are.

Another question is: How many gallons of <U>gasoline </U>would you consume driving to your job in order to make $150,000 (after taxes) so you could buy one of these cars? I bet it's a lot!

I have nothing against electric cars - this one's really cool - I just can't stand Marketing Weasels.


Modified by kb58 at 5:05 PM 7/5/2007

 

It's about 50% heavier than a regular atom

 

Yep, as kb said, there are lots of hidden "small print" type details involved with electric cars currently. I was seriously looking into building something like this, and it wound up being financially unreasonable on top of the other cons such as battery life, battery cost, battery recharge time (1.5 hours is the shortest I've ever seen by far, fwiw) and limited travel distance. Maybe in like 10 years when these things are worked out more, it'll be more realistic. Keep in mind also that the electric car thing isn't new; it really got started back in the early 90's I think, and has been developing since then, albeit slowly.

 

one thing they don't mention, which is readily doable - is that you can put a small consumer sized solar panel in it for around $40 while you park at the mall or whatever. That'll help ease the issue of needing to plug in to recharge.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Black R &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">one thing they don't mention, which is readily doable - is that you can put a small consumer sized solar panel in it for around $40 while you park at the mall or whatever. That'll help ease the issue of needing to plug in to recharge. </TD></TR></TABLE>

One of those is enough to keep a single 12V topped up. You won't be getting anywhere close to the 3.5 kW that it takes to charge this thing in 1.25 hours.

Could always take one of these with you, but I guess that'd defeat the purpose (and it's not close to the amperage requirements, anyway).

http://www.hondapowerequipment...3800S

 

hahahaha!

good point.

i didn't mean that it would refill the batteries, but it will help build back up a %.....

 

What the world needs is a battery that holds 1000x what the present ones hold.

Of course, then you have the practical equivalent of a small nuclear bomb in your car. What would happen, if you get a short (like during an accident), is like that scene from the last Terminator movie, where he throws his defective power pack out of the car, resulting in a small mushroom cloud...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Stinkycheezmonky &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> Keep in mind also that the electric car thing isn't new; it really got started back in the early 90's I think, and has been developing since then, albeit slowly.</TD></TR></TABLE>


The "electric car thing" is A LOT older than that:

http://www.popularmechanics.co...RSS20

 

Wow, I actually didn't realize things went back that far. I was referring to the "movement" or whatever when Ford (?) made a bunch of EV1s as a test for mass-produced EVs.

 

Yep, the history of the early automobile is far more interesting than most people realize. There are a lot of so-called "modern" and "high tech" things that have actually been around for almost a century.

 

Too bad those ideas weren't implemented more thoroughly throughout history, maybe our oil and pollution situation wouldn't be so crappy now...

 

Just a few weeks ago, I saw an authentic Los Angeles street car from the 30's (I think.) How things would have been different if they had been kept around... And yeah, electric cars go all the way back to the late 1800's.