# Th!nk Electric Cars-Solarr Vehicles



## blufford (Nov 23, 2004)

Here are a few transportation alternatives I found in Wired Magazine. I would like to see the Th!nk car come down about 10,000 dollars and then I'm game for one.


http://blog.wired.com/cars/electric_vehicles/index.html

Scroll down to the do it yourself solar car. Don't forget to watch the short film!


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## mightybooboo (Feb 10, 2004)

And a great video on a real sized electric,the Chevy Volt. It looks like the real deal. I liked how the battery pack is 1/3rd the size of the EV-1 pack.For the 'it cant be done,it'll never work' crowd...

http://jalopnik.com/376373/radio-reporter-sneaks-out-first-video-of-chevy-volt-electric-car


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

Price is OK (sure its more than the gas/diesel in the class but its electirc) I'd like a little more room but it'd do 70% of the trips as is. My biggest concern is that the taxes the govt collects on fuel now will remain colected forever no matter what powers the car. Its going to happen just it's going to be an interesting 40 years ahead to see what the govt tries.


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## Gary in ohio (May 11, 2002)

Unless your charging from PV cells all an electric car does is move the problem to another location. Your now going to need more coal run power plants, more nuke plants or you need to dam more rivers to generate more electricity.

Your not changing the energy need.


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## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

Right now there is capacity to handle charging passenger cars if we replaced 50% of them with electric vehicles if we limited there charging to nighttime. Peak load in during mid-afternoon with nightime usage less than 1/2 of normal daytime usage.


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## WisJim (Jan 14, 2004)

What we are driving around town this summer (1981 Comutacar, 40 miles range at maximum speed of 35 mph, with good batteries):










Part of our charging system: 









What can I say? It works for us as we have a bit of extra wind and solar generated electricity many days, and most of our driving is trips of 5 miles or less. We will find out how efficient it actually is by the end of summer, I imagine.


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## michiganfarmer (Oct 15, 2005)

Gary in ohio said:


> Unless your charging from PV cells all an electric car does is move the problem to another location. Your now going to need more coal run power plants, more nuke plants or you need to dam more rivers to generate more electricity.
> 
> Your not changing the energy need.


You are right in a way. 

Yes the same energy need will be there, but the power companies can produce the power much cheaper than a gas engine, and with less polution per car mile.

THat is what I think.


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## blufford (Nov 23, 2004)

WisJim said:


> What we are driving around town this summer (1981 Comutacar, 40 miles range at maximum speed of 35 mph, with good batteries):
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Are the batteries carried in the front bumper?


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## WisJim (Jan 14, 2004)

Half the batteries ([email protected] 6volts each) in the front bumper, half in the rear bumper. The earlier versions, the CitiCar, had the batteries under the seat.


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

Most City and Suburban people could get by with a small electric vehicle with a short (40 - 60 mile) range and the 2 or 3 times a year they need longer range they could rent a gas guzzler. 
Heres a car that runs on compressed air http://www.greencar.com/features/ai...hoo&utm_medium=ssp&utm_campaign=yssp_features

I could get by on a vehicle that had a 20 mile range as I seldom go further than that in a day. My only problem is that I am a big guy and just don't fit well in econo-boxes - I need more head and leg and belly room than your avg person -- picture Football player size (U.S. football that is)


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## michiganfarmer (Oct 15, 2005)

mnn2501 said:


> Most City and Suburban people could get by with a small electric vehicle with a short (40 - 60 mile) range and the 2 or 3 times a year they need longer range they could rent a gas guzzler.


Right, but the inexpensive cars only go 35 mph, and the cars that will go 55 cost $40,000. SOmeone is hight on crack!

I want an electric car that will go 55 mph, has enough range to get me at least to work so I can plug it in, then home where I can plug it in...just for commuting, and I dont want to pay more that $19,000 for it.


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

I agree MF but I'd take a solar charged slow going cheapy for the few hops to town I make every week rather than waiting to get the small things I need. 3rd class driving beats first class walking


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## Truckinguy (Mar 8, 2008)

I like that air powered car but with 4400 psi of air in the tanks I wouldn't want to be in the car if one of those blew up! I guess any storage of energy has it's risks, though, and I like the concept, no battery pack to have to recycle and probably clean and quiet. I think an air/gasoline powered car would be the best idea, most alternative energy vehicles would probably be wise to have a gas engine on board in case they weren't able to recharge battery/fill air tank and got stranded somewhere.


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## WisJim (Jan 14, 2004)

I should mention that the Comutacar/Citicar like our green one are NOT "NEVs", and are not limited to a maximum speed, it is just that 35mph is a comfortable speed in town with ours. It will go faster, just not as far, and we are considering a higher voltage battery in our other one which is currently in pieces in the garage.

The problem with air powered cars is that it takes a lot of energy to compress air, so the total efficiency of the system is not very good.


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## Gary in ohio (May 11, 2002)

WisJim said:


> What we are driving around town this summer (1981 Comutacar, 40 miles range at maximum speed of 35 mph, with good batteries):
> 
> 
> 
> Part of our charging system:


Nice charging system but the car has neither the range or speed to be practical for me. Had a friend who had one when they first came out, Drove one and it was fun and Nice for those with short commutes but with only 40 mile range it wouldnt even make a good grocery getter for me.


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## michiganfarmer (Oct 15, 2005)

Ross said:


> I agree MF but I'd take a solar charged slow going cheapy for the few hops to town I make every week rather than waiting to get the small things I need. 3rd class driving beats first class walking


yeah. no kidding


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## Gary in ohio (May 11, 2002)

mnn2501 said:


> Most City and Suburban people could get by with a small electric vehicle with a short (40 - 60 mile) range and the 2 or 3 times a year they need longer range they could rent a gas guzzler.


I think your way off on how often people go long distances or how far the suburbs are from the city., I did a quick check of 30 people in our office, all live in the suburbs around Columbus ohio. 25 people drive over 40 miles/day just for work. 2 had 20m/day, 3 around 30 miles/day. Of the 30, all 30 said they travel over 200 miles/day at least 2 times a month. Unless the electric car has high milages on a charge and is very cheap to allow it as a commuter only vehicle, they are never going to fly with much of US. yea, VERY CONGESTED east cost mega cities maybe but not most cities.

I would love a EE car, but I need at least 150 miles on a charge to feel comfortable driving it and it would need to be very low cost. With all the required safety gadgets that cars MUST have now, cheap cars are not easy to produce.


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## no1cowboy (May 2, 2004)

canada's version

What sets ZENN apart from the crowd? Unlike other neighborhood electric vehicles, it has the form and features of a real car: itâs a fully-enclosed, three-door hatchback with a performance-proven, steel-reinforced body. That translates into a tremendous safety advantage.

ZENN not only looks like a car; it performs like one, too. Equipped with front-wheel drive, brisk acceleration and capable of achieving a regulated maximum speed of 25 mph (40 km/h), it keeps pace with traffic on local streets to get you where youâre going safely and in good time. And ZENNâs battery efficiency gives you the freedom to cover a lot of ground: approximately 35 miles per charge (56 kilometres).


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## GREEN_ALIEN (Oct 17, 2004)

Truckinguy said:


> I like that air powered car but with 4400 psi of air in the tanks I wouldn't want to be in the car if one of those blew up! I guess any storage of energy has it's risks, though, and I like the concept, no battery pack to have to recycle and probably clean and quiet. I think an air/gasoline powered car would be the best idea, most alternative energy vehicles would probably be wise to have a gas engine on board in case they weren't able to recharge battery/fill air tank and got stranded somewhere.


The tanks more or less can't blow. They are a carbon fiber reinforced material designed to split just in case.

I watched a program about it just the other night.

GA


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## mightybooboo (Feb 10, 2004)

You know whats really frustrating? Its the Rav-4 electric.A REAL car,with Real freeway speeds and a REAL 140 mile range (Wish I could find that article of the guy who documented every trip in it).There are Ravs out there with 150,000 miles and the batteries are as good as ever.

Any driver could get 100 mile range.And a little known secret was the power gauge actually had 2 more bars,not shown,yet this guy at JUST 100% SOC got this..He still had 2 hidden bars of power remaining.

"My range record (and I don't try for max range very often!) per charge was accomplished 08.21.05. I drove 133 miles on 100% SOC. Two people in the car, plus the portable charger in back. Twisty, hilly drive with many stops at the beginning and end. Heavy AC use for one full leg of the two-way trip. Final score: 191 Wh/mile consumed = 5.2 miles per KWh = range of 133 miles = 25.9kWh pack. (To calculate pack capacity: multiply kWh consumed by 100, and divide that by percentage of SOC consumed. The longer the trip the more accurate this will be)."

*Toyota specs called it 125 mile range and 78 mph top speed.
*
Mass produced the battery would be in the couple thousand range,they sold for 41,000 and were bought off lease for 27,000.









Some owners
http://evnut.com/

Then the large sized NiMh battery rights got sold to the oil company.You cant buy that battery (EV-95) now!

Now,almost ten years later,we are getting an electric,the Volt,with a 40 mile range.

And lets see if the Volt,with its limited electric range doesnt set back electrics for another decade.

Too much politics involved.The oil companies wont stand for a car that doesnt use gas,and the auto companies wont stand for a car that doesnt have thousands of expensive parts that break down,wear out or are expensive to maintain.

Say what you will,the shenanigans between GM and Texaco,later Chevron,to shelve the EV-95 battery,has given us,a decade later, a car (the Volt) with 1/3rd the range and 1/3 the projected longevity available on the Rav-4.

Absolutely criminal,IMO,that a battery developed with public funding (the U.S. Government spent $1.5B of taxpayer money to the Big 3 U.S. Automakers to subsidize the 80MPG "Supercar" project ) given to the automakers,became GM property,and later Chevron property.

Friends in high places=no viable escape from the ICE/Oil monopoly.


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