.........Electric car....?

There is an all electric car that is being offered for sale to consumers in the US that is smaller than a Mini, what is the name of the car? How much does it cost? How fast does it go? What company makes it?

Answer
At this time, none of the major auto manufacturers are selling full electric highway-capable cars to the public.

There there is a company called ZAP (Zero Air Pollution) who sells a three-wheeled full-electric car called a Xebra that has a top speed of about 40 mph and a range of about 40 miles. List price is about $10,500. They are also working with Lotus on a vehicle called a ZAP-X which they say will have a top speed of 155 mph and a range of 350 miles. No word on the price point yet.

The Meyers Motors NmG (No more Gas) (formerly the Corbin Sparrow) is another three-wheeled electric car. It has a top speed of over 70 mph and a range of about 30 miles. It is available for $24,900.

There is another company called Commuter Cars who sell a full-electric two-seater called a Tango, the first of which was sold to actor George Clooney. It has a top speed of 150 mph and a range of 60-80 miles. They are not in full production yet. The model available now, the T600, costs $108,000. They plan to make the T200 available in 2008 for $40,000 and the T100 in 2009 for $19,000.

A company called AC Propulsion offers a conversion of a Scion xB to full electric. They call their offering the eBox. It has a top speed of 95 mph, and a range of 140-180 miles per charge, the conversion costs $55,000. Tom Hanks bought one of these recently.

Finally, Tesla Motors will offer the Tesla Roadster in 2008 for $92,000. (All of the 2007 models have been spoken for.) It has a top speed of 130 mph, range of 200 miles, and 0 to 60 in about 4 seconds.

Electric Car? Possible?

Q. I read in STD V our Science Fair in 26th of this month.

I want to do a little different project, so I want to bult a small electric car... is it possilble?? If yes.. how??

Or do you have any other ideas??

I WILL BE THANKFUL
MR. HENRY S:
a model sized car

Answer
the electric car was built in the 1920's. using the same model they put 4 electric motors, one on each wheel. (saw that model in the car museum in Luray VA)
batteries ran the car and it had to be recharged about every 20 miles. Built on what looks like a model t chassis.

If you are trying to build a newer road usable car, there are kits for the older bug, some are hybrids - some are all electric. no idea on the range in time or milage.

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For all you people who think electric cars are good...?

Garbageman

Where the F do you people think electricity comes from ????
Marko Polio- But it doesn't. And don't hold your breath that it will.
linlyons- 43% best answer. Well this is one question you WON'T win the best answer...as long as I don't forget about this and this question goes into voting...(DOH)
Also, linlyons, power plants be come less efficient the further away the power gets sent. And I would imagine that GAS is much cleaner than black COAL which is what most power plants run on.

Answer
Electric cars are a good idea. If you want to spend more money, drive a small car with less power, room, comfort and range, to make a slight reduction in pollution. Sounds like something every American should do. Spend more to get less. And brag about how "green" we are.

I own a 1979 Ford van. It's a monster. It gets only 10 MPG. But I routinely haul up to 4 tons at a time with it. I suppose I could replace it with an electric car. $40,000 for an electric car that has a range of 35 miles and will haul about 200 lbs per trip. That's only about 40 trips instead of one. Since there is no place along the way to recharge my car I can only travel about 17 miles one way. What do I do if I have to travel more than 17 miles at a time? And how much is it costing me in electricity for the extra 39 trips? I don't know about others, but my time is valuable. I don't want to make an extra 39 trips and spend more time and money just so the eco freaks will like me.

It takes less time and less money to drive my van than it does to drive an electric car so why would I change? And to reduce pollution the production of electricity would have to be at least 40 times more efficient than my gas powered van. And it is nowhere near that.

Electric cars are a good idea IF 1) you want to spend more money. 2) Never drive more than a few miles from home. 3) Give up room, comfort, cargo space and range. 4) Own a car that you can't run the heater or air conditioner because they use electricity. 5) Can't drive at night because the head lights use electricity.

If you meet all these criteria then driving an electric car is a good idea. But if you meet all these criteria you really don't even need a car. You need a bicycle.

Oh yeah. Electric cars are a GREAT idea. If you are a moron with too much money. The rest of us will keep our gas powered cars.

.........Electric car....?

There is an all electric car that is being offered for sale to consumers in the US that is smaller than a Mini, what is the name of the car? How much does it cost? How fast does it go? What company makes it?

Answer
At this time, none of the major auto manufacturers are selling full electric highway-capable cars to the public.

There there is a company called ZAP (Zero Air Pollution) who sells a three-wheeled full-electric car called a Xebra that has a top speed of about 40 mph and a range of about 40 miles. List price is about $10,500. They are also working with Lotus on a vehicle called a ZAP-X which they say will have a top speed of 155 mph and a range of 350 miles. No word on the price point yet.

The Meyers Motors NmG (No more Gas) (formerly the Corbin Sparrow) is another three-wheeled electric car. It has a top speed of over 70 mph and a range of about 30 miles. It is available for $24,900.

There is another company called Commuter Cars who sell a full-electric two-seater called a Tango, the first of which was sold to actor George Clooney. It has a top speed of 150 mph and a range of 60-80 miles. They are not in full production yet. The model available now, the T600, costs $108,000. They plan to make the T200 available in 2008 for $40,000 and the T100 in 2009 for $19,000.

A company called AC Propulsion offers a conversion of a Scion xB to full electric. They call their offering the eBox. It has a top speed of 95 mph, and a range of 140-180 miles per charge, the conversion costs $55,000. Tom Hanks bought one of these recently.

Finally, Tesla Motors will offer the Tesla Roadster in 2008 for $92,000. (All of the 2007 models have been spoken for.) It has a top speed of 130 mph, range of 200 miles, and 0 to 60 in about 4 seconds.

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Electric Car Range: How is it affected by the Electric Motor wattage?

best electric small cars image

agrafa

Imagine you have an electric car with a specific battery capacity and you want to test the effect of the electric motor to the car's range.
So, assume you have 2 motors: one with A KW and another with 5A KW.
If placed on the car and used to test the range till total battery depletion (assuming same constant velocity) which motor would lead to higher range?

Answer
If the same car is moving at the same speed, it will use the same amount of energy to move it the same distance. (Weight difference between the motors will probably be negligible). The energy different motors use to supply this will vary

Assuming that both motors are rated high enough to maintain the desired speed, the biggest factor affecting range will be motor efficiency. The power rating has little to do with efficiency. It is possible that either the larger or the smaller motor could deliver the better range.

Generally electric motors with lower electrical resistance, better insulation, lower magnetic reluctance and smaller air gaps will have higher efficiencies. Running a motor closer to its voltage limits will mean less power losses. (Power losses=ampxampx resistance)

This link has some typical examples of motor efficiency curves versus output power.(EFF v Wo)
http://www.cyclone-tw.com/dc24.htm

Work out the power range that you car will need, to maintain your desired speed. Then you can then look for the motor with the best efficiency curves to match your needs.(and gearing).

In short it is more a matter of how well the motor is made and how well it matches your needs then what it is rated at. A larger motor will usually run more efficiently at its rated load. If it is running well below that then the smaller motor may well give best results.

The trade off for longer range is usually slower acceleration.

Is the Zenn electric car a good choice for the environment?

NinjaNinja

I am researching the Zenn electric car and how it effects the environment for a school project on Climate Change. I need some pros and cons on the car, but the company website for it does not share anything. It would also be great if you would give your own personal thoughts on the Zenn as well. Thanks.

Answer
The Zenn Motor company is a Canadian company that was producing a NEV (neighborhood electric vehicle.) A nev is typically a small, light, often open, electric vehicle similar to what you might see around a golf course, hotels, a campus or a corporation. There has been some push to market them for private use in enclosed communities and due to recent NEV laws use them on roads where the speed limit is less than 35mph.

The Zenn NEV is an enclosed vehicle, but shares with others far less demanding road worthy tests. The Zenn NEV was a vehicle prepared for the later insertion of an Eesu (electrical energy storage unit) made by EEStor a privately held Texas Company. Presumably with the better power source the NEV could be upgraded to a fully road worthy vehicle. Zenn has private sources of information and based upon the information it has received it has bought about a 10% stake in EEStor and has exclusive rights to market the Eesu in 4 wheeled vehicles.

But more recently it has decided to shift its goal from producing vehicles to just preparing a power train based upon the Eesu. This would be marketed to other manufacturers of electric vehicles. And most importantly to your question, this makes any vehicle produced by Zenn Motors an orphan.

Between being a less substantial car with presumably a lower lifetime and a vehicle that is being abandoned by its manufacturer I wonder about it's life expectancy. Our environment has seen other examples of a throw away technology with bottles, cans, plastic bags. Useful life expectancy has a clear impact on how many will have to be produced and how often they will be replaced. In general an electric vehicle with it's few moving parts might be expected to last a very long time. Energy and environmental costs can then be amortized over a longer period. This may be less so with a Nev and a vehicle with less support.

The countering argument is that NEV use is an alternative to using a less environmentally friendly vehicle. If the vehicle is operated at lower speeds and less frequently if may still last a long time and avoid an energy and environmental cost of replacement.

In general, any electric vehicle is going to be operationally better for the environment than using an equally sized ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicle simply because it may be up to 5 times more efficient and produces no operational pollution.

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Would you be more likely to date a guy with a gasoline muscle car or a small electric car?

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messiah_sa

Would you be more likely to date a guy with a gasoline muscle car or a small electric car?

Answer
"Eighty percent of American car buyers would find someone with the latest model fuel-efficient car more interesting to talk to at a party than someone with the latest model sports car."

Will electric cars ever be affordable and practical?

Q. Electric cars have been around for over 100 years, yet many problems remain to be solved.
Cost: $40,000+ is out of range for most people and certainly too high for a small car. It would take years to pay for itself in terms of gasoline saved.
Batteries: charging can take several hours. Expense of replacing can be as high as half of the car cost.
It just seems that it will be a long time before technology can give the people an electric car that makes sense.

Answer
we have a long way to go to make electric cars as practical and affordable as gasoline cars. The biggest hurdle now is battery technology. Once batteries can be made which provide the same amount of energy as gasoline, meaning that a battery can take you as far as a tank of gas one a single charge, and are affordable, we will see electric cars on the roads.

Right now, batteries with a decent amount of Amp-hours are extremely expensive and bulky. Plus, there isn't much infrastructure in place to support electric cars. There is a gas station on every corner but can you think of a place to plug in your car even if it used a regular 120Vac outlet? Could you plug it in at work or in a parking garage without running 1000 feet of extension cords?

We may see them being affordable one day but until they become practical as well (solve these issues I listed above), it will be a long time before they replace gasoline cars.

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Would you be more likely to date a guy with a gasoline muscle car or a small electric car?

best electric small cars image

Q. Would you be more likely to date a guy with a gasoline muscle car or a small electric car?

Answer
"Eighty percent of American car buyers would find someone with the latest model fuel-efficient car more interesting to talk to at a party than someone with the latest model sports car."

Will electric cars ever be affordable and practical?

Q. Electric cars have been around for over 100 years, yet many problems remain to be solved.
Cost: $40,000+ is out of range for most people and certainly too high for a small car. It would take years to pay for itself in terms of gasoline saved.
Batteries: charging can take several hours. Expense of replacing can be as high as half of the car cost.
It just seems that it will be a long time before technology can give the people an electric car that makes sense.

Answer
we have a long way to go to make electric cars as practical and affordable as gasoline cars. The biggest hurdle now is battery technology. Once batteries can be made which provide the same amount of energy as gasoline, meaning that a battery can take you as far as a tank of gas one a single charge, and are affordable, we will see electric cars on the roads.

Right now, batteries with a decent amount of Amp-hours are extremely expensive and bulky. Plus, there isn't much infrastructure in place to support electric cars. There is a gas station on every corner but can you think of a place to plug in your car even if it used a regular 120Vac outlet? Could you plug it in at work or in a parking garage without running 1000 feet of extension cords?

We may see them being affordable one day but until they become practical as well (solve these issues I listed above), it will be a long time before they replace gasoline cars.

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