My wife wants to buy an electric car.?

madcityd06

In this part of the country there are not many of them. Have you owned one and how did you like it. How often did you plug in your car, everyday or after the 50 miles were used?
In this part of the country there are not many of them. Have you owned one and how did you like it. How often did you plug in your car, everyday or after the 50 miles were used? If you have owned one, would you purchase a second one or one to replace the one you already have. I am trying not to have this be a political discussion. I know the rumors. I just want someone who has owned one to tell me their experiences

Answer
You have to start by answering the question, "What do I need to get out of the vehicle?"

If your primary use is just to put around town like take the kids to school, run down to the grocery store, commute the 5 miles to work you can get way with a Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (NEV) or some times called Low speed Electric Vehicle (LEV). The cars are limited by law to 25 MPH (35 MPH in some states) but they recharge from any outlet you can plug your cell phone in.

If you need to take to the highway your options become severely limited. Currently the only highway speed EV available to the public is the Tesla Roadster at $120,000. Everybody else "is working on it and will be ready by 2010".

You don't need a 300 MPC (miles per charge) electric car. When you get home after a hard days work, you plug in the car, eat dinner go to bed. In the morning you get up, get dressed, unplug the car and leave every day with a full load of "fuel". Two minor additions to the usual routine and you've made the world a little better. A gas car doesn't self fill at night an since you don't want to visit the gas station on a daily basis 300 miles is a light range requirement.

The length of the charge time at night is irrelevant. I'm asleep so what difference does it make if it takes 1 hour or 6. Think how many hours a day is your car actually being used out of 24? The rest of the time it is just sitting, waiting for you to use it.

As for plugging it in everyday, don't you plug in your cell phone every day to charge it? An EV is the same deal, put the car in its parking place, hop out plug the cord in, go in and eat dinner. The rest is automatic and baring some kind of minor catastrophe your car is ready to go in the morning. You can also plug in wherever you stop, called opportunity charging, if your vehicle has a 110 volt charger. Since 80% of people put less than 40 miles on their car on a daily basis a 50 mile range isn't an inconvenience.

Flybo Electric Car under 10K!

marcy_mik

Does anyone have one of these cars? I want to know what you think of them. They have 2 seaters & 4 Seaters very cute. I found them on an Organic website for $8500. today.
http://www.NHallnatural.com

Answer
The Flybo is being imported as a NEV (neighborhood electric vehicle) sometimes called LEV (low speed electric vehicle). This means it has federally regulated top speed of 25 MPH in most states and 35 MPH in some. They can be driven on streets with a 10 MPH difference in the speed limit i.e. 35 MPH speed limit for the 25 MPH version.

The Flybo can not go on the freeway because it goes to slow and doesn't have the crash protection required. It will work fine for dropping the kid (only 2 seats) off at school, running to the store for groceries or a surface street commute to work. Or if your daughter has her license she can commute to school and you wont have to worry about her getting into vehicular trouble.

I konw someone who has an NEV. He uses it every day to commute 6 miles to work and back. For the one part of his trek that requires higher speed he just simply uses the surface street that runs parallel to the highway. It takes him an extra 5 minutes to get to work (but who's in a hurry anyway) and he has not put 1 gram of pollution into the atmosphere which is his goal. And even better it cost him less than 15 cents a day in "fuel" aka electricity.

For more information on NEV check out Miles Automotive, ZENN and GEM Car web sites.

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Flybo Electric Car under 10K!

marcy_mik

Does anyone have one of these cars? I want to know what you think of them. They have 2 seaters & 4 Seaters very cute. I found them on an Organic website for $8500. today.
http://www.NHallnatural.com

Answer
The Flybo is being imported as a NEV (neighborhood electric vehicle) sometimes called LEV (low speed electric vehicle). This means it has federally regulated top speed of 25 MPH in most states and 35 MPH in some. They can be driven on streets with a 10 MPH difference in the speed limit i.e. 35 MPH speed limit for the 25 MPH version.

The Flybo can not go on the freeway because it goes to slow and doesn't have the crash protection required. It will work fine for dropping the kid (only 2 seats) off at school, running to the store for groceries or a surface street commute to work. Or if your daughter has her license she can commute to school and you wont have to worry about her getting into vehicular trouble.

I konw someone who has an NEV. He uses it every day to commute 6 miles to work and back. For the one part of his trek that requires higher speed he just simply uses the surface street that runs parallel to the highway. It takes him an extra 5 minutes to get to work (but who's in a hurry anyway) and he has not put 1 gram of pollution into the atmosphere which is his goal. And even better it cost him less than 15 cents a day in "fuel" aka electricity.

For more information on NEV check out Miles Automotive, ZENN and GEM Car web sites.

How to fix broken mirror on my car?

rayne

Some kid backed into me and drove off, insurance says they wont fix it. my passenger mirror came off and is pretty broken, i was able to get away with using cement caulking for a few months but its time to fix it for real. its a 2005 pontiac grand am, electric window. i know i can replace the side mirror on my own but the metal lining on top and around the outside of the mirror popped off when the kid backed into it, anyone know how to fix this and where to find this lining? NOT the bottom lining by the window the metal and black thin lining on top and through the front sides of window.

Answer
If you are to repair it yourself, visit a car dealers "parts department". They will be able to tell you how the parts are installed and sold and costs. Then check ebay for these parts or order the parts via parts department

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Anyone just bought a house? I really want to buy one with my partner?

kids electric cars parts image

JEM

He has a good enough job But i dont work as im bringing up our two small kids, we have had some bad credit in the past but not really bad, we dont have any savings but are paying the amount of a mortgage thru our rent, could we get a 100% mortgage?

Answer
It is possible that you might be able to get a 100% mortgage. However, I caution you that these mortgages are very dangerous.

Because you are borrowing 100% of the value of your house, you have no "equity". That means that, if you should have to sell your house, you'll be in trouble, unless the price goes up.

The newspapers I have read say that real estate prices have levelled off. In fact, in some parts of the country, prices are falling. There are a whole lot of people trying to sell their houses, and they can't find any buyers. Why? Because they paid such a high price for their houses that they can't afford to lower their asking price. And those prices are too high for new buyers to pay.

I won't even get into the problems that you could have, if you select an adjustable-rate mortgage or (worse) an interest-only mortgage or "negative-amortization" mortgage. These products are traps for people on a tight budget, and are already resulting in huge numbers of foreclosures, across the country.

If I were you, I'd think seriously about waiting for at least a year, before I bought a house. I'd do whatever I could, in the family budget, to put aside an extra $100 or more, every month, in a savings account that I couldn't touch, so that I would have some money, after a year, that I could use as a (small) down payment on a house. This practice will stand you in good stead, after you buy the house, because you'll be better prepared for unexpected expenses.

I own a house, and let me warn you. Buying a house is an expensive proposition. Not only is the mortgage payment expensive, but there is always something that needs fixing. Maybe the roof will spring a leak. Maybe the plumbing wil spring a leak. Maybe the water heater will need to be replaced. Maybe a tree in your yard will fall, or maybe it'll need to be removed. All of this stuff requires money. So does your homeowner's insurance. So does the gas and electric bill, which is only going to go up (even after the huge increases we experienced, this year). So do taxes.

The key to being able to afford a house is to actually be able to afford the house. That means that your mortgage payment, and the payments on all your other debts (credit cards, car loans, furniture loans, student loans) COMBINED should not be more than 35% of your income, AT THE MOST. If you're paying any more than that, to service your debt, you are vulnerable to changes in interest rates or minimum payments on your credit cards, or emergencies that cause you to have to spend more money (doctor bills for the kids, for example).

Best of luck, whatever you decide.

How long is a railroad tie supposed to last?

Ding Bat

omg another train question! sorry but I've always liked trains since I was a little girl .. growin' up us kids used to watch'em all the time .. I still don't mind waitin at a crossing or somewhere and watch one go by. I know .. I'm weird .. lol

Answer
O Dingy One........

This is the rail category, so no apology for asking another railroad question is needed. If you had been asking about a chrome plated swizzle-stick or an electric dog polisher, that would have been odd, but still wouldnât require an apology.

A creosoted wood tie installed today has an estimated life span of 40 years. Environment actually plays a smaller part than one would think. For example, if installed in some sort of âswampyâ territory, the ballast may need to be dressed more frequently, but the preserved ties go on.

These days, system âtie gangsâ roam about, replacing ties where needed. It is both art and science. A good tie gang can replace 15 or 17 miles of ties in ten work days. Then they hop over to somewhere else. The 15 miles replaced have nearly an equal amount on each end done perhaps ten and twenty years ago, respectively, so they continue to serve. This rotation keeps the system tie gangs traveling, but youâll rarely see more than 15 or 20 miles of ties less than a few years old strung together, except for new railroad.

Today, all engineering data is stored and readily accessible. But, back in the day, record keeping, especially where millions of ties were concerned, was a practical impossibility. the way they circumvented the problem was through the use of âdate nails.â As their name implies, the date nails were nails that had the year stamped into the top of the nail. They were driven into the ties every so often so that future maintenance of way or track engineering personnel could easily and quickly determine how long the ties had been in service.

Some years ago, a jewelry cottage industry bloomed as the date nails were en vogue as gifts to fathers in the industry or the rail fans. They nail heads were sawed off, cleaned, plated in either gold or silver, and fashioned as tie tacks and lapel pins, the numbers on the date nail heads being the recipients birthday, anniversary, etc.

Concrete ties will last a bit longer, but longevity comes at a price. In the event of derailed equipment, where a single wheel, or even an entire truck drops off the rail, they will run often times for a long distance on top of wooden ties. The ties get cut up pretty bad, but often the problem is found before the wheels come to a switch, or grade crossing, which is when the cars scatter all over the place.

If a wheel or truck drops on top of a concrete tie, they shatter immediately. Any hope of discovering derailed equipment before a major pile up occurs is nonexistent.

So, apology accepted for seeking another answer...........

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Where could I get a really cool electric car?

kids electric cars parts image

Eliza

Ok, went to friends house today and she has the coolest small electric car for kids! I really want one but don't know where to buy for someone who is 12 ( you see it's actually for my sister!) Could you guys help me? By the way I live in England.
Just to really outline it.. a 12 year old has to fit in it!

Answer
If you have a Radio Shack store in your area. They have a new line that you can start with and make upgrades called XMODS.
http://www.radioshack.com/family/index.jsp?categoryId=2032407

or

for about $200 go with HPI micro rs4 belt driven 4 wheel drive - tons of upgrades. These are 1/18 scale, not sure what size you are looking for.
www.hpi-europe.com

or

for about $200 you can get kyosho mini z. Highly detailed metal bodies - ready to run (rtr).

Stay away from toys-r-us and stores like that you can't buy parts for.

How can I build an electric motor go kart?

drm

I have been looking for electric motors, and I want a motor that has around 10 hp. But the motors that I have found run on AC and I want mine to be battery powered. Can you run a AC motor on batteries without like an inverter or w/e? I planned to have 6-8 12v batteries. I am open to suggestions on how to make the electric go kart that has a lot of "go power"

Answer
You know, one of the issues hybrid cars have now is that if you get in a big car accident, the paramedics and police won't touch you until they can get ahold of the manufacturers or some number that can walk them through safety procedures that vary depending on the extent of the damage of the car. This means that you could literally bleed to death while they're standing around pulling their wankers for fear they mind get electrocuted. That's the safety downfall to owning one of those. Now in your gokart, are you sure you really want to be screwing around with something electrical? even if you're extra careful I would imagine one of your brilliant buddies is going to do something stupid that will turn him into a crispy critter. Maybe YOU decide get curious and want to see how this part runs before you end up bar b quing your nuts in the garage.

Why do you want to use that for when you can use a lawnmower that'll get you 10hp and up..maybe as much as 20-25hp. Forget the electrical kid. That's cool you want to go green but no need to fry your balls in the process.

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