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Old 01-08-2011, 11:15 PM   #49 (permalink)
bennelson
EV test pilot
 
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Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Oconomowoc, WI, USA
Posts: 4,435

Electric Cycle - '81 Kawasaki KZ440
90 day: 334.6 mpg (US)

S10 - '95 Chevy S10
90 day: 30.48 mpg (US)

Electro-Metro - '96 Ben Nelson's "Electro-Metro"
90 day: 129.81 mpg (US)

The Wife's Car - Plug-in Prius - '04 Toyota Prius
90 day: 78.16 mpg (US)
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The video covers entry-level construction - so it sticks to lead-acid batteries and DC motors.

I am self-employed, but work was DEAD this summer. That means I was unemployed, but without any unemployment benefits...

I would like to do some work on an instructional video for electric motorcycles.

In terms of conversion costs in general, Lithium battery prices are coming down all the time. 60 MPH isn't hard to hit, even with lead batteries and a DC motor (I have clocked my car at 72 mph...)

Range is what most people would consider to be the single biggest difference between a gas and electric car. None of the coming commercially available electric cars (with the one exception of the the Tesla Roadster) go more than 100 miles per charge. GM decided to make the Volt a hybrid for long distances

I do personally know one guy who built a lithium battery car with a theoretical range of 200 miles, but he spent $20,000 on JUST the battery pack. It is a really cool car though. Near-Tesla performance in an El-Camino!

For now, I would say that a low-budget car, together with an affordable gas vehicle is the best way to "tag-team" transportation needs. If you can only have one vehicle in your life, a plug-in hybrid might be the way to go.
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