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Old 03-02-2011, 03:52 AM   #491 (permalink)
byte312
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Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: jackson Michigan
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MPaulHolmes View Post
The Thundersky batteries would cost around $15000 to go 200 miles if your car takes around 250w*hr/mi of force to push it around, and if you could get the batteries for around $1.1 per amp*hr. A 200HP peak controller would be around $500, the charger $300, BMS around $400, motor $1500 new, or $500 on ebay. Mating the motor to the transmission might be $750. The rest of the costs are pretty minor. I don't know what that adds up to, but it's definitely cheaper than $32000.
The $32,000 was the result of too many experts working on the car. The cost to install the motor was about $11,000 and then they wanted more to cut out the floor of the trunk and weld in battery boxes. The suspension was being crushed so that cost more to fix. It just went on and on like this until the police had to be called to recover a few other cars that were being held hostage by the machine shop that was doing the work.
I felt badly for the poor guy that was paying that bill.

I personally need a car that can cover at least 85 miles in a day to get me to work and home. Nothing less could get me there and back. So, this is where I am coming from and this is what most people would need to be practical for them. If you live close to work, you don't really need to worry about the price of gas because you hardly burn any.
I worry because I drive so many mile each week that it is hurting my wallet.
Also, I am one who wants to see better things done that are good for everyone. If you stand next to an electric car people will swarm around it and start asking questions. The first question is: How far can it go? The next is how fast can it go? This is a grand opportunity that has been trashed. The crowd will start laughing when you answer these questions and walk away. I can't blame them because it really does look foolish when you explain it. I want to change that! I want to make a car that is better than what people are driveing now. I think it can be done just like the first cars, time is needed to develope them and make them affordable for the general public to own. I am afraid that damage has been done. The public at large see these cars as failures. One encourageing development is the almost sudden availibility of re-chargeing stations in our communities. They are popping up all over which makes it easy to avoid the embarisment of anwering the dreaded question, how do you charge it away from home?
We make excuses for not driving electric cars but we also make excuses for falling short of what the world expects from them. There was a time when the push to put a man on the moon was a race to which would put America on top. This is the new challenge.
Sadly, this has become a political issue. Ultra Conservatives blame "the loony liberals" for forceing these cars on the public. what other rights and freedoms will they take away when they force us to drive these cars????

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