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Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard
Q&A with 'Ingenious' author Jason Fagone on the legacy of X Prize [w/video]
The comments about "we need a better battery" miss the point of the X-Prize, which showed that we need better cars. Seven is about 2X as efficient as most OEM EV's. It has ~2.5X the range of the Leaf using a battery that is less than 50% larger capacity. The eVLC has more range than the Leaf with less than half the battery.
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That's the saving grace of the X-prize vehicles that i believe ensures their future in electric cars. If you can offer more range for the same price, you basically undercut the competition. You have a higher top speed. You get more miles faster as you charge, and your battery pack will also last longer as it cycles less often.
In a gas car, once you get past 50mpg, your just cutting smaller fractions out of $4.00 a gallon gas. The savings on mpg past that amount aren't enough, and people are willing to procrastinate till gas get's pass $8.00 a gallon and the return makes more sense. You also have a less powerful, though more efficient engine. While EV's can have great efficiency with high power motors.