Full speed EV due out this summer :-)
 

For those of you who haven't met me, I work at The Electric Vehicle Store in Minnesota. I got a message this morning that one of our suppliers of NEV's will be rolling out a full speed car next summer. Crash testing should finish up next month. I think the car is supposed to do over 50 miles per charge and be at least as fast as a Smart. I am not disclosing the manufacturer as the email was private and the company has not announced the car yet.

I drove one of their validation prototypes on the freeway. Its a good little car IMO.

~Jimbo

And here I've been saving my pennies for the new Myers Motors Duo, I think it still might be my first pick as it's an American made EV, claiming a cost of $25,000 equipped with a 30 mile lithium pack or $30,000 with the 100 mile pack.
Any idea on price, seating or anything else on that new EV you drove?
Also what are the hours of the place you work? I have a short list of places to go around Minneapolis and wouldn't mind stopping in to see what that place is like.

The car is a cute two seater hatchback. It has AC drive, air-con, power windows, and one of those remote locking doo-dads. The company is aiming to sell at or lower than $30k.

It sounds like it might be more expensive than the duo on a price-per-mile-range basis, but this car has 4 wheels and therefore will be legally required to have dual airbags.

As Americans don't give a flying $%#& about energy unless the price jumps, business is slow and we are primarily open by appointment. I'd love to give you the royal tour anytime. When will you be in town? (come tomorrow and you can catch the MN EAA (EV club) meeting!). Anybody who is interested, PM me and I'll give you my cell number.

~Jimbo
Mechanic for EVS

I received more info on the car:

Engine/motor/model: Electric – AC 50
Type: AC Brushless
Kilowatts: 45
Nominal horsepower: 20
Peak horsepower: 60
Torque: 95 ft. lbs. (possibly 115 ft. lbs. if controller goes to 650 amps)
Maximum RPM: 8,500 at 65 mph programmable
Battery pack power: 28 kw

The document claims a "real world driving range of 100 miles" but doesn't cite a test cycle, so I'd venture to guess 60 miles of range.

~Jimbo

is that a lithium or lead acid battery?

28 kWh of pack has to be lithium. That would weigh over 1 ton in lead.

The specs look great! Keep us updated.

28 kWh pack to 80% DOD is 22.4 kWh of usable energy. 100 miles means 224 Wh per mile which is pretty low, but doable. It is AC, so regen helps there. You likely won't see 100 miles at highway speeds though.

Right you are Daox. Its Lithium-iron. And its not ThunderSky (YAY! WOO! HAPPYDANCE!)

Interesting side note, if the pack is regularly discharged 80%, it will last 1000 cycles. At 70% discharge, it is supposed to last 1500 cycles.

The prototype I drove was equipped with an AC41 motor and a 96 volt, 16 Kw Gel-cell lead acid pack. It was adequate for the highway. I am unsure of the range because I was just a wee bit excited and drove the car like a mad man. On the upside, I passed a Santa Fe in an electric car :D
I figure the PbA car would have gone 10 miles on a charge at highway speeds. The city range is 30-40 miles. However the PbA pack is 12 volts lower than the LiFe pack in addition to being half the capacity. I would imagine that the PbA car was limited to +/- 50% discharge, or 8 Kwh usable. Due to the small motor, the car pulled a metric F%&$ ton of current. The Solectria cars had an AC24 motor running at a MUCH higher voltage.

If I drive the car today, I'll try to get some watthour figures.

~Jimbo

It sounds similar to the Th!nk City? Which is starting production next year in Indiana, with EnerDel batteries that are also made in Indiana. They say that some units made in Finland will be sold in this country later this year... ~125 mile range, 70mph, price ~$22K (IIRC), 2+2 seating, made recycled materials.

Interesting. The common quote (usually assumed ThunderSky) is 2000 cycles @ 80% dod, 3000 @ 70% dod.



Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but motor size shouldn't have anything to do with current. You pull 50A @ 100V and you get 6.7hp minus efficiency losses. A warmer motor will probably have increased resistance (and a smaller motor will heat faster), but it shouldn't make a huge difference.

Well, its out, and its the Wheego Whip LiFe

Autoblog Green

I like the Th!nk City.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMF2zn4IxLY


-

I want a TH!NK too :)

They are so cute and durable. I hope my employer carries them when they come out.
But, Think does have a pretty atrocious track record. They have gone bankrupt 4 times in less than 20 years. I'll believe that car is coming when I drive one.

~Jimbo

Oh, good, specs!

http://www.blogcdn.com/green.autoblo...1264539453.jpg

28KWh, 2435lbs. I guesstimate 0.57m² drag area (6.1ft²), which means it'll require around 11kW at the wheels at 65mph, so the 100mi range claim is very plausible.

Aside from the top speed of 65mph, it appears to be a "real car". Excluding the batteries, can we expect it to last 15-20 years like a real car?

How much will it cost?

...uh, which Santa Fe, was that? (a) the CITY in New Mexico, (b) the LOCOMOTIVE train, or (c) the Hyundai SUV vehicle?

Oval_Overload -

Een-tay-rest-ink. Here is an article on the *previous* lead-acid based Whip, so the specs are out of date :

Wheego Whip EV: Function Follows Form | Wired.com - September 2009

Lots of Wheego stuff here :

Wheego Electric Cars

CarloSW2

The Wheego will be using batteries and controls from Flux Power:
Flux Power Wins Wheego | socalTECH.com
And Flux Power was started by Chris Anthony, who was the cofounder of Aptera.
Flux Power Wins Wheego - ApteraForum.com - Unofficial Aptera Car Forum
FLUX - Complete Energy System Technologies

A) I'm in Minnesota
B ) Challenging trains is generally considered bad crossing-arm karma
C ) We have a winner *boob lady hands over giant cardboard check*

Carlos, the weight quoted on that article is off by about a thousand pounds.
I don't know why they are complaining about the acceleration... the NEV version will break the tires loose on dry pavement.

RobertSmalls... good call on the maths :D
IF the Th!nk gets released, it will probably be cheaper than the Whip.

Wheego's business model seems to be avoid taking on debt whenever possible. They got their feet wet building ATVs, then they learned car building making NEV's, and now they are making the jump to highway legal cars. Baby steps.
Th!nk took the opposite approach... Jump straight into car building with a big pile of money. Then the money ran out. Then Fjord put up a pile of money, which ran out. Then the Swiss put in a pile of money, which ran out. Then the Finns, and the saga continues...

~Jim

what car lasts 15-20 years? current cars on the road are designed to last 7.5 years according to what I have heard on the radio, sure I've never owned anything that new and my EV that I drive is 29 years old and still working great with pretty much everything original and stock other then a new set of batteries.

Was that black WheeGo at the Electric Auto Association meeting this new model? I looked at the plates on it and I didn't think they were NEV plates, but then I don't see alot of those plates.
My civic VX was parked right next to it so it was hard to miss.

Don't believe everything you hear on the radio. Just about any Honda or Toyota will outlast that. (100K miles is just the break-in period on a Honda.) My Toyota pickup can even legally run on ethanol now, since it just turned 21 :-)

Looks like an interesting car. I checked the website and it looks kinda like a Smart. Very cool though. How many customers do you get at the Electric Vehicle store? I live in the south metro, so its suprising to hear that there is a place that sells EVs nearby.

Most cars last around an average of 10-30 years, depending on quality. You cant expect a Mitsubishi Starion or Chevy Vega to be running in 2030, but you can expect your Corolla will run until at least 2020 and beyond. Electric cars, we dont have a good number. In theory they should last a very long time as long as the batteries are replaced every now and again.

I like the Th!nk convertible - it must be my CA. upbringing. :D

look at what is for sale for used vehicles, it's hard to find anything older then 10 years old, 10 year old cars tend to be pretty cheap, the last few times I tried to sell a 15 year old car half the calls I got were from people who wanted to buy it for scrap or parts, cars that ran and were being driven.

I drive a 12 year old Ford that is utterly worthless. It drives, that is all it does. Cars simply don't last that long, unless they are summer only cars.

If you don't drive it in the salt, keep it clean, and keep an eye on things, I'm sure the Wheego will last 20 years or more. Otherwise, it will probably fall apart in 15 years just like any other car

NEVs get standard passenger car plates in Minnesota. The car in question is the prototype running the Discover CG8 gel pack. It is the same car I drove on the freeway. The owner put a full belly pan on it ^.^

Ryland, did we meet? I'm the skinny blond guy who looks like he's 12 years old. I drove a Miles ZX40 to the meeting.

~Jimbo

Anyone looking for a car or an EV over 10 years old - this is your lucky day!
'93 Ford Probe owned by a little old lady for years!
1994 City-EL EV convertible
'95 Ford Aspire owned by a little old man for years!

but I cannot figure out which bridge this is from....;)

What can I say? California likes old cars.

Jim -

The September 2009 article I cited was the *obsolete* lead-acid version at ~3600 lbs. Your version is lithium at ~2400 lbs. I just wanted to post a "driver's impression" article. Probably not fair because it was the heavy one.

CarloSW2

As far as I know, that Wheego Ryland saw is car number one. The first. It weighs 2400ish, we hauled it on a snowmobile trailer behind a hybrid. The lithium version weighs the same but has much higher capacity for energy storage.

So true! We have no snow, no road salt, and very little rust where I live. I just got a letter from a towing company in San Jose, "come get your car". I had sold a '94 Thunderbird a few years ago and someone kept buying tags until they needed my drivers license number for the smog test.

So they kept it in storage since they had no ID - $540. worth. If someone wants another old car - they can have the T-bird! Pay the storage and it's yours.

My brother has a Smart, and it is nearly impossible for me to get into because of the rounded doors. Almost identical rounded door bottoms as the Wheego.

I am one Californian that wants something newer that I can get parts for easily, but old Fords make the move so hard by being so easy to use.

Save that 'Bird and use it to build a Sunrise EV2!

Well, that's a pretty cute little car. Now if the price and availability and performance stand up....

I have no worries about the performance of the Wheego standing up to spec. I know it will do 55 mph quite happily, and someone confirmed the range through mathematics (Ryland, I think).

I recently got into the structural bits of a production Wheego, and I'm happy to say it it much more refined from the prototype. The doors close smoothly, all the panels fit well, and the machinery used to stamp pieces at the factory has gotten very accurate. In the prototype, there were a few spots where parts had to be nursed into place. In the production car, everything fits just as it should.

I'm sure my babble sounds odd to you guys, but in the EV world, we deal with a lot of hopeful 'car manufacturers' that slap together one or two prototypes from a design sketched on an napkin and call it 'good enough'. It appears Whegoo is doing it right.

For the sake of transparency and honesty, I'd like to point out that I have a vested interest in selling these, so take my statements with whatever grain of salt you deem necessary :)

~Jimbo
Mechanic, EVS
Minneapolis, MN

Jimbo,

Sounds like a good vehicle. Thanks for the honesty disclaimer. I wish you much success with it. =)

Eric

New specs released. I saw this car in person and will drive it soon. The new battery pack is 30kwh.
115volts 36 cells of the same used in previous flyer.

3 Delta Q chargers totaling 27 combined amps

motor is AC-50 so I'm thinking Curtis Instruments?

Jason,

Which car did you see?

Sorry, should have been a little more specific.

Wheego LiFe 2 seater based on the Shaughuan Noble<-- hope I spelled that right.

Cool -- the electrics are by Flux Power, which is Chris Anthony's company. Chris was a co-founder of Aptera. If you drive it, I'd be curious to hear how it goes -- the various reviews I have seen are pretty much pans. The car itself leaves a little to be desired, apparently.

Neil, when I drove the NEV version of the WheeGo I thought it was quite nice, better build quality then the Chevy Aveo and other compact cars that I've ridden in that are on the market, if I had the money I would think about buying one, but then again I really like small cars.

I have seen the crash test on youtube. It is actually a Shaunghuan Noble. It is quite heavy for its size, but the crash test is impressive.