Why don't you own an electric car?
 

Very few people have electric cars but why is that?
I have one and I'm not rich and it wasn't that hard to get it either, but how about the rest of you?

I have no good excuse. I have probably been overthinking it for much too long. It would get done a lot quicker if I just cleaned out the garage and got to cutting and welding and figuring it out as I go.

I voted:

They don't have the range I need - IMO this is my dumb fault that I work too far from home. But, if I spent enough for lithium it would be solved.

What are you talking about? I already own one or more electric vehicles. - Since I did convert my riding mower to electric as a starter project. Maybe the next one will be a road legal vehicle. :)

I would love one. Currently I can handle most of my local trips on foot. I'll take my car to the grocery store when I know I'm getting more than my arms can handle. Maybe I should see if the store is willing to sell an old shopping cart.

The rest of my trips are long distance and/or all day.

I already own/maintain an electric golf cart. That thing costs about $600 every 5 years in batteries alone. And I live in MN where electric cars aren't really practical in the winter time.

Can't afford one. Unless you can find a decently working one near me that might need work and is on the road (registration and title included) for under $1000, and still has at least 30 miles range, and even then, at this particular point in my life, I can't afford it.

I voted 1,3 & 4... Since there are no option for "Because the stupid manufacturers can't make an EV without overengineering it to the n'th degree"

And hence why my first EV will be a purely DIY effort... Take a normal small car... Chuck out all unnecessary stuff + ICE... Put in batteries and electric motor... Done... Even GM, Ford and the likes could figure that out... They just didn't want to build it...

I personally would love to get off the grid. My wife & I despise the electric company. I am not going to add to the cost of my monthly electric bill. We got rid of the gas company by heating with wood. We mostly use downed trees off of our property.

I need to get more solar & wind savy.

Dave

Unless there are some significant changes to the available battery options, electric vehicles simply will continue to not be even remotely competitive in price compared to gasoline powered vehicles.
They cost anywhere from 3 to 4 times more per mile to operate. Despite being mechanically simpler, the energy storage medium is currently too expensive.

Ryland -

I voted range, but price is probably the second reason. Back in the 1990's my job was 5 minutes from home but school was 15 miles away. The idea of "leasing" an EV1 was too costly to me, so I never considered it. Anyway, I've always driven a lot to get stuff done, so range has been and always will be a factor for me.

CarloSW2

I live sixty miles from the nearest stoplight, but usually drive 80 or 120 to one of the better shopping areas, every month or so. Availability would be my next concern. I do have a Charger electric bike, but its little brain got damp and died.

'Cause I don't have a spare $109K, of course.

I'm assuming that by "car", you mean a vehicle that'd meet a lot of my driving needs, not a glorified golf cart or "neighborhood vehicle", and not a DIY conversion (that I don't have the free time to do). So that leaves a Tesla as the only option that I know of.

I do the bulk of my local bidness on foot, bicycle, or electric bike, so only need to fire up a bigger vehicle when load is bigger, or weather really inclement. Can't justify an electric car for that.

The next tier, then, is out of town bidness. I rarely just go to the next town or two over; it's mostly to towns 60 to 350 miles away. Dang- an electric won't make it. Plus my car averages over 30 and can get 40 when I play my cards right- what are the savings?

Then there is MN winter, bitter and lasting about 8 months/year, which significantly negatively impacts electric vehicle operation. I too loathe my electric coop and will avoid giving them as much bidness as possible. So all these chargers and heaters and whatnot ain't gonna happen.

range.
this would mean i would only use it for grocery shopping 1 or two times a month. really.

i also cant justify having a car payment higher that the gas i spend in my paid-off car.. for how little i could use it.

I can't get acceptable speed and range at a price that even comes close to making sense. The environmental benefit is small at best if you run the thing on grid electricity, i.e. mostly coal.

If, five to ten years from now, $20k can buy a Honda/Toyota/Ford PHEV with enough electric range to handle my commute, and excellent aerodynamics offering great highway fuel economy when running on gas, then I'll consider replacing the Insight.

I went for "can't afford one", though I should really have added the range option too. If I ever bought an electric car it would be a second car because I don't think I see myself selling my current car - anything else I buy would be as well, rather than instead of.

So because I already own a car I can't afford another, let alone an electric car. There has never really been a cheap electric car in the UK - the cheapest is probably the G-Wiz and those sell for a reasonable amount even second hand. Also, I see myself as fairly open-minded and understand that electric vehicles aren't yet what they will be, but the G-Wiz is just too much of a compromise for me to ever consider owning one. A Smart EV would be much more up my street and has the equipment and safety that I expect from a proper car. And of course, those aren't even slightly in my price range.

The range issue would only come into play if an electric car was my only car. Although most of my journeys are short, I do occasionally make longer journeys that would be a nightmare on public transport and therefore a car with the required range is the only option.

They are not strong enough. I could not vote, no proper statement.Not only about range. I mean physics of my location. Of course, if I were in a public pole about anything vehicle related,and actually won with democracy, even the gayness of painting cars pink would leave mine with a hopeless sense of masculine...:rolleyes:

waterproof electric with dual range AWD and "mudders"...a possible. Just give that ground to the aluminum side vent like an old 707.
:thumbup:

I bet 300 trillion fake dollars to my one real..they haven't done it.:eek:

This.

Personally:
I ride my bike all over town now that I have a decent riding one. We don't have bike lanes, but I ride in low traffic times.

My dad commutes 30-35 miles one way, and an electric car isn't yet capable (and affordable) of that distance (round trip).

I've had trouble dredging up the money I need to fix up the cars I have! Even $1000 for NEV is beyond my current abilities (Damn you job market!).

I just trashed my bank account buying a $575 vehicle. Don't feel bad.

You are in luck! I saw a Tesla for sale on Craigslist last night and they only want $98K !

When Zap PU self-destructed in 2002 and Zenn, Miles, and Gem hobbled around at 25 mph on 45 mph speed limit streets, many people made up their mind by what they saw. Except me.

My 1993 EV went over the limit, faster but with less range. People saw it charging 4 to 6 hours and made up their minds again- no EVs and constant charging. It is hibernating now with the license overdue next month. Maybe for good.

I look forward to a Triac, Alius, Myers; or something newer that I can get parts for!

I was surprised that once I started looking it turned out that there were alot of electric cars around.
I bought my Citi-car for $160, I've put about twice that much more in to it to fix it up along with a pretty much free set of batteries that hold a half charge, I still have a bit more to do to get it fully on the road but I'll have a $500 two person electric car and all I had to do was start telling people I knew that I was looking to buy an electric car, I think it was the 4th or 5th person I talked to who sold me the EV they had in storage.
My Commuti-car is the most expensive car I ever bought at $3,500, of course it needed $50 worth of brake work done so it wasn't perfect but darn close, I also bought it at the peek of gas prices so I paid $1,000 more then they are going for now.
I now seem to get an Email every few weeks about someone trying to sell their EV and I can't get any of my friends to buy them, thus my pole to find out why people who are clearly in to gas mileage don't own one.
My next EV is most likely going to be a Myers Motors NMG or their Duo as a 70-100 mile range would be nice along with it's higher speeds.

Find me an EV for $160 around here, I'll jump on it. Even if it needs work. You can't get a busted Cush out here for less than $800.

Hah, I feel ya man! I've been debating selling a 1963 190Dc I picked up for $450 but it's something I've always wanted so I'm just hobbling along w/ all the other cars. :thumbup:

We use our Auranthetics about 6 months out of the year on dry days. $300 each + $200 for insurance.

I do need the range to get into town from the Island I live on and they just aren't there yet in my price range. SO...

I got the Prius for a steal and plan to ecomod the heck out of it and then get an Enginer PHEV kit.

I'm waiting for the Aptera. Not holding my breath. It's starting to sound like a soap opera with that company. That joker they chose to run the company sounds like a real jack**s. *sigh*

Does it look just like this?

http://www.autosalon-singen.de/merce...5_04_08_01.jpg

That would make a sweet electric!

Convos are expensive! If I found something like that for $450 I woulda sold it a long time ago and had a ton of money left over for every other car/bike I have. :D
Right now it looks like this w/ an interior that isn't as nice, a better body, a relatively new paint job that needs some touch-ups, and some new chrome in the trunk. I'm 90% sure the powertrain is O.K. so I don't think I'll yank anything. Ideally, if I had the money, I'd like to put a 9" motor behind the trans and run it off of a pack of A123 cells. 3kWh should get me ~80hp/10 miles of all electric range, and all told it would only increase the weight by ~250lbs. Stock it's ~45whp/2800lbs, probably slower than my VW, but ~115hp/3050lbs would make for a peppy ride.

An EV is supposed to be driven and charged everyday to keep the batteries healthy, or so I've heard. I don't commute everyday. I bike when I can, but public transport is good. My wife has 20-25km one-way. In the summer, she bikes. In the winter it takes her 1.5-2 hours to get to work on 3-4 busses, so she'd like a car. But the winter here won't allow that: this morning it was -30*C (-22*F). Even if a freshly charged EV would get her to work in that temperature (the car would have to sleep outside), then:

1. She would freeze in a -30 degree (C) steel can,
2. The car would spend 8 hours in the parking lot in temperatures around -15*C. Would it make it home?

We would love to have a small, 2-4 person EV with 100-150km range, but we would use it only 2-4 times per month at most. The rest of our trips are long distance.

But things change, and if it turns out that biking/mass transport are out of the question and we will be able to use an EV, then I'll have a new project:)

Can't afford the one I want. I don't have the time and money for the conversion.

I checked out your MB. not a bad specimen at all. Must be nice to live in Ca. Your 190 doesn't really need that much work to bring it back to a real gem. A friend of mine picked up a 77 240D from the original owner. The car was a well cared for Pa. doctors only driven on the best days kind of vehicle.

Good luck with your D,
Dave

I'd love to have a classic like that, but I'd never drive it, and that's against my rules.

I especially like the front mount car seat... must have cost a fortune?! :rolleyes:

You need a poll answer for "My wife wont let me build one right now..."

She thinks it will be too expensive and doesn't want a small car....I keep telling her I could go the easy route with Lead batteries and a forklift motor, but it keeps coming back to a small car....

We ride together all 5 days a week to and from work. The trip is 15.2 Miles each way totaling 30.4 miles plus some running to the store on the way home...So total is about 40-45 miles a day...

-Adam

...lack of RANGE!

...26 miles to work and 26 miles back and NO place to "plug-in" at work!

...gotta have at least 60-80 mile range for my needs.

Thats completely doable, you'd just need a lithium pack that costs ~$8k.

Quick run down:

80 miles @ 300Wh/mile = 24000 Wh pack capacity

LiFePo4 is currently $.34/Wh

24000 * .34 = $8160

Ironically, this is the exact pack capacity as the Nissan Leaf which is very comparable size wise to a Vibe. :)

my hill has a steep grade, it wouldnt make it up at the speed required (30+)


plus i would build mine not buy it
(which makes that first part even more applicable)

Oddly enough, the reason I built an electric car was to ease the burden on my ICE: short commute is hell on an ICE and terrible for gas mileage. Another negative was that the ICE didn't get warm enough to give me a comfortable ride unless I let it sit for longer than it would take me to get to work! The electric has almost completely eliminated my need for the ICE to get to work. I think I took my ICE to work twice in the last two months. I think that, for its intended purpose, it is a far superior vehicle in most repects. I can't wait to get my 2nd one done so that I can rely on my ICE even less than I do now....

Where? The best I've found is $.45/Wh.

The Th!nk City will have a ~120 miles range, and it will be made here in the USA. Should be on sale later this year (units made in Finland to US spec), and the Indiana made units should be here next year.

The Nissan Leaf will also be available in a similar time frame, and have ~100 miles range.

Hopefully, at some point next year, we will see the Aptera 2e with a 120 mile range.

Here is one site: http://www.evcomponents.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=28

ThunderSky cells are going for $44 for a 3.2V 40Ah battery and $110 for 3.2V 100Ah. Sky Energy is slightly more expensive.

Don't forget to add 10% for freight as well as port fees and duties. There may also be another 6.5% and gas money if someone picks them up on site, or freight if the batteries are being shipped to you. The cheapest I found 'em was from evcomponents, but after import costs and gas, assuming I don't have to pay the 6.5% local sales tax, they're about $.40/kWh. For most people w/ freight I'm pretty sure they'll approach $.45/kWh.