DU electric car survey

[skids]

Poll question: DU electric car survey

Much ado is made about the range and charge times of the EVs planned and on the market.

How much ado is due?

Let's say you had to have only an electric car. Assume is had the passenger capacity you would need for your daily life. You could rent another car or truck for road trips or moving cargo. Those of you who are in an area where you might have to evacuate from a natural disaster, keep in mind you wouldn't want to be caught flat footed with a dead battery halfway to safety and factor that scenario in. The rest of you, just consider your normal driving pattern.

What would be the minimum range and maximum "fill up" time you could do with?

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. 5 miles 1 hour charge

[panader0]

2. I need a pick-up for my work.

When they make an electric pick-up that can haul a pallet of block, or a cubic yard of sand I'll buy one.

[robinlynne]

3. If I could have one, I would add a solar panel whihc would take care of an emergency!

[skids]

5. heheh... I'm guessing that means you'd be sticking out the storm n/t

[robinlynne]

13. I live in california........ I've coveted an electric ar since I saw who killed the electric car,

and got as ride in one! solar panel. NO REPAIRS on the car for the 10-12 years that he's had it. For 500.00 there's an electric car guy who makes a device which will tell you exactly how many miles you can go on the charge you have left.
It was amazing!
And that was a 1990 model. His solar panel only operated his air conditioning and heat, but what air conditioning!

[TheWraith]

6. Actually, it really wouldn't.

The amount of energy that can be harvested with a solar panel is trivial compared to the energy demands of an electric car. If you covered the entire roof of the car with solar cells, and left it out in full sun for 9 hours, you might harvest enough power to drive 5-6 miles.

[skids]

7. Probably meant a house system. n/t

[TheWraith]

8. Perhaps, but that doesn't do you any better than a charger.

Some people think that a solar roof on am electric car means driving for free. It would be free help if you parked in a sunny parking lot all day, it's true, but it's not an infinite range extender.

[robinlynne]

17. as for range, most people don't drive more than 40 miles a day. 95% or more of people I think.

The real stats ar up on one of the electric car group websites!

besides there will be charging stations everywhere, so you can charge up while you're at work, having lunch, etc. they are installing 2500 charging stations in san Francisco where you can even swap out your battery for a charged battery in minutes.

I live in LA and we DRIVE here. Once you start to look at it as a NEW system, you see that the range is not that big of a deal. The automotive companies want us all to believe it is.
Why not have a charger in every parking lot, for example? not difficult. Hell, they already make parking meters now that you pay by credit card, so why not a charging station? Give me 5.00 of electricity please.

[cherokeeprogressive]

41. Will there be a charging station here?

[robinlynne]

15. not so. They already have them.

[TheWraith]

23. It doesn't mean you can't hook one up, it just won't come close to fully recharging the car

Unless you leave it in the direct sun for like a week.

[whistle]

4. For an overnight charge I would want at least a 200 mile range

[dysfunctional press]

9. a 50-mile range would get my wife to work and back...

but if the car's gonna cost more than 20K, a 50 mile range isn't nearly enough.

[robinlynne]

18. Don't forget: no repairs EVER. no tune-ups. no gas ever. only brakes and tires.

[dysfunctional press]

24. no repairs EVER?

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[robinlynne]

32. The reason, according to the electric car people that Ford and the others

spent billions to quash the concept of electric cars is that when you buy a gas car, they make 40% of their money from replacement parts, and 60% from the sale of the car. Could be you need to replace a light bulb, but basically no parts, no tune-ups, they say only brakes and tires. Read their websites, watch the movie before you crack up laughing. better yet, go for a drive in one. Meet someone who has one. Ask them. I'm sure they all have everything written down. It is entirely different from a gas car. They do not break.

[dysfunctional press]

34. maybe you should educate yourself about how many mechanical parts there are...

even in an electric car.

[robinlynne]

37. here maybe you can educate yourself about electric cars: link to contact

owners of electric cars: http://www.eaaev.org/

and full of conversations like these.

[itsrobert]

29. Shocks? Battery Replacement? Burned out headlights?

tail lights? Steering? Air Conditioner? Power window? etc, etc, etc.

[robinlynne]

31. The battery is the cost of the car. The poeple who bought them in the nineites have never needed

to replace one, but if you DO need to replace it it's around 10,000.00. But that is the price from when they made very few, so if we're talking about switching to electric cars obviously if you produce a million batteries the price goes down, a hundred million, it goes way down.

[cherokeeprogressive]

33. Wheel bearings?

[robinlynne]

35. Ask them. I don't know what a wheel bearing is. I can quote you from the ecar people:

All you need to replace are brakes, tires and windshield wipers". and no breakdowns reported, ever from any of them.

[dysfunctional press]

39. "I don't know what a wheel bearing is...."

exactly the point i was making farther up.

EDUCATE yourself about how machines work, rather than just babbling on about subjects you admittedly know NOTHING about. :hi:

[lumberjack_jeff]

22. You can roll-your-own for about half that.

[blonndee]

10. On a regular day I drive less than five miles and my car sits most of the day.

I do take somewhat-frequent short road trips to visit my familiy (90 miles) and less frequently, extended family (140 miles).

[rurallib]

11. I assume it could go normal highway speeds?

125 mph er I mean 65?

[skids]

12. Yeah, assume a drop in replacement for any passenger car...

Same ballpark stats on passengers, top speed, acceleration, safety, etc.

(EDIT: though if you are going to do most of your driving on the highway, and you actually go shopping for an EV, halve the mileage figure that the sales brochures say it has, because that is either optimal mileage or assumes a city/highway mix.)

[robinlynne]

20. They sure can!!!! The old models have just as much power as a regular car.

power windows, air conditioning, torque, speed, and SILENCE. no engine noise at all.

[flvegan]

14. I'd want a minimum of a 200 mile charge for a 60 mile round trip commute.

One accident can cause a jam. Sitting in traffic for an hour doing stop-n-go would ravage the stored power.

[nc4bo]

16. 100 miles on a 4 hours charge would be great.

The miles add up quick around here especially if you've got numerous errands to run.

[corruptmewithpower]

19. If the Police would ignore me I'd buy a golf cart now.

I like them a lot more than automobiles.

[lumberjack_jeff]

21. I need 60 miles and can live with a 12 hour charge.

Which is good, because an efficient EV "burns" about 250 watt-hours per mile, so at least 15 kwh are required to recharge after your commute.

If you charge with 120v, the most you can deliver to your car in one hour is 1.8 kw. Therefore it takes over 8 hours to recharge.

Sooo... if you want 100 miles and a one-hour charge, be prepared to ante up for some fairly heavy-duty dedicated charging infrastructure... think 100+ amps at 240v.

[skids]

25. Some companies have mains connected chargers...

...but if everyone soaked their mains (240V 200A mains are common), then we'd have to get that smart grid up
in a real hurry :-)

For any faster charging you'd have to have a high voltage charging station with short term storage (NiFe, or maybe Vd redox PEM or flywheel, or H2 PEM) that could sip power during the day before flushing it out ($$$!). Some of the batteries (LiFePO4) in the newest cars can charge in 15 minutes, but would be longer lasting if charged for 1 hour. The grid is the limitation here, not the batteries, when it comes to charge time.

But the survey is showing people prefer range over charge time, even those that can make due with short range. So I'll be filing all future media articles that complain about charge times in the FUD hole.

[csziggy]

26. My vote was for my husband - 50 miles, 4 hours would work fine for his in town trips and commuting

Since my truck I need for the farm only goes places when I need to carry a load or haul a trailer, it only gets started about two or three times a month.

Husband, OTOH, drives in five days a week, runs most errands before or after work and would be the perfect candidate for an electric vehicle.

[Cid_B]

27. None of the above...

For me it is less the range and more the charge up time. Lost track of the time I have to make a 100-300 mile trip for a 20 minute meeting or pickup or physical signature etc.. etc..

[jsamuel]

28. problem is that it is about 22 miles to work

so I would need it to get at least 70 miles per charge so that I don't have to worry about running out during my normal commute. 70 also just in case the battery efficiency drops over the life of the car.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

30. 500 miles

I like the option of being able to actually go a decent distance without having to bother renting a car. In fact, given the gas prices right now, I kind of miss my Grand Cherokee. It was really convenient not having to borrow my stepdad's Grand Cherokee for weekend chores.

[robinlynne]

36. LINK to electric car info for those of you who think I'm crazy saying no repairs:

http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/223/electric-car-timeline.html

I will find a link to the actual electric car owners from the movie so you can ask them yourselves.

[pdxmom]

38. I am an actual electric car owner, with a 2nd electric under construction. My

husband uses it as his daily driver and he seldom needs it for more than a 40 mile range...and our recharge time is about an hour.

The new one we're building my husband estimates will have about a 60-80 mile range, also with about an hour charge.

As for the discussion about repairs needed...we've replaced batteries (total value to replace all batteries in the car we have now is about $3,000) and tires. This car has been on the road over 18 years (it had one previous owner). He's put money in it for some bells and whistles to maximize range, make the batteries more efficient, monitor his remaining power, etc.

Insurance costs are no different than any other car, and we don't have to have emmission inspections.

[Angleae]

40. I live in an apartment building.

Where am I going to plug one in?