Current high oil prices are seriously hurting world economies
and casue inflation.
Results of recent annual OPEC members meeting:
* Chakib Khelil, president of Opec denied there were supply shortages.
"?indications show that there is no shortage."
* Qatar oil minister Abdullah al-Attiyah also said there was no need to
boost oil supplies to global markets, stating:
?The market doesn?t need more oil."
* Iraqi oil minister Hussain al-Shahristani said:
?There is more oil in the market than consumers want.?
It clearly shows they always can bring price down but they are happy
with the current way the money flows and are not willing to change it any time soon.
In my opinion 50/50 hybrid cars are not long term solution because when
in ca. 2012 hybrid will be mainstream and common, oil price will
double again, and now at reduced consumption rate OPEC
has enough reserves to sell us this stuff not 30 but 60 more years. Perfect!
Also hybrids have mechanical and electrical systems to maintain.
More things that can break. Fuel tank and internal combustion engine
adds to total car weight when traveling on electricity.
100% electric cars are quiet instead of noisy internal combustion engines.
No Tailpipe, just plug it in!
It's Electric! Laugh at high oil prices, in fact, forget
about gas stations, oil spills, and fumes - forever!
And driving for few cents a kilometer just feels good.
Many people don't know that existing purely electric vehicles
with current oil prices cost up to 5 times less per kilometer!
(electricity bill and battery wear down combined)
Sample article from the net:
The typical driver puts about 15,000 miles per year on his car. This works out to 1250 miles per month.
If this driver's car gets 20 miles per gallon, this represents 62.5 gallons of gasoline.
At $4.00/gallon (about the price we paid in 2008), our typical driver spends about $250
on gasoline every month.
An electric car uses kilowatt-hours (KWH) of electricity instead of gasoline.
Typically our EV might get from 3 to 7 miles per KWH. So, for this example,
we'll use 5 miles/KWH. In my city, there is a special off-peak electric rate of
just 3 cents/KWH (ask your utility about off-peak rates.) But in other places,
the electric rate could be 10 cents or higher per KWH. So let's use 7 cents.
Using these numbers, the same 1250 miles per month - that cost our typical
driver $200 for gasoline - only costs $17.50 in electricity for our
electric car.
Maintaining your electric car
It costs very little
Some people think electric vehicles are complicated,
and therefore difficult to maintain. Nothing could be further from the truth.
A gasoline engine and its associated components are made up of thousands
of parts. Every part represents the possibility of a breakdown. This situation
is far different in an electric vehicle. Electric motors have only ONE moving
part. There is no maintenance needed on an electric motor.
No filters, oil changes, coolant, NOTHING.
You have electric motors all over your house - in your clothes washer/dryer,
refrigerator, air conditioner, can opener, blender, and on and on.
Appliances do break - but when was the last time the electric motor
itself was to blame? There is almost nothing in the technology world
more reliable than an electric motor. This is why EVs last a long time,
and have very high resale values.
How about the batteries? Yes, of course batteries have a limited life,
and need periodic replacement. The oldest battery technology is lead-acid.
In a typical EV, a lead-acid battery pack might last for 20 thousand miles.
The pack in my EV, which consists of 16 batteries, costs me about $800 to replace.
That works out to about 4 cents per mile. Add to that the typical electricity
cost per mile of 1.5 cents, and our total operating cost is only 5.5 cents per mile.
Newer battery technology, like Li-Ion, or especially nanotechnology batteries,
have a much longer life. Some cars with newer versions of these batteries may
warrant the battery pack for as much as 250,000 miles, or the life of the vehicle.
Just like a regular car, you will need periodic brake and suspension work -
but if your EV has regenerative braking, which uses the electric motor
to brake the car - your brake pads will last much, much longer that
they would on a standard auto.
Here I tried to compile list of purely electric cars
charged from wall power.
Does not include electric hydrogen powered models.
Soon to arrive:
Aptera
3 weeheled
strange design
cool interior
2 seats
hybrid is option
Mitsubishi i MiEV
Mitsubishi plans to sell the commercial version
in 2010 for less than US$17,000
Tesla Roadster
http://www.teslamotors.com/
motor 248hp
Top Speed 125 mph
Range 220 miles
$109,000
BYD E6 Electric Car
could be sold in Europe by 2010
Chevrolet Volt
production expected to begin in 2010
Subaru R1e
2 seater
Subaru is planning on offering these vehicles
for sale to consumers starting in 2010.
Tango T600
not yet in production, funding pending
Currently available:
Converted gasoline cars.
An old car with a poor engine but a good body is obtained cheaply.
The engine, and all gasoline components are stripped out,
and a new electric drivetrain is installed.
Electric car of this type can be obtained for as little as $5000.
Prices almost never get as high as $20,000.
sample dealer
http://grassrootsev.com/convert.htm
NmG Electric Car from Myers Motors
http://www.myersmotors.com/
strange design
fast
1 seat
$29'000
Xebra Electric Sedan
http://www.zapworld.com/electric-vehicles/electric-cars/xebra-sedan
$11,700
4 seats
looks unstable
ZENN (Zero Emission No Noise)
www.zenncars.com/
2 passenger vehicle produced in Canada
top speed 25 mph
5hp motor
$15,995
GEM (Global Electric Motors)
top speed 25 mph
pricing starts at
$6,795 e2 2-seater
$9,695 e4 4-seater
$12,495 e6 6-seater
MEGA CITY - NICE Car Company
http://www.nicecarcompany.co.uk/megacity/pricing--options_5.html
top speed 40 mph
£11,848
REVA
http://www.revaindia.com/
currently uses Lead-Acid accu
Shandong Huoyun Electric Car Co., Ltd
http://www.hyev.cn/electric_cars-D2_46_1.aspx
top speed 80 km/h
2 seats
sales@hyev.cn
Nanjing Jiayuan Electric Vehicle & Ship Manufacturing Co., Ltd
http://www.jiayuan-ev.com/Products.Asp?cid=1
The current cost of each electric car is 37,000 US$
Green vehicles
Triac
top speed 80 mph
range 100 miles
$ 20'000
Microwatt
$ 12'000
range 60 miles
No longer manufactured:
GM EV1
General Motors stopped production and
destroyed all cars regardless of demands and protests.
~40 of them remains in museums (on condition they are disabled, electronics stripped off)
Ford Think
discontinued
Minor controversy erupted when Ford decided to crush the unsold TH!NK cars.
After protesting by environmentalist groups, including a Greenpeace rally on
the roof of Ford's Norway offices, Ford decided to ship the excess vehicles to Norway.
Toyota's Rav4 EV
Like other manufacturers, Toyota began destroying RAV4 EVs as they came off lease,
after lease continuances were denied to owners. In 2005 an agreement was struck
between Toyota and DontCrush.com (now PlugInAmerica.com) to stop the destruction
and facilitate the continued operation of owned and leased vehicles.
While no longer sold, the vehicle is still supported by selected Toyota service
centers (mainly in California) and a strong owner community.
Honda EV Plus
Honda never allowed them to be sold, instead offering the cars on a 3-year,
lease-only program. Honda allowed some customers to extend their EV Plus lease for a few years.
At the end of the leases, all EV Plus cars were taken back by Honda and decommissioned.
Ford Ranger EV
Discontinued.
Unlike other companies, allowed customers to buy their leased cars.
Nissan's Altra
produced by Nissan Motors between 1998 and 2002.
Chevrolet S-10
The truck was also sold by Isuzu as the Hombre
from 1996 through 2000
Commuta-Car, Citicar
produced between 1974 and 1983
Electric car owners club:
http://www.electriccarsociety.com/
Some features to look for when choosing model:
Regenerative braking
Charges battery while braking.
Extends brakes lifetime.
Accus and elctronics must survive and operate in Estonian winter
Accu lifetime, replacement cost
Integrated solar panel is a plus
Charges battery on a sunny day
Diesel/petroleum based range extender is a plus
Technically a small electricicy generator running
on fossil fuel. Allows making long trips.
Very interesting movie about oil companies crushing electric cars:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7202740060236675590&q=who+killed+electric+car&ei=VbF5SIfQB4aG2wLLqIXtBw&hl=en
Best regards,
Svjatoslav
News from Aug 04, 2008
