80-mph electric car to go on sale this summer in the US

Green Vehicles, a company based in San Jose, California, has recently revealed that it will begin selling two lithium-ion-powered electric vehicles early this summer. The three-wheeled TRIAC is a highway-capable electric car (or oversized covered trike, depending on how you look at it) that can reach speeds of 80 mph. There's also the BUCKSHOT, an electric all-purpose work truck designed for heavy-duty, durable use.

With the two models, the company hopes to liven up the electric vehicle market by focusing on being environmentally friendly and affordable. The TRIAC, which has a five-speed transmission, will sell for an estimated $20,000. Price information on the BUCKSHOT, which has a three-speed transmission, has not yet been released.

Regarding the BUCKSHOT, the company says that "this is a true work truck, with close attention paid to payload capacity, torque, and durability. For deliveries, the BUCKSHOT can come with a lockable cargo shell; for construction, a steel lumber rack; and for all-purpose functionality, a steel body with an extra-long bed and an ample passenger cabin." They suggest that the truck could be attractive to universities, businesses and municipalities.

Green Vehicles also revealed that they are working on two neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs) called the Microwatt and the Moose. The company hopes to bring these low-speed, short-distance electric vehicles to market in the fall.

More information: www.greenvehicles.com (full Web site coming soon)


http://physorg.com/news129475030.html

Is it not? But only being able to drive for a hundred miles on one charge is a big drawback for many drivers.

That low speed neighborhood car option seems pretty interesting, if it is a reasonable price, I'm interested.

Someone like me would do fine with a hundred mile charge, but for those who commute...

Here's another car, in case you haven't see it:

http://www.aptera.com/

Does it plug into a standard outlet? How much electric would it take to completely recharge it? I wonder if we'd be replacing high gas bills for HUGE electric bills?

Could you get it recharged at gas stations?

yes, all of these electric cars coming out can be plugged directly into your wall socket without the need of any kind of an adapter. Most of these cars take 4 to 8 hours to recharge. Your electric bill would increase but the savings would be huge. To my understanding the basic conversion rate would be $0.60 per equivalent gallon of gas.

100% of my electric rate is bought with Wind credits, so I would not have a problem with that. Also, the majority of Americans would be recharging at night when the cost of electricity is off peak pricing and demand is low. I have seen reports that our current grid can handle all of these cars as is.

Daytime electric generation is where the problem is. Even that could potentially be taken care of with a little innovation. You know those windshield screens you put up when your car is parked to keep your car cool and reflect the sun? Those could be replaced with solar collectors that you can plug in to the cigarette lighter to recharge when you are parked outside.

Since all of these cars get at least 100 miles per charge they would be a perfect commuter option for most of the country since 95% of workers drive approximately 45 miles per day.

paraphrasing) Their site says that you can plug it into a 220V outlet (dryer outlet) or a 120V outlet (regular).

It has a range of about 60 miles per charge...but most Americans drive less than 30 miles per day. As for speed, they can go up to 80mph.

It takes about 6 hours to charge the battery. According to their site, that would average a cost of about 40 to 60 cents per night (or per 6-hour charge) depending on location and rates at your power company.

Their site says that that works out to about 2 cents per mile.

(My notes: I figure that if you pay $3.65 per gallon to go say 20 miles per gallon, that works out to about 18 cents per mile - so that's a savings of 16 cents per mile. So, if you needed to drive 150 miles per week - this car would cost you $3.00 in extra electricity that week. Your regular car with gas would cost you around $27.37 to go about 150 miles. Over the course of a year at 150 miles per week, that would be a savings of about $1267 for your transportation.)

but 80 mph on Houston freeways is about cruising speed. I try to drive the speed limit (60 mph), and these buttholes are climbing my ass all the time. Not that I care. I just slow down; not abruptly but gradually. Give it a try. Don't hit the brakes. Just ease off on the accelerator. They WILL back off!

Not sure what they're waiting for, but I know this technology will make the combustion engine look like a hamster wheel.



http://reviews.cnet.com/4326-10865_7-6546764-3.html

is definitely the most awesome of them all.

However, the entire infrastructure of this country will need to be rebuilt to accommodate fuel cell technology. The Skateboard is without a doubt the MOST advanced piece of engineering the world has ever seen when it comes to personal conveyance.

But it will take (who knows how many) Trillions$ of Dollars to put in the fueling infrastructure. And we must ensure that the Hydrogen can be obtained either through Solar, Wind, Hydro or Geothermic sources rather than fossil or biological means. And there's the catch.

The Fossil Fuel industry is lobbying to make sure "DISTRIBUTED" power is not in the future game plan. To them it must all be centralized. If it is not centralized, they lose control. They do not want individuals, groups of neighbors and communities to build their own renewable sources. Thus the reason why they are pushing Nuclear (keep it centralized). If they lose control on the local level and whole neighborhoods are generating their own electric power (hydrogen generation in the garage, PV cells on every roof, etc, etc) then they are out of a job.

The GM Skateboard has been perfected. There is no better design. But it is out of the picture for the next 50 years until everyone has a solar powered hydrogen generator in the garage.

For now, only the Electric and Plug-In Electric Hybrid vehicles will get us out of this mess in the short term for the next hundred years or so. The infrastructure is already here and ready for use today. Added capacity would only be required by govt incentives to install solar, wind, tidal and geothermic plants. Not more carbon and Uranium death shrouds.

The only thing required is for the American public to move forward and enthusiastically buy and invest in these technologies. Otherwise, we are doomed as a people, as a country and as a world community.

Without having the excess heat produced by an internal combustion engine to divert back into the passenger compartment I suspect trying to heat one of these vehicles in near zero temperatures is a very amp-intensive procedure which means you can either ride cold for longer distances or warm but for very short distances.

Same for air conditioning when its near a hundred freaking degrees. Does anyone realize how many amps a cars air conditioning unit pulls off the alternator? A lot.

Some of the story is missing here.

Don

Most of these electric models (the Aptera for instance) will not draw energy from the batteries for this. But instead will have small solar colectors on the vehicle that will run these applications.

And then we have those cold nights. Brrrrrrr.

Don

However, the vehicles also have a button or switch to draw energy from the batteries if need be.

You will be able to buy 100% electric or hybrid versions. The Aptera Hybrid version will give you 300 miles per gallon of gas. You would simply press the button for hybrid power if you need to drive more than 100 miles.

Looks to me like the companies building these vehicles have all of the bases covered.

There belt driven from the engine, which in turn it takes away several horsepower. The only electricty it uses is engaging/disengaging the a/c unit clutch.

The electric motor that accomplishes this usually has a 15 amp fuse in line.

Don

> The a/c unit doesn't pull electricity from the alternator

While you're correct in stating that (in most gasoline
powered vehicles) the compressor itself isn't driven
by the alternator, the A/C still draws a huge amount
of electricity.

If your car is like most and has an electric radiator
cooling fan, that fan is switched on to run constantly
while the A/C is on, and that draws 25-50 Amps.

The ventilating blower is always electric and draws
10-25 amps.

And the electric clutch of the A/C compressor draws
an amp or three.

An electric-only car, of course, powers the A/C compressor
itself using electricity as do the second-generation Prius
hybrid cars (so the A/C can keep working even when the
internal combustion motor is turned off).

Tesha

Their website sucked big time..

Took forever to load and then forever to load any other link I clicked on..

I got tired of waiting.

http://www.flytheroad.com/

<>

been watching their site for a while, preregistered when they made that an option.

Depending where you live, but most of us get our power from coal.

I'm not a big fan of coal either, particularly since a large part of it is mined with mountaintop removal methods. But in terms of energy efficiency and greenhouse gas effects, an electric car powered by electricity from coal beats an internal combustion one hands down. An EV in parts of the country using hydro, natural gas, or nuclear will obviously do much better.

http://www.utsolar.org/documents/Somerville%20Solar%20Paper.pdf

http://tiny.cc/DQgWw

http://www.stanford.edu/group/greendorm/participate/cee124/TeslaReading.pdf

It's good to know even a coal-powered electric car beats a gasoline-burning one.

charges (or at least 80 miles)

The Smart Car only is good for 50 miles on a charge, so it is out for me also.

This car looks promising.

... a grand per wheel.

The Air Car is supposed to go on sale in the U.S. in 2010. It has a range from 100 miles to 200 miles per fill-up and goes up to 75 mph. It supposedly will have an entry level price of $18,000, but that price will probably drop if more vehicles are sold. No welding is involved in the manufacturing process, with all fiberglass panels held together by super-strength automotive glue. It uses electricity, but instead of charging heavy batteries which must be disposed, it uses that electricity to compress air in air tanks. The air is forced into the cylinders of an engine that essentially works like a normal gas-powered engine, but the pistons are driven by compressed air. And the engine lubrication is vegetable oil, that only needs to be changed every 33,000 miles. The use of electrcity in all-electric or air-powered cars right now depends on power plants that burn fossil fuels. Hopefully, under a new President, we can spur research into developing cleaning burning coal, safer nuclear power, and eventually a grid where solar, wind, geothermic, and tidal power play a role.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/new_cars/4251491.html

http://www.zevcat.com/consumer.html

However, if you're interested in something right now, think about diesel. If you're buying hybrid vehicles strictly for cost savings in fuel, that's not a wise move right now. It takes anywhere from four years to eight years to recoup the difference in price vs. an equivalent gas powered car. And if you're doing it for emissions, like people have mentioned, the energy generated in the power plant is made by burning coal.

Diesel no longer has a terrible odor, manufacturers are coming up with more and more clever ways of reducing the smog causing components (like on-board ammonia generators), the gas mileage is stunning, and, important to Americans, actually allows cars to run 'sporty'. The acceleration for example isn't anemic. You also don't need a whole new infrastructure, like with hydrogen. They also hold their resale value much better than hybrids. In some cases, appreciating.

Obviously, the use of petroleum is going have be phased out, but in the transition, smaller diesel-powered vehicles, like they have in Europe where hybrids haven't really caught on, can serve as another alternative.

Would hate to see it burried in GD.

Thanks

But I'm big and tall.

Useless in the NE and other snowy climates if they can't make it through snow and slush.