phlogistician said:HA! I've just had a look for electric cars online. Yes, there are some models that offer spectacular performance like the Tesla Roadster, and the Lexus 2054, but at unrealistic, non mass market prices.
At realistic prices, let's compare the G-Wiz at £7,000;
http://www.goingreen.co.uk/store/buynew/
to the Ford Ka, also at £7000;
http://www.ford.co.uk/ie/ka/ka_overview/ka_ka/-/-/-/556590
So, the G-Wiz is pretty useless, isn't it? Two seats, 40 miles range, it's going to get you to the supermarket and back, maybe to work and back, but possibly not both without a recharge in between (of eight frikking hours!)
Also, the G-Wiz is marketed at the London driver, where there is a congestion charge to pay on petrol vehicles, and free parking offered in various places to electric ones. Here you would have to get lucky and work near a place that offered free parking and charging, because unless you have off street parking (In London?) you cannot plug your car into the mains while it stands on the street. I don't have offstreet parking myself. So your car would get charged while you were at work, but would be depleted on your drive home. Not a great way to leave your car for the weekend.
So, anyone want to spend £7000 on a car that can only go 40 odd miles?
phlogistician said:HA! I've just had a look for electric cars online. Yes, there are some models that offer spectacular performance like the Tesla Roadster, and the Lexus 2054, but at unrealistic, non mass market prices.
At realistic prices, let's compare the G-Wiz at £7,000;
http://www.goingreen.co.uk/store/buynew/
to the Ford Ka, also at £7000;
http://www.ford.co.uk/ie/ka/ka_overview/ka_ka/-/-/-/556590
So, the G-Wiz is pretty useless, isn't it? Two seats, 40 miles range, it's going to get you to the supermarket and back, maybe to work and back, but possibly not both without a recharge in between (of eight frikking hours!)
Also, the G-Wiz is marketed at the London driver, where there is a congestion charge to pay on petrol vehicles, and free parking offered in various places to electric ones. Here you would have to get lucky and work near a place that offered free parking and charging, because unless you have off street parking (In London?) you cannot plug your car into the mains while it stands on the street. I don't have offstreet parking myself. So your car would get charged while you were at work, but would be depleted on your drive home. Not a great way to leave your car for the weekend.
So, anyone want to spend £7000 on a car that can only go 40 odd miles?
MetaKron said:It's a 20 mile round trip to work for me, and groceries are on the way.
That 7000 pounds isn't all that much to spend on a new vehicle. Around here in this part of America it's all too easy to spend something like that on a crappy used gas guzzler.
A 40 mile range is damned restrictive. I would think a good backyard engineer could get that much range by fitting a used car with an electric motor and four to six car batteries.
Carcano said:The electric car will always be dead until we have batteries/capacitors which meet four criteria:
1. Long range.
2. Quick re-charging...in minutes.
3. Low cost.
4. Low weight.
phlogistician said:To make sure you got then and weren't pushing the last hundred yards, you'd have to buy the version that had a 48 mile range, just in case your batteries weren't 100% charged. That's another £1000 on top.
MetaKron said:A 40 mile range is damned restrictive. I would think a good backyard engineer could get that much range by fitting a used car with an electric motor and four to six car batteries.