Thread to talk about EVs

OK, I'm game. Just be gentle with me, because EVs frighten me.

In my signature, you'll notice that the "EV NUT" part is a live link. That takes you to my EV site where many of the common questions are answered... and likely many new ones will be discovered. My site is the result of my experiences and my effort - it is not to be taken as something objective!

 

OK, to get folks interested... here are my three EVs.

First was the GM EV1. Fast and fun... and returned, in perfect condition, to GM under duress with under 30k miles. Now crushed.

[Broken External Image]:http://www.darelldd.com/ev/images/ev1/ev1_gallery/kyra_ev1_01.jpg

The Toyota Rav4EV. Our daily driver that we put 12k+ miles per year on. It is the commuter and the family car.

[Broken External Image]:http://www.darelldd.com/ev/images/rav4/rav_misc/rav_darell_kyra.jpg

And the latest, my Ford Ranger EV. Bought for fun, and selling to help finanace the Prius:

[Broken External Image]:http://www.darelldd.com/ev/images/ranger/ranger_tim/ranger_tim01.jpg

All three are production battery electric cars. They use no gasoline, no oil, and all are (were) charged with power that I generate on my roof.

 

And click this ONLY if you have Broadband: X1-movie

Watch the volume, it gets loud when the ICE's fire and the tires burn.

Yours truly will get a chance to drive this thing at the end of this month.

 

How come you're getting a Prius?

 

Cool stuff thanks for sharing.
We are putting solar electric on our house in phoenix, expensive but will pay back in xxx years.

 

Does anyone have experience with EV cars in Boston, MA?

The more I look at these cars the more I'm thinking that I need a RavIV EV. It would be perfect for my commute (24 miles/day).

I wonder how the batteries would keep up in winter.

oh, how I dream that the next Prius will give a true EV range and plug-in.... it would be so cool and perfect for my commute

 

let me know when you find the answer to this one.

 

We have EVs all over the East Coast. New York, Maryland. I don't don't know anybody directly in Boston, however. As long as you avoid Lead acid batteries, there's really little proble. There will be reduced range, but nothing more than the reduced range of a liquid-fueled car.

Here's the gallery entry from a Rav4EV driver from Maryland:
"Bryan Murtha, Owings, Maryland
License: SUN PWR
Silver 2002. Partially powered by our 2.2 kw solar array. Purchased in December 2003 from a seller in L.A. after losing our leased 2000 Ford Ranger EV. Driven daily for my 70 mile roundtrip commute into downtown Washington, DC. This is the first vehicle that has allowed me to make that clean commute even on 8°F days."

Gallery can be seen here: http://www.darelldd.com/ev/rav_owner_gallery.htm

Doesn't matter where you live, the Rav4EV would make that commute at least three times per charge. Though with home charging (the cars come with the charger) you start each morning with a full "tank." And yes, the heat and AC work just dandy. Especially the heat. And the 2002's (the model I have) have heated seats and heated windshield.

Just fine. They're exothermic. Here in CA driving, I expend some energy just keeping the cool!

You and me both, my friend. I was trying to hold off as long as I could. Do I vote with my wallet that the Prius is heading in the right direction, or is buying one now a vote that the Prius is exactly how it should be (gasoline only)?

 

I guess I'll be answering this one until I'm blue in the face. There are several reasons - some of the nobel, some of them pathetic.

The short answer is that I can only keep two vehicles here - and currently have three to fill all our "needs." Our main vehicle will remain a battery electric (the Rav) and I want our secondary vehicle to make as much sense as possible - and have the potential to run in pure BEV mode as well. We're spoiled with CA HOV access in the Rav, and are looking forward to having it for the Prius as well.

If I could buy a second BEV with 200 mile range (AC Propulsion who has made a 300-mile car already, so they're our best chance at that. They will have a Scion conversion prototype running around this spring.) then I wouldn't need a liquid-fueled vehicle. But today I'm stuck. I have no options in the BEV category, as most vehicles have been removed from the road and crushed - and no new ones are being produced.

I'm selling our Civic and the Ford Ranger EV to help finance the Prius.

 

Thanks for the info and yes I was battling with the same question. My current 10 yr old Maxima is not as reliable as I want from a car so I need a new car whitin 2 years. I couldn't see anything available on the horizon that would over come the Prius in that timeframe. The next problem was a moral one, should I support Toyota and the Prius attempt and they get the hint and produces a true EV car or will I just push them to take the easy route and produce more and more hybrids

I'm hoping they have a vision and here is how I think it could work out. People are worried about running out of "gas" or charge in an EV car so they hesitate to buy (this is where I used to be). They also don't trust that hybrids are fast enough. How to overcome? You first introduce hybrids and probe they are reliable and fast enough, the Prius and the Highlander probes that and the Camry proves it's an every persons car, next you introduce a 3rd generation hybrid that has true EV mode but still has a gas engine so that you can make it home with gas if you have to. This could truly move the market and it would also have the benefit of creating a huge market for batteries making them a lot cheaper... I hope this is Toyota's thinking but I have no real proof for it.... I soo hope this is the last gasoline engine I buy.... if they introduce a Prius III with around 50 miles EV range (at 65 mph and below) that also has a 0.7L gas engine as a charger but that comes with a plug in... then I'll buy one!

Hey! A man can dream!

I will look more into current EV cars but the odds of finding one for sale is low How much for your pick-up? what range does it have?

 

That is cool! Is there any info on that conversion? it would be interesting to see what the conversion would cost (and what scion they start from). We are planning to trade my fiancees car in a couple of years, she has a long commute (60 miles one way). She could drive the Prius and I could drive the scion, but with 200 miles range she might get the EV!

 

The saddest part for me is that was what I thought exactly ten years ago. in Spring of 1996, I test-drive the GM Impact, which became the EV1. I remember thinking that the car I drove to th event would be my LAST gasoline vehicle. So here we are ten years later, and there are ZERO options to buy a new battery car. Just makes me sick. GM called the EV1, the "car of the future" and then proceeded to crush every freaking one of them (oh sorry... except for the few that were gutted and then donated to universities and museums).

I share your vision about where this is all headed, and I don't think there are too many other options at this point! We took the big step forward to BEVs ten years ago, and then we took most of that step right back.... and now I guess we'll slowly take our baby steps back up to where we should be.

 

Oops! Sorry about that. I added a warning to that post. The crazy part about the sound is that you would swear that the EV is shifting as it leaves the other cars behind. But ALL The sounds you hear in the race (except for the high whine of the EV gears) is the ICE vehicles struggling to keep up.

Ah. Like a breath of fresh air. Most people just feel sorry for me, envisioning me struggling through life in a golf cart with no doors.

 

In one of the umpteem polls, asked what was the feature most loved in the Prius, 'stealth' lead the choices.

EV is not only the smart thing to do, it is so unbelievably cool it has to be experienced to be appreciated. I was not in any particular rush to exchange my working cars, but a vacation to DisneyWorld turned me into a fanatic overnight. It was the monorail.

 

We will see the results in a few years.

Ken@Japan

 

Can you imagine stealth mode at full throttle and at 80mph? Welcome to my life. When EV1 drivers were polled about the desire they liked most, the men said "the acceleration" and the women said, "home fueling."

Put them all together and you have a fantastic vehicle choice for many situations.

 

OOps, missed this. The figures for the Scion won't be available until they get the first proto running around. The plan is for a 200 mile car with astonishing acceleration in the $40k range. Won't be cheap, but it'll be awesome. Can plug it in ANYWHERE literally.

 

These two will likely go hand in hand. The more batteries we make, the better batteries we can have for cheaper. Just because the cars get cheaper does NOT mean we'll suffer with less battery.

And what better way to make them welcome than to make them better?

Which is half way there!

The vehicles were never marketed. There was a waiting list for every EV that was ever made.

I'm sorry... this is tough for me to hear. I was at those CARB hearings, and I've been an EV customer for three vehicles now. I know what went on, and this isn't it. Every EV maker has said similar things, and surprise! It just isn't so. Ask how many Rav4EV batteries have been replaced before 150k miles, and you'll see how the statements don't match reality. And now ask how many vehicles were made to "only sell 300 of them." GM said the same thing about the EV1 - that they "could only sell 800 of them." Well, in each case, they only made that number! And every one of them was sold (or leased in the case of the EV1). No, they are not telling you the whole story. You can't sell more vehicles than you make - though that's what happend with the Rav4, actually. The demand was so high, that they mistakenly sold more cars than they had, and had to continue making them after the program ended. In each case, the EV programs were terminated while there were many potential buyers on waiting lists. Even GM has finally admitted to having thousands of customers on waiting lists... and this was for 800 cars that were ever produced. I could go on and on (don't test me! ) but I'll attempt to stop my ramble here.