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This lithium-ion battery car will have 100 mile range and a top speed of 90mph. Cost projected to be the same as for an ordinary IC-engined car. Batteries not included (they're leased).

It seems to me rather odd that the cost will be the same as for an IC-engined car, bearing in mind the relative simplicity of the motor. Anyway, that we're getting electric cars is a good thing for progress.

Other plants building these will be in Oppama, Japan and by Smyrna, USA (aside: interesting name - do they grow figs there?)..

Butt ugly but very interesting. I've always been facinated by electric vehicles.

main problem with electric vehicles is the range....................you can only go as far as the extenstion lead reaches.... :yh_rotfl :yh_rotfl :yh_rotfl

hoppy;1297681 wrote: B]Butt ugly but very interesting.


It's one of the very first of its type. I wonder how development will progress. Electricity storage is about the only issue[1] with these cars - everything else is there!



[1] Apart from generation!

The only draw-back I can see is the lack of noise (good for audio comfort, but bad for warning pedestrians of their presence !). With cooking gas, a smell had to be introduced in order to warn people that it was there. I wonder if a noise would have to be artificially introduced with this electric car so that pedestrians would be able to hear the vehicle coming?

But regardless of this, I am truly in favour of such a vehicle, and I know that it will not be very long before the range of 100 miles could well be doubled or even trebled. It would be much more agreeable if one could drive 200 miles before having to stop and charge up for 1 hour. Gives the driver a break while recharging.

I can remember the old electric milk floats. 10-15 mph, with enough charge to do the delivery round. However the base of the vehicle was literally full of big batteries! These milk floats would be re-charged over night for the next day's work.

There was just a gentle whine from the electric motor when the float was moving - ideal for early morning deliveries of milk to peoples' houses, as sleep wasn't disturbed by intrusive diesel/petrol engine noise. There are still one or two of these milk floats being used in our area, in the UK

G#Gill;1297833 wrote: It would be much more agreeable if one could drive 200 miles before having to stop and charge up for 1 hour.


The idea with these, and other cars which will be available imminently, is that you lease the battery - it can be swapped for a charged one at a garage, or you can charge it (somewhere). The lease cost seems to be fairly high at the moment - hopefully battery costs will drop. One of the main factors that will influence uptake of electric vehicles is cost - should the cost be more than for a "conventionally fuelled" car, I cannot see anyone changing (without coercion, that is).

So, what've we got? An electric car which is far simpler than an IC-engined car - motor, controls, fuel, intake/exhaust - and should be cheaper to produce. A fuel that is cheaper, too - even now. Should it cost the same? No, of course it shouldn't, or people will not take up the idea!

For a couple years during my misspent life I worked in a warehouse. We had two electric lift trucks and two sets of batteries and two chargers for each. I was a driver and was on that thing from clock in time to quitting time. It ran ALL day, constantly, without a battery change. The truck had three speeds, top speed being about 8 MPH. The second shift would swap batteries Etc. The batteries were huge and had to have the water checked each charge. Batteries are getting much better now though.

I have an electric mobility scooter. Since everything in my town is on a hill, I shopped around for one that could handle the hills and had good range. Mine will do a breath taking 5-6 MPH. I ignored scooters that had a higher top speed because many used the same batteries and a slower speed means more range. I'm quite happy with electric power.