Electrically Powered Vehicles?

'scorthy

My banger is eligible for the scrapage deal. I'm considering all options; has there been any major breakthroughs in EV's that would make them more attractive as a possible purchase since the subject was last carried on the boards?

Owen

Nope. In fact, the MINI-E all electric vehicle is having issues with the cold, the low temperatures are resulting in only half of the normal range when fully charged.

Beta Ray Bill

'scorthy wrote: »

My banger is eligible for the scrapage deal. I'm considering all options; has there been any major breakthroughs in EV's that would make them more attractive as a possible purchase since the subject was last carried on the boards?

Wait a while OP Renault are going to be releasing a whole range of Electric Cars at the end of this year (2010) they all look smashing.

I've never been a fan of Renault's but these cars look the business. (i'm seriously considering one in the future.
The tech is coming on. 2010/2011 is going to be the big year(s) for EV's in my opinion.

'scorthy

Thanks Guys...from what I've read & heard and now confirmed no major developments and launches in the EV sector until 2011. I see it in our own Company with our designers first run I spend a year debugging based on feedback and professional analysis of the new product. I sure it must be the same with EV manufacturing.

Pkiernan

As with any new technology, there is always resistance from the general public.

If you buy one, you will not be at the beginning of the curve, but about halfway up it.

General Motors had a hugely successful EV in the mid 90's, but on a lease only. Not one of the leasees were given the option to buy at the end of the lease even though they all wanted.

We have seen massive improvements in battery technology, and I don't doubt that there will be significant improvements to come.

Personally, I would LOVE one.

EV technology (other than the batteries and regeneration) is very simple.
For example you will have no gears to fail, no oil to change, no turbos to fail,no emissions to worry about.

They will also be incredibly cheap to run - less than a third of petrol cars, and even cheaper if you ever plan to generate your own electricity in the future.

Maintenance costs should be significantly lower than for a normal car.

There will be no road tax, you will most likely get free parking, will probably be allowed to use bus lanes, and some big employers will provide free charging at the workplace (Intel are already do this in the USA).

There will be some risks, as with all new technologies, but to me the upsides are massive. I am sure that the manufacturers will offer signifcant warranties re. battery life (for example Toyota already offer a 7 year warranty on their batteries - who can name a car manufacturer ofering a similar one on their engines?).

Go for it, I will be.

tuxy

Pkiernan wrote: »

I am sure that the manufacturers will offer signifcant warranties re. battery life (for example Toyota already offer a 7 year warranty on their batteries - who can name a car manufacturer ofering a similar one on their engines?).

Kia?

si_guru

Pkiernan wrote: »

There will be no road tax, you will most likely get free parking,

Some how I doubt we'll have that here... isn't an EV already liable for road tax here?

who can name a car manufacturer ofering a similar one on their engines?

Kia.


That said.. I too would buy a hybrid or EV if priced right... i.e. a diesel Octavia/Focus or similar makes more sense right now.

Absurdum

Pkiernan wrote: »

There will be no road tax, you will most likely get free parking, will probably be allowed to use bus lanes,

I'd say that won't last as soon as significant numbers of them appear on our roads!

robtri

EV cars regiestered before 08 are liable for €146 motor tax..

EV cars registered after 08 fall intot eh 0-120g band A at €104 motor tax.

Pkiernan

robtri wrote: »

EV cars regiestered before 08 are liable for €146 motor tax..

EV cars registered after 08 fall intot eh 0-120g band A at €104 motor tax.

Sorry about my mistake. My understanding was no road tax (for the time being).

I do note that the VRT on an EV is subject to a 50% reduction until end of 2010. So I assume 7% VRT on an EV - according to revenue website.

After reading more about Renaults concepts, it looks like they intend to lease the batteries to their customers - not too sure if this is a great idea.

Their plans for charging options seem great - 6 hours at home. 20 minutes with high voltage charging stations, and 3 minutes with a battery swap at new "petrol stations".

alias no.9

VRT1 wrote:

Electric Vehicles including Electric Motorcycles

Category A and B vehicles and motorcycles which are shown to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners to be series production models of electric vehicles and electric motorcycles are exempt from VRT until 31 December 2010.

'electric vehicle' means a vehicle that derives its motive power exclusively from an electric motor.

'electric motorcycle' means a motorcycle that derives its motive power exclusively from an electric motor.

from here

With no VRT due on electric vehicles, there would be no VRT rebate for scrapping your old car. Even if there was a decent EV available, you'd get nothing back.

Owen

Some of the developing EV tech is promising, but I still don't see it replacing some form of cumbustion engine - be that hydrogen, or extremely high mpg diesels (We've already got Diesels reaching 75mpg and more, won't be long before they're hitting 100mpg at the expense of performance).

One I read about was a battery tech being trialled, that allowed the battery to be charged to 90% of capacity in about 30 seconds. That might never see production though.

Another was specifically for buses. It was to replace the battery with a capacitor - a bit enormous f*ck off capacitor. The capacitor could then be charged very rapidly at the bus stops when taking on passengers, but would only last about 2 stops distance owing to it's rapid discharge rate. Would be perfect if it charged up every stop though. Same principle could be applied to short haul taxis and taxi ranks.

The best was being developed by GM though, it was an EV, but the EV had a small engine which only had to charge the batteries, not run the drivetrain. It was capabale of ridiculous mpg figures.

The problem with EV's is that everyone's rushing towards it and suggesting ridiculous concepts, swappable battery packs, on street charging, etc. Swappable battery packs won't work because the public isn't patient enough to wait to fill their petrol tank, let alone a 10 minute battery pack swap, and the on street charging wont work because some little scumbag in a hoodie will buy a bolt cutters and have a whale of a time cutting the charging cables.

EV's should be allowed to mature, and undergo testing platforms for feasibility and to recognise weaknesses. The MINI-E project is one BMW have been using, and they've already discovered huge weaknesses in the tech, but have also learned a lot statistically. The next step in that project will be a 1 Series Coupé EV, but that will be based on making corrections they now know need to be made.

Maybe Renault's team will come up with something revolutionary, but I can't see it being more than what we already know, with a fancy body on it to attract the press/public.

Pkiernan wrote: »

3 minutes with a battery swap at new "petrol stations".

I can't see any battery swap being 3 mintues. Maybe at Renaults own testing with lighting fast techs, but in the real world with real people , I'd imagine it's more than 10. Plus, we're going to need a whole lot of these stations. Will they then have to have different ramps for different cars with different swappable battery pack architectures? The only standard agreed on so far in EVs has been the charging socket.