Buying a commercially made EV

EVs are undergoing another revival. Batteries are far better and make EVs and Plug in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) practical. Energy issues and the likelihood of the hydrogen/fuel cell economy never appearing is another reason to revisit and revive the concept.

There are new and used commercially made vehicles available. Purchase of used vehicles was covered in the Converting section. We will focus on buying new.

PHEV

A variant of the EV is the PHEV. A PHEV is a hybrid vehicle where the battery pack has been beefed up to the point where someone could drive electrically around town. As the energy in a PHEV pack winds down, either the engine would start or the driver would have to plug the vehicle in to recharge. The economics of a PHEV are the cost of a pack and present and future cost of gasoline versus the cost of electricity used per mile and in recharging. For a Toyota Rav4 Electric, the EPA rating was 0.301 kwhr/mile. Electric rates in North Carolina are roughly $0.07/kwhr or $0.02/mile. To go 30 miles electrically, would cost $0.60 + $0.12 using an inefficient charger + $0.38 which is close to the tax amount on a gallon of gasoline for a total of $1.10 to go 30 mile electrically. My commute is roughly 30 miles so theoretically, I could drive a PHEV all year long without the Internal Combustion Engine turning on. Gasoline is roughly at $2.10 a gallon. That's a savings of $1.00/gallon. In driving 100,000 miles, that's a potential savings of $3,333. If electric and gasoline prices remain the same. For additional information, please see

http://calcars.org

http://www.hymotion.com/products.htm

http://www.edrivesystems.com/installation.html

EV

There are a number of companies that have announced or are building EVs. Below is a list of the cars, the company website, and some notes about each vehicle. All these vehicles are highway capable. Many have top speeds over 80 miles per hour and some with ranges of 250 miles. Several have acceleration of 0 to 60 in the 4 second and under range. Enjoy!!

Vehicle	Company Website	Remarks
Tesla	http://www.teslamotors.com	Lithium Ion based battery pack. 0 to 60 in under 4 seconds. 250 mile range. Highway capable.
Sports Utility Truck (SUT)	http://66.218.37.153/cars.htm	Lithium Ion pack by Altair Nanotechnologies. Extremely high number of recharges possible (15,000 useful cycles in the lab). Available for fleet purchase. 130 mile and 250 mile range packs available. *This is one combo to seriously watch.
RAV4 Electric	http://www.dontcrush.com/	Toyota stopped making the RAV4 Electric after the CARB ZEV mandate was killed. Through the efforts of its owners and sympathizers, the remaining RAV4Es have been saved from the crusher. Occasionally, a RAV4E can be found on an eBay auction.
Sparrow (NmG)	http://www.myersmotors.com/	One seater commuter/errand car. 0 to 60 ~12.5 seconds. 30 mile range. Lead Acid battery pack with option to go with an advanced battery pack.
Tango	http://www.commutercars.com/	Lead Acid battery pack with options for more advanced battery technologies. 0 to 60 in about 4 seconds. 40 to 80 maximum range. Higher ranges based on different packs. Highway capable.
XS200	http://www.milesautomotive.com/products_xs200.html	Chinese made EV due in 2007. MSRP $28,500 according to their site. Approximate 200 mile range. Top Speed 80 mph.
Scion xB Conversion	http://www.acpropulsion.com/ebox/ http://www.acpropulsion.com/vehicles/others.htm	Innovative company. Makers of the tZero.
MIEV	http://media.mitsubishi-motors.com/pressrelease/e/corporate/detail1269.html	Still under development. Based on the Colt Platform.
R1e	http://thefraserdomain.typepad.com/energy/2005/12/_evworldblogs_h.html	EV under development by Subaru

* With pack range offerings of 130 and 250 miles per charge, the overall theoretical ranges are 1.95 and 3.75 million miles, respectively.

A comment on financing:

With the evidently disruptive nature of the Altair Nanotechnology Lithium Ions, it may be conceivable to finance an EV with these batteries as a two part package where the body and drive train as financed as a normal car and the battery pack is financed as if it were a house. The body and electronics may depreciate a lot faster than the pack. If in fact you could get even half the 1.95 million miles out of the 130 mile per charge pack and started driving around age 20, you would likely end up willing the pack to your great grand son or daughter. This is because your offspring and their offspring, your grandchildren, would be old enough to buy their own packs before your passing.