Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2008 15:34:37 -0800
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Shazam <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Shazam <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: Electric Vanagon?
In-Reply-To: <021720082154.29668.47B8AD010003CB9E000073E422007507449700040799020A05@comcast.net>
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Be careful about your assumptions about reliability of an electric car/van.
If their work was good, chances are it's reliable in the extreme.
I have a friend with an electric vw bug he built - I'll ask him........
But I'll be that it's as reliable as could be.
It's the nature of electric motors to be very reliable anyway - the extreme.
I wouldn't say a vanagon is that good an electric car project.
I researched doing an EV for a while.
The lower end of the scale of parts and the stuff you need is 7 grand.
It's typical to spend 10 to 12 grand even.
There are 3 main types of batteries that are commonly used.
Lead-acid ones are the cheaper way to go.
It should be noted, that for 'most people' a typical car use is a drive of
somewhere under 10 miles, part it, let it sit for a while, or all day, then
drive it 10 miles back, and let it sit again.
For that kind of use...........a short drive, then a park while charging
time, followed by a short drive again, an EV is perfect.
Obviously batteries are the limiting factor. Jillioins have been spent
trying to get the perfect battery and no one has come up with one.
In fairness though...........i believe the battery pack in the Pirus Hybrid,
while not comparable to a pure electric car...........i think those are
lasting as well as anyone could have ever dreamed.
Like they last really well, like 100K miles. I haven't heard of any being
replaced yet even.
The Age Of Oil.............
Let's just say the 'glory days' are probably going to be winding down in the
coming few decades.
It'll still be used, we'll still get enough to get around, and we'll have
other means of getting arund...........but more or less, the burn-10-million
gallons of gas a day in the US ( yes, that's what the figure is !
.......and I blame commuting to work as huge factor and just terrible waste
......
You talk about waste. Commuting to work all at the same time, in some cases
for hours - now there is a stupid waste for you. I knew when I was 6 years
old commuting to work at the same time as everyone else was super dumb.
And Toll Bridges and Roads.........just stopping for tolls alone wastes
billions of gallons of fuel.
Scott
www.turbovans.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Kenneth Wilford
Sent: Sunday, February 17, 2008 1:54 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Electric Vanagon?
I agree. I think it is ironic that this lady complains about the big
"conspiracy" to kill the electric car only to show us the real reason why
the electric car doesn't work (high cost, super heavy, no range and lead
acid batteries stink!). If you read the whole thing carefully you will find
that with a ton of donated parts and help they still spent over $10,000 to
get a Vanagon that will drive maybe 25 miles each way (if it doesn't break
down). They added over 1500 lbs of weight to the unladen van in batteries!
Of course before that they had an "expensive" and "unreliable" water boxer
powerplant in there:-) Just to compare they could have had a rebuilt water
boxer with all new exhaust system, coolant system, rebuilt transmission, and
more for less than $10k including the labor!
I give them credit for trying to live their dream. It is just a shame that
reality hasn't caught up to the dream of the electric car. Again I find it
ironic that almost exactly 100 years after the origins of the car all of the
different ideas that were originally tried are being tried again. Electric
cars were some of the first ever made. Diesel, hybrids, etc were all rolled
out as production cars in those early years. The only newer idea I can see
would be the hydrogen powered cars.
Please,
I beg someone, make a super high capacity battery/capacitor that is light
weight. Yes that would kill the ICE engine. We've only been waiting for it
for the past hundred years though.
Ken Wilford
John 3:16
www.vanagain.com
-------------- Original message --------------
From: Ken Lewis <kdlewis@NORTHSTATE.NET>
> What a ridiculous waste of time, money and resources. What is the point?
> Ken Lewis
> http://neksiwel.20m.com/
