Anyone else into electric cars?
- Thread starter electron
- Start date
mustangcoupe
Senior Member
I thought of something hybrid when it was time to get my last car/suv, but I have heard all the "stories" of good Samaritans or EMS not being able to help out in an accident because they had to wait for fire rescue to cut power or remove the batteries... but again those are just stories and I have not seen it IRL or read anything official about it.
Would kill for a Tesla Model S, that's for sure. I currently drive a plug-in, and I am so sold on this technology, I can't imagine getting anything else as a primary vehicle in the future. Wish I got enough sun to justify solar panels (several feet of snow, -17F rigth now).
Tons of folks out there who still have the first gen Prius running on original batteries, and are still seeing the same performance.
Companies such as Toyota add HUGE margins to account for battery performance degradation (e.g., State-Of-Charge for 'empty' is around 25% while 'full' is around 85% in some cars).
Plus there are companies out there which are giving a 2nd life to these batteries, since they have plenty of uses outside an automotive environment, so you should be able to recoup some of the cost if you do get to that point.
Companies such as Toyota add HUGE margins to account for battery performance degradation (e.g., State-Of-Charge for 'empty' is around 25% while 'full' is around 85% in some cars).
Plus there are companies out there which are giving a 2nd life to these batteries, since they have plenty of uses outside an automotive environment, so you should be able to recoup some of the cost if you do get to that point.
damage
Senior Member
warranty info for the model s:
An additional warranty covers the battery and varies by capacity. The 40 kWh battery is covered for 8 years or 100,000 miles, and 60 kWh battery is covered for 8 years or 125,000 miles, whichever comes first in both cases. The largest battery, 85 kWh, is covered for eight years and unlimited miles.
prepaid battery replacement option:
A Battery Replacement Option will be available for purchase soon. The option allows you to pre-purchase a new battery to be installed after eight years for a fixed price: $8,000 for 40 kWh batteries, $10,000 for 60 kWh batteries, and $12,000 for 85 kWh batteries.
An additional warranty covers the battery and varies by capacity. The 40 kWh battery is covered for 8 years or 100,000 miles, and 60 kWh battery is covered for 8 years or 125,000 miles, whichever comes first in both cases. The largest battery, 85 kWh, is covered for eight years and unlimited miles.
prepaid battery replacement option:
A Battery Replacement Option will be available for purchase soon. The option allows you to pre-purchase a new battery to be installed after eight years for a fixed price: $8,000 for 40 kWh batteries, $10,000 for 60 kWh batteries, and $12,000 for 85 kWh batteries.
Work2Play said:
Agreed.! Not cheap though...
I used to work at a Electric GoKart Center with some pretty advanced karts / controllers etc. Does that count?
They were made by Zytek Motorsports over in the UK. Zytek was converting a Lotus Elise when I went over for training and I was Jealous....
They were also working with some other Automotive manufacturers at the time but I don't know how much I can say so I leave it at that.
They had brushless, 3 Phase motors with a pretty complicated controller that allowed for radio telemetry and other interfaces such as as PC connection for tuning, setting max HP, and looking at diag information. (for the Karts)
I plan to do some sort of conversion myself in the next few years but I am waiting for the battery technologies / pricing to get better. Something that has good range and that can also fry the tires off!!
Nopesixspeedmanual said:
In fact, I believe only Sony (and another company I forgot the name of) used this type of Chemistry several years ago, and they ended up with an exploding battery as well. The tech/chemistry used in automotive batteries is totally different.
