Electric cars abound!

Nice!  I also saw a RAV4 EV at McClellan just a few weeks ago, and also a natural-gas powered Honda Civic.  And a few weeks back I mentioned having seen a Vectrix in Sacramento.

 

I'm also noticing more hybrids (specifically the Prius, and to a lesser degree the Civic hybrid) around these days.  And more mopeds.  And a lot of people biking.

 

It's great to see fuel efficiency finally being taken more seriously.  It only took $4/gallon gas to make it happen!

Edited by dana1981 - Fri, 30 May 2008 18:19:36 UTC

Here are some shots of the Corbin Sparrow from the Electric Vehicle Rally in Palo Alto, CA this past weekend. I'll upload a few others to the product pages as well:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sweet, I like the color too.

 

I haven't been seeing many EVs around, but I have been seeing tons of mopeds.  They're everywhere!

 We are hiding!  Actually, driving around in an EV is similar to the stock market it seems.  Good days - bad days.  Commuting, short hops, tourism, weather, who knows?  But growth of enclosed EVs is terrific!

Wow, now that's a rare siting!  They've only been producing them for a little over a year now.  The Tango is a cool concept with the tandem seating, but super expensive (the T600 costs about the same as a Tesla Roadster).  They're working on a T200 for $40k, and a T100 for $19k (trying to get funding).

 We are having a car show in Santa Cruz tomorrow (were; that is- 4 EVs but no Tango).
Edited by chris jordan - 12/11/09 at 2:53pm

Wow I had no idea they were that expensive. I mean, I knew George Clooney has one. I guess I should have assumed they cost that much.

 With all the power you get in the 100,000 USD Tango you need an even bigger bank account to buy replacement tires for the thing! Seriously overpowered!

Here in the midwest electric cars are pretty rare. Even groups devoted to rebuilding existing ICE cars to all-electric are over 150 miles away from me. On our income, my wife and I can't afford a $20,000 car much less one for $100,000. We recycled a dead 2001 Prius in 2002 and that cut our gas consumption in half. And we recently spent a $10,000 CD, that matured at a time of record low interest rates, on rebuilding a 1979 Porsche 924 into an electric. It's not a flashy looking Porsche, and I don't know how folks will be able to tell it's electric since there's no ELECTRIC signs on it, but at least it's solar charged, on the road, and saving more petroleum for the SUVs. In case you hadn't guessed I'm a bit skeptical about cars of any sort being green or saving mankind and the planet! 

Electric are apparently seen more and more on the road, are there any new innovations on this car yet like improving its speed? o perhaps can someone resort to using a Performance chip to boost its speed?
Edited by archebald23 - 12/8/09 at 10:43pm

 This is cool. It seems the industry is opening up its doors to electricity as a viable commercial replacement to gasoline... finally!

Not so much industry opening it's doors as it is adequate batteries becoming available. Until now the batteries on the market offered too limited of a range for customers to be interested and even now it is marginal in the eyes of many.

People are accustomed to being able to get into their car and drive across the country if the so desire - even if few actually do such a thing. The electric models mean you have to have two cars to maintain that ability.

The charging stations required away from home have yet to become a reality. Another couple of years should change the picture greatly. People will become more comfortable with the idea of a car with a limited range and charging facilities will appear.

The transition away from the standard car engine will be gradual and much infrastructure has to change. The electric grids are not capable of replacing gas stations today - there will be much work to do there. That may well require a smart grid that will allow a car to start charging as the system capacity becomes available. There will never be the potential for everyone to get home and plug in their car at the same time. 

 Taking way too long in my opinion.  We shall see what we shall see!  So many promises- new discoveries/materials.  I think it was in the Chronicle that I read about Tesla trying to advertise distance by driving to Chicago- and the negativity for that was astounding.

Hi Chris, One big problem is someone reporting on the net about a 'discovery' at some university as if it will be immediately useful - in reality 99% of the discoveries will never see the commercial light of day - disappointing the public again.

The internet has lowered reporting and writing standards tremendously - and they were never all that high to start with.

Tesla is doing the right thing - stop talking and do. No better way to shut up your detractors! 

I would love to know where to buy these cars.

Thanks for sharing

Jess

 Sadly, I sold the City-EL, but bought 3 "plain old" lead-acid batteries for my 3-wheel velomobile with the money.  It has just taken too long for battery upgrades or newer 3-wheel vehicles for any more waiting.  An e-mail came last year letting me know that City-EL will be sold in Florida in a "couple of months" since I had inquired wanting a newer one.  It was not.  Maybe that Messerschmittt copy- SMITE from Sweden will appear in EV form faster!

 From 'Below the clouds' web-site for those wondering about the Smite.

 link: http://www.belowtheclouds.com/2010/01/20/smite/

İnteresting little critter! Hope they continue on! 

Cool... These cars are really interesting... I hope i can buy one soon... The design is there, colors are there and most especially the technology is there.

Luckily, the national grid has capacity, right now, for at least 40,000,000 electric vehicles to plug in at night, at the same time. The key is *at night* and not in the afternoon when people get home. Smart plugs, smart cars and smart people will address that. So will increased TOU adoption.

 

As the battery tech improves, they will eventually be able to keep their total lifecycle expectations up while spitting power back onto the grid during peak times for cash incentive (for very short times) - possibly under utility lease, since dead batteries aren't really dead and can be used by utilities after they are no longer "fit for human consumption".

The economics will be in favor of doing the right thing because people will/are looking for ways to make that happen. The economics are already in our favor right now - solar is cheaper than nuclear. Wind is theoretically as cheap as coal. Efficiency is cheaper than any power plant.

I think that the efficient use of fuels and non-renewable resources has finally found a way into the mind of the people and they see the advantages that come along with it and if you use your bike instead of your car you can also save the money for the cardio program at the gym. ;)

I have the Toyota RAV4 EV Electric. It is absolutely superb a normal size and looking car but battery powered. It can easily do 70miles between charges and I understand upto 120 miles is possible, charging from a double 13amp plug in around 5 hours. It has all the equipment you could need.

Cool Corbin and RAV4 EV. 

 

Those old RAV4 EVs are STILL selling for well over $20k. They were great rigs back in the day, even without Li-Ion battery packs.

 

If you guys are interested in these rigs, I have posted specs for them here: http://www.evsroll.com/EV_Specifications.html

 

and general info here: http://www.evsroll.com/EV_Cars_&_Trucks.html

 

EVsRock!

Have you seen the X-Treme XM-5000Li all electric Moped?  Go to Ridegreenbikes.com to see the cool scooters.

Email drew@ridegreenbikes.com to talk about a purchase.  I ride one and I love it.  I have over 4,400 miles on mine.

No gas or oil.  Just a super EV grin from having no engine noise in your ear!!

 

yount

What are your thoughts on the new jaguar electric car? Pretty sharp! I didn't see it's price tag but I am guessing it is expensive!

 

http://electrovelocity.com/2010/09/30/the-electric-jaguar-c-x75-hyper-car/

 

forget Tesla!

I had a Jaguar XJS a few years back (OK,OK, quite a few).  Extremely impractical, but it looked terrific and impressed almost everyone with the 160 mph speedometer.  I banged my head getting in being a contortionist getting in or out almost every time for 2 years.  I use a wheelchair also, the top was way too low so it went in the dinky trunk.  The car is very low- no room for a gas tank; so guess what also was in the trunk - yes; the gas tank was right over the rear axle.  Spare tire out / wheelchair in.

 

Whole lot of fun at the grocery store: I would get one passenger in, spare tire in the back seat, the wheelchair in; and I would really be cramming the Jag with over 9 items.  

 

The thought of batteries in a Jag sounds like a whole new location problem.  Great looking E-model; but this car sends shivers up and down my spine!