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New EV now available!, your thoughts please...

Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 2:47 pm
by favguy
Hello all,
I've been an EV enthusiast for some time now, and have decided with my business partner to offer an electric car, as it seems its time really is at hand now, oil isn't going to go anywhere but up and up.

To this end we are establishing a distribution and maintenance facility for what I personally think is an exiting new EV.

We are currently waiting on our first shipment of the cars to arrive here in the UK and would like to guage interest in the vehicles with yourselves in the meantime please :D

Our intention is to offer a valid nationally available alternative to cars such as the G-Wiz, who only offer thier product in London. we also aim to offer a much more competitively priced (and some may argue less aeshetically challenged!) product.

The G-Wiz starts at £8,895. Another, similarly specced but nicer looking EVproduct, the Nice MegaCity starts at a whopping £11,848. We would say our car compares more favourably to the higher cost MegaCity, and although our pricing is yet to be finalised we intend to offer a range starting at only around the £7,250 mark!

Our model has been well tried and tested as it has been available for some time in several EU countries over the last 2 years. :D

We aim to offer a product that can match or better the performance of both the above vehicles, but at a much more competitive cost.

Included within the sale price of our cars will be registration, delivery to the door and a warranty covering parts and labour for 1 year including 1 year guarantee on the battery pack.

Please do not confuse our cars with some of the cheaper non type approved cars appearing on ebay recently!. All of our cars are built in an ISO 9001 quality controlled facility and have full EEC type approval :D Every car will also undergo stringent pre delivery inspection prior to delivery to ensure trouble free operation.

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Please note!! Left hand drive shown for reference only, All models will be right hand drive!

The entry level specification is as follows:
(subject to finalising)

72Volt AC drive system with 6.5kw motor giving a top speed of 40mph

Net weight 450kg, with battery 678Kg

All round disk brakes

Maximum range of approx. 50 miles per charge, expected rteal life safe range of 40 miles.

230volt, 20Amp charger giving full recharge in 6-8 hours

Hill climbing ability of 30% (1 in 3 hill!)

Range of colours available

FM Radio as standard

Dimensions: 2600mm x 1550mm x 1550mm

We will also consider a lithium powered version to give greatly extended range and/or top speed to suit the customer if demand for this is good enough.

Low cost additional options include the following:

ABS Braking system

Electric windows

Remote central locking

Alloy wheels

Heater

Graphics as per customers taste

CD player with Ipod input

Please let me know what you think, both good and bad, all feedback is useful. Please also feel free to ask any questions and most importantly, let me know if you would consider buying one of our cars!

If you wish to talk to me on the phone, please let me know via here and I'll send you our contact number.

We intend to offer a colour brochure with full specifications shortly

Regards

Paul

Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 4:30 pm
by Night Train
Is it an adapted Smart or something that has a very close likeness?

Visually I would have a wider track on the back wheels to fill the arches more otherwise it looks fine (as the Smart does).

Personally I would really need a vehicle that can do 55-60mph for 80miles before I would buy one. My commute is 35 miles each way on a motorway, plus some shopping diversions, and no occasion for recharging when at work.

Would be good to see performance figures and pricing structure for the vehicle, batteries and options in the brochure.

Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 5:16 pm
by MalcolmB
Hi Paul
Aesthetically I'd say it's a big improvement on the G-Wiz. Its bum looks a bit big, but for an EV it looks surprisingly normal :D

50 to 70 miles on a lead acid pack sounds very good, can you tell us the size of the pack and total weight of the car?

Taking the design and specifications together I'd say that's a very good price, especially if users can get close to that range in regular driving

Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 7:20 pm
by favguy
Hi guys,
No it's not based on a smart, it does look similar at first glance, but is quite different close up. Regarding the looks, I personally wanted to offer people something that looks attractive, it will help with the "cause" so to speak. In doing research talking to everyone I could lay my hands on, the concensus was that they generally wouldn't buy something that you expect to see a cartoon character getting out of no matter how much money it saves them! But a "normal" looking small car would appeal.

The maximum range has yet to be tested by ourselves, I'm using the manufacturer figures for now, they might be a tad optimistic, having done the maths on it properly I get it to around 40 miles assuming a normal driving style and without draining the batteries right down (which greatly improves the life cycle).

I'll try and add the weight and battery spec. over the next day or two.

We can if needed get one of these configured to do 55 to 60 miles per hour with a range of 80 to 100 miles or more by going with a lithium pack, but the battery pack and management system for this will put the cost up to around £13,000.

We also have an exiting VW golf sized family car in the pipeline more suited to high speed, long commutes, but you'll have to wait for that one for a bit!

Please keep the feedback coming folks, tell me what you think, both good or bad it's all useful..

Regards
Paul

Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 7:57 pm
by microman
I, like may others I'm sure, am waiting for an electric car which meets my needs for local use. The 'city' type are so speed limited as to be useless and possibly dangerous in my extra-urban environment. It must be able to do 50 and preferably 60mph. A range of 40 miles is probably enough but it has to be genuine. We only need room for 2 + 2 dogs and shopping.

£13000 might not put me off. More probably would.

Looks? Just not a 'Noddy toy' type otherwise it might attract the vandals.

Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 8:10 pm
by Night Train
For not being a Smart it looks really good.

I agree with you about some of the early commercial EVs, they do seem like they were designed by someone other then a designer or body stylist who has no concept of image. I wouldn't drive a G-Wiz whatever the spec but I would happily drive a Smart or other conventional vehicle. In addition to this I would also quite happily drive a reverse/tadpole trike (two front wheels, one rear) or a single seater that looked like a jet fighter cockpit (Carver, Areorider, etc).

I would be interested in the rechargability of the battery pack to extend range. Could I give it enough of a boost with a portable generator as a 'get me home' in the same way as a spare can of fossil fuel in an ICE car.

I think the price is also an important point. £13k for lithium batteries would seem a lot of money. To an ICE driver it would seem like paying £13k for the optional extra 50 litre fuel tank over the standard 5 litre tank regardless of the original cost or spec of the car. Not many would fully appreciate the reason for the cost difference.

I don't know how alone I am in this but I am one of those people who had to travel long distances to find a job, and to make ends meet I have two such part time jobs in different directions where there isn't a real alternative to personal transport for the commute nor the option of moving closer due to family circumstances and the jobs being insecure.
What I would happily spend my money on would be a personal transport vehicle that would do the range I mentioned above and only be big enough to carry myself plus bag. Something with a small frontal area, good design and skinny tyres to reduce drag. Where all the weight was in the batteries, motor and driver's safety cell.

Anyway that is what I would want which is why I am trying to design it myself.

Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 10:58 pm
by favguy
Hi night train,

The G-wiz was designed by Indians for Indian use, and if you look at most of thier cars, they are nearly all ugly! It's all about utility over there, not style! (ps. if you knew what one cost ex factory in India, you'd fall of your chair! :lol: )

I understand your range issues, the car is mainly aimed at city dwellers where life for the motorist with an oil burner is becoming very expensive, and those with short commutes to/from work, errands etc, also as a second car replacement, where the main car is needed for longer or faster trips etc.

what you need can be built now, and I think is commercially available in the states, look up a product called the bug-e (I think!) The cost is high though, as for speed and range you have to go with Lithium batts. and these as you know are very expensive along with the more sophisticated battery management. that said, you should get very long service life, possibly up to 10 years, and something like the teardrop trike will cost almost nothing to run,

You can carry a small generator with you to extend range, but it would have to be left running a couple of hours to get a decent charge, you can't run the car on one, and it sort of defeats the object re. pollution etc!

Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2008 4:22 pm
by Night Train
I've seen the Bug-E, it is interesting and the sort of thing I am thinking of.

I am very definate about what I need right now and that is half the problem, it limits me somewhat to what I would have.

I know the portable genset isn't a good thing and it is also a balance of range over carrying the extra weight for emergencies. Making the vehicle lighter and adding pedals maybe better. :wink:

Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 7:55 pm
by EVguru
Assuming lead acid batteries;

If fifty miles is the range to 100%, then 40 miles is a reasonable usable maximum range. However, to get reasonable life/milleage/value from the battery pack, you want to be using only 50% discharge on a daily basis.

new ev

Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2008 10:34 am
by Tom Thomson
Fav
You've not said where this car is built nor by whom.
tommyt