On power, how about 200hp in a 70 lb package. That is about what we are doing in our motorcycles. Also keep in mind, that you are loosing about 80% of the energy in heat and inefficiency with gas. Here, electricity is $.11, which would be $1.54 for 14Kwhr (my pack size). With that, I can travel a bit over 40 miles or ~$.038/mile. My car, as a gas vehicle would get about 30mpg. Gas here is over $4.00, or ~$.13/mile or 3.6x higher.

Yeah it is pretty cheap, just did the sums on the Nissan Leaf which is coming here soon.

Our rate is 20c per kWh so for a 24kWh battery it will cost around $2.8 for 100km (range is 170km). My car costs $19.375 for 100km based on $1.55/L and 12.5L/100km.

Even if I downgraded my car to something equally as shitty as the Leaf, but petrol powered, it would still cost $11.78 for 100km.

That is a factor of 6.9 and 4.2 times more respectively for petrol.

And the good new, when your battery capacity drops by 30% it costs you less to recharge

I see many problems though. Apartment living often means people have to use street parking - no night recharging. Increasing numbers of people are now renting houses - they will be limited by the facilities available. Unlike the US there are no public charging facilities here. Even still a high speed full charge takes 30mins - based on the current queues at service stations I could see this being a problem.

Advantages, apart from the charging cost, would be less moving parts, cheaper services (if any), etc

It will be a while before the range of EVs improves, particularly the wait for picking up second hand cars. Could be a viable option one day but you still can't beat the sound of a V8..

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Stew
"Oompa Loompas of science" - Sheldon Cooper
I thought I was wrong once but I was mistaken

I was at an (Ice) Hockey game in Tampa, FL a few months back and someone that works with the Tampa Bay Lightning drives a Karma. They had it plugged in at their own custom parking spot. I can't imagine how much they payed just so they could charge their car while they watched the game.

That said, as far as quick charging goes, I don't think home charging or public charging stations are the answer per se. Car batteries need to be like phone batteries (iPhones excluded of course ), basically, once its dead, you pop it out, and drop a new one in. I see gas stations having little "forklift" type devices, and instead of gas pumps being on islands like they are in the States, you would have racks of batteries vertically stacked, and an attendant would just pop the battery (or batteries if you drive a larger and/or faster vehichle) out of your car, plug a new one in, you'd pay your $50 for 300 mile charge and be on your way.

One advantage to electric vehichles, is that you could have a small solar array of say, 48"x48" (that you can fold) that you could plug in if you ran out of juice...that said, it would be a slow charge, but it wouldn't be any slower than walking the 7 miles over the howard franklin bridge, filling a gas can, and then walking the 7 miles back to your car.

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Swim - Bike - Run ...Repeat
@BreakingChad
The Company Website

Don't know about the forklift, I would think they will start getting smaller and lighter.

Yeah I could see it being like the BBQ gas bottles, before we had to get them filled at the local service station but now we just exchange the bottle and get a new full one. The down side is you may swap your new battery for some old defective or low capacity battery at the exchange station.. I would rather keep using my own battery.

If the size does come down it could be a bit like large version of drill and impact driver batteries, that now can be used for hedge trimmers, blowers, etc. Everyone would have a charger unit at home with 3 or 4 batteries so you can just swap one out and leave the old one to charge. You could even take spares with you.

You could have solar panels in the roof, continuously charging during the day at work and while driving. It would be like a small top up or reduction in draw like regenerative braking. There are good solar cells available they are just currently too expensive for commercial use.

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Stew
"Oompa Loompas of science" - Sheldon Cooper
I thought I was wrong once but I was mistaken

I was talking with a fellow EV person that is making up folding panels. One of his ideas is to store the solar charge in batteries then use a DC Motor controller to charge the car. So simple and cheap. I am toying with the idea, I have spare controllers and the Battery Management System with the smarts to do it.

For me, it's always come down to energy density. Something a battery lacks. even the best 1 pound battery only holds about 15% of the power in 1 pound of gasoline (as I recall). That said, The US Army has figured out a way to increase the energy density of a 4V battery to 5 V. I can hardly wait until that technology makes it into cell phone batteries, let alone car batteries.

_________________
Swim - Bike - Run ...Repeat
@BreakingChad
The Company Website

Tesla Model S and X
http://vimeo.com/36534892

*I* have no car. I donated my Suburban last year. I use my wife's car the few times that I go anywhere alone. I have my Son's truck or my MIL's Buick if needed in a pinch.

Typically when we go somewhere other than into town, it's well over a 100 mile trek round trip.

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Ron
http://www.arken.net Engineering and Design
http://www.arkenstudios.com Professional Photography

Charles, I just checked PG&E's schedule of rates.
Baseline usage is $.12845 and you know how easy it is to go over Baseline limits. Most residents in our area are probably paying the higher tier rates of $.2994 or more likely $.3394 per kWh.

I'm paying $.185 per kWh on a general commercial account for my home. (non-tiered system)

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Ron
http://www.arken.net Engineering and Design
http://www.arkenstudios.com Professional Photography

We have city owned utilities, not PG&E. I looked that rate up.

Damn, that's right, I forgot about that little detail. Damn PG&E!

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Ron
http://www.arken.net Engineering and Design
http://www.arkenstudios.com Professional Photography