Electric cars on the streets
Summary: I took these pictues in the driveway of a home in Dulwich, South London, Britain. The car is called the Gee-Whiz i.
I took these pictues in the driveway of a home in Dulwich, South London, Britain. The car is called the Gee-Whiz i. It's being marketed by GoingGreen.
The prices on these little two-seater, all electric cars runs from 9465 to just over 11,100--British pounds. That would translate to a price range of 14,300U$ to 16,725U$. These cars have been available in some version since 2004 in the United Kingdom. Used ones are selling for around 4-7,000 pounds. Battery life is said to be about eighteen months.
The car is designed for the urban commuter, is all electric and takes eight hours to fully recharge and is then good for about 48 miles, says the manufacturer. London's a city with a high congestion charge for any vehicle in the city center and exorbitant parking fees. This car parks for free in some urban spots. The maker claims fuel costs are now 1 pence UK per mile driven.
The cars were designed in California, are built in Bangalore, India, and the largest privately owned fleet of them is in London. They do NOT advertise to avoid the cost, but the sellers claim to be selling or two per day in London...so at that rate by the year 2185, they'll have made a significant dent in the traffic pollution in this densest of European cities. Of course, we may have run out of gasoline by then and be back to donkey-power to great delight of grain producers.
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Talkback
Donkey Power?
How much does it cost to replace the battery?
Re: How much does it cost to replace the battery?
Check this site:
http://www.goingreen.co.uk/store/content/gwiz_faq/
Forget electric. Compressed AIR is the future.
-No batteries to recharge or maintain
-An internal gas compressor can use crappy gas to recharge the compressed air tanks
-Because it uses regular gas, gas stations can stay where they are, no need for any kind of country wide change out of systems.
-Gets 400-500 MPG.
-You can use an electric compressor to recharge the tank instead of using gas.
-Home compressors could be used to recharge the tank
-200 miles between compressed air fill ups.. if only using compressed air.
Air Power? I've Heard Of It
Give us more info, Dude. Where's a URL full of info. Don't keep it a secret, broadcast the message.
Air Power - coming in 2010?
Length - 13.4 ft
Width - 5.97 ft
Height - 5.74 ft
Seating - 6 seats
Trunk volume - 35 cubic ft
Weight - 1874 lbs
Engine - 6 Cyl.
Power - 75 hp
Max Speed - 96 mph*
Mileage - 106 mpg*
Range - 848 miles (8 gal tank) *
Co2 - 0.141 lbs/mile (at speeds >35mph; zero emissions at <35mph)
http://zeropollutionmotors.us/?page_id=43
RE: Electric cars on the streets
RE: Electric cars on the streets
The original use of Clark Field in the Philippines after the Spanish American War was as a haying station (as in horses). At around that time, the Commerce Department was predicting that we would be a net grain importer by 1920, since all domestic production would be needed to feed draft animals.
Problem is, they're an awful joke
Also at ??10,000 ... that's a hell of a lot of money for a jumped-up golf cart (with less seating capacity than a typical cart, too). My current car, I bought used, almost 4 years ago. It cost ??2500 then and has cost me nowhere near that much in servicing. Fuel, if my log is to be believed, under ??5000. Plus I can get to 60 in under 15 seconds, and achieve a terminal velocity of roughly 100 on the flat, which provides about enough thrust and flexibility to deal with a hilly town with limits up to 70 and cramped but fast-moving traffic.
Oh, and it takes at least a week between "recharges", including impromptu shopping or social trips that would otherwise be in the middle of G-Wiz charging time.
The rest of the monetary difference - including charging and battery replacement costs - could quite easily be sunk into carbon offsetting schemes or efficiency improvements to my house, etc, that would probably achieve about as much benefit.
For replacement of this one, I'm waiting for the Polo Bluemotion (similar performance and interior room, but better than twice the efficiency and less than 2/3rds the emissions) to reach the second-hand market at a decent price. Say, ??5000?
I'm all for electric cars but this thing is a terrible, early-adopter PoS. Give me an affordable everyman product along the Tesla philosophical lines. Or at least a Th!nk City (65mph, ~100 mile range, 4 "real" seats).
RE: Electric cars on the streets
Problem with Electric Cars is..
Until we can crack Fusion power, there will always be a waste output.
And before you say it. Wind and Solar power do not provide continuous power. You still need a backup power system. Coal, Gas, Nuclear, Hydro.
The US has the largest deposits of coal that we could burn, BUT the new president has already stated that any new coal fired plants would go bankrupt with taxes before they were even turned on.