100km with a charge rate of between 8 and 15 hours (depending on the charging "portal" you choose)
The 100km is under 'ideal' european testing conditions and also depends on terain, temperature and driving style. So i reckon some customers tha buy the car who live in particularly "hilly" towns / cities will more likely get 50-60km on a charge.
And what's with the digtal tree readout, is that to make the people who will buy this feel better about themselves! Where do these fools think the electricity comes from to charge their 'eco-mentalist' car.
So tired of the green 'propaganda'
I think Honda got it right with the Clarity and feel other manufacturers should've followed suit, but i guess bunging some batteries in a car was easier.
rsr72,
Nov 1, 3:55pm
Why on earth bother for $70,000 ! People gotta be stark staring mad to be conned into such things.
attitudedesignz,
Nov 1, 4:02pm
The wonderfull mass media green agenda mate, it's going to plan surprisingly well i think.
I just get the feeling that if electric is going to be the future (and perhaps could be for commuting), then perhaps the first thing which should go is the concept of a conventional 4-5 seater sedan with all the creature comforts we're used to.They design these things for the US market, where people mainly bitch about cars if they don't have enough cup-holders, or if the cup-holders that they do have won't fit the upsized double jumbo slops they want to guzzle between stops. The ideal use for the leaf is for zipping around town.90% of the cars you see around town don't have a passenger. I'd use something cheap/small/electric - it'd be great.
attitudedesignz,
Nov 1, 4:30pm
It seems for the foreseeable future the words "cheap" & "electric" will never be in the same sentence.
The kind of eco-mentalist (thanks jeremy for 'word of the day') that will buy these will live in dorkland or welly, so heavy stop-start, heater blasting in winter or AC blasting in summer and they'll get 50km out of a charge, but they'll still think the car is a great 70-100K investment and will also highten their feelings of moral superiority over those that aren't 'hugging trees'.
drsr,
Nov 1, 4:46pm
And where would the hydrogen come from to power the Clarity!
attitudedesignz,
Nov 1, 4:55pm
UMMM, a hydrogen station, or a 'rapid fill' kiosk, or the small plant you have installed at home.i don't know mate, where WOULD it come from! pffft.
attitudedesignz,
Nov 1, 5:01pm
Also, when all the batteries die in these "enviromental" cars where will they be dumped! In some third world country in Africa under the guise of "re-cycling".
Yeah that's working so well now with all the 'puters and other electronic detritus that gets shipped there to be "re-cycled". But what does it matter, it's way over there and the country isn't even developed but Ted & jane are doing their bit by saving trees in their "eco" car.
tazcsv,
Nov 1, 5:04pm
Ill just keep using my share of petrolthanks.
drsr,
Nov 1, 5:04pm
Hydrogen has to be generated from something, and the energy in is usually a lot more than the energy out. If you generate it by electrolysis and then compress it, for example, you lose a large percentage of the original electricity, so it's not very efficient. Plus the infrastructure cost of setting up hydrogen distribution is huge, especially for a sparsely-populated country like NZ.
attitudedesignz,
Nov 1, 5:11pm
Yeah, but how many "stations" would have to be setup in reality!
At 100km per KG of hydrogen (that was in the mid 2000s so would conceivably be better now with more research) you have to admit it would surely be feasible.
Also, how would aucklands power system cope with recharging lots of "eco" cars when it can't even cope with warm weather!
drsr,
Nov 1, 5:31pm
How many petrol stations are there now! If you have to go somewhere to fill up your car, as opposed to conveniently recharging it at home, you don't want to have to go too far.
Studies have been done on the capabilities of the current grid to handle EV recharging and it should be OK even on the most optimistic take-up schedule, because there's lots of off-peak capacity and most will charge overnight due to price incentives.
attitudedesignz,
Nov 1, 5:44pm
How long would it be before small hydrogen plants can be installed at home. At 100km per 1kg, "fill" your car with let's say 10-15kg that's upto 1500km, surely even the most eligible for Darwins award would be able to find a "station" or "kiosk" to top up before running out. People living in small rural communities manage to survive having drive decent distances to get to the servo.
Don't get me wrong, i'm all for alternative fuel sources, but i have a real problem with people falling for the notion of electrickery being THE alternative fuel source.
The NWO is underway and gaining momentum.
drsr,
Nov 1, 5:58pm
Powered by what! Electricity!
Hydrogen is really light, even at 100kpsi it's still 27 litres per kg, so you can't store an awful lot of it in a car.
trade4us2,
Nov 1, 6:30pm
Capacitors have many advantages over batteries. They'd last indefinitely and charge in seconds. The cost surely should come down
Nanotune, a company from Mountainview, California recently reported that they developed ultracapacitors with energy storage capacity comparable to that of lead-acid batteries
Conventional ultracapacitors, otherwise known as supercapacitors or ELDC (Electric Double Layer Capacitors), charge in seconds, do not require replacement when used as batteries, and are able to provide large surges of power in short periods of time without overheating. Their disadvantages include an extremely high capital cost
clairbell,
Nov 1, 7:01pm
What is cheaper to drive! Petrol or electric!
trade4us2,
Nov 1, 7:18pm
If regenerative braking is used, that can charge up a battery, otherwise the energy from braking just disappears as heat and is wasted. Therefore electric should be cheaper. It also should be cheaper to use mains power to charge a battery. Also, a petrol engine runs most efficently when it's generating most of its power, i.e. not when driving along a level road. Therefore it would be ideal to have a petrol engine running at its most efficient speed that charges a battery and turns off when not needed. However the cost of having a petrol and electric engine and the batteries is usually so high that it's uneconomic. But the costs will come down.
drsr,
Nov 1, 7:55pm
Petrol is about 21c per km, electric is about 4c per km (at $2.10 per litre and 24c per kWh respectively).
gj0502,
Nov 1, 7:58pm
Just get a Tesla, They do cost $100K yes, but has all the luxuries, as fast as a Porsche, audi etc, and charges at a rate of 100km per hour and has nearly a 500km range on a full charge.
How is that any different from saying, buying a 70K car for doing much the same! (i.e. drive 10K to work and 10K back) Like it or lump it, but generating electricity centrally is more efficient than generating it in lots of little power plants (i.e. car engines).
galex,
Nov 1, 9:16pm
Interesting drsr seems to have Green tendancies [ how sad ] and nobody is discussing Fuel Cells
intrade,
Nov 1, 9:56pm
i looked at it in europe but droped it as soon as i seen you got to rent the battery. same as with the renault 2 seater electric makes it noneconomical when you got large overheads . the volt ampera was the one i test drove as it made the most sense.
toyboy3,
Nov 1, 10:26pm
Don't forget the RUC
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