Are we in the electric Vehicle Revolution?

[bluegoatwoods]

"Until Ford developed the Model T and put the world on wheels and made it possible to go miles on in a vehicle most vehicles were electric and used in cities and towns."--fasteddy

I recently picked up on an interesting bit of auto history. I can't give my source because I don't remember who it is.

The company that we know as "Ford" was the third auto company that Henry Ford founded. The second, in 1903, was the "Henry Ford Auto-Car Company" or something pretty similar. But Henry only stayed with them for about a half year. I gather that he wanted to take some time perfecting an auto while the investors wanted to get something on the market ASAP. I suppose they wanted to get some kind of revenue stream going. So Henry left and they kept going under the name of "Cadillac".

I'd known that Cadillac was one of the early auto companies, but had no idea that Henry Ford was involved in it's founding. But that was in name only, of course, since he wasn't there very long.

But in five years he had the Model T going. Had he stayed, then I suppose that's pretty much the car he would have given them. The famous Model T would have been from Cadillac. Though not really since it would have been known as a Ford.

For that matter under that management they might have screwed things up or had some sort of bad luck or something and maybe the car would never have seen production. Maybe someone like Ransom E Olds would have been the one to produce the equivalent of the Model T.

But now I'm devolving into guesswork. But it does illustrate the notion that every moment is a crossroads, doesn't it?

And sorry for going off-topic. Sometimes I just can't resist.

But you guys can get us back on the straight and narrow, right?

 

[Mike B]

By all means, buy and enjoy anything you want. Life is too short for anything else.

If you like gas, go with gas. If you like electric, juice it up!

The cost is an issue, w/o a good lithium battery ebikes are really not there. Will cost a grand for a kit and a battery. It's worth it.

 

[d_gizzle]

All it takes is the charging stations. Google Baker Electric 1908.

 

[deacon]

Well for my two cents: I have built from scratch and plug and play (according to them) parts for gasoline and electric. My big dramatic moment was when I fell off a homemade gasoline bike and broke a few bones. That's when I decided it wasn't all about speed. That and my wife was discussing having me committed.

so first of all I had to have better balance, so I went back to the tricycle. I agreed that it be maxed out at twenty or less to satisfy her. At the same time I realized I just didn't want to ride a lightweight tricycle more than ten miles at a time. I wanted to be able to go to the donut shop and that was about it. The hub motor did all that.

I got to tinker with the batteries and even build new platforms to carry my fat butt so it satisfied my tinker and risk taking mind sets, but with less damage. Last time I flipped a bike I built with an electric motor, I just have a bad back but no broken bones on collapsed lungs from it.

So the hub motor on a trike is pretty much maintenance free but the power source isn't that requires a lot of tinkering and I like that. So please no liposuction advice. I like the ebike but I miss the smell of exhaust. I wonder if they sell that in a timed release can.

As for the tipping of the scale we might not quite be at the hundreth monkey stage.

 

[wheelbender6]

I think its time you build yourself a recumbent trike, Deacon. You don't have to mount the seat all that low and they can be very stable. You can build one from a couple of 20inch donor bikes and a redwood post.

 

[fasteddy]

Saw this on our news today. Wonder what the charging station cost?

Steve

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/c...ilicon-valley-car-charging-stations-1.2503899

 

[deacon]

The better system would be a battery small and light enough enough to carry into the office and plug in by the water cooler.

 

[biknut]

Saw this on our news today. Wonder what the charging station cost?

Steve

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/c...ilicon-valley-car-charging-stations-1.2503899

I read that Tesla is investing a bunch of money in charging stations. Personally I don't think charging stations are going to be needed much. Soon battery technology will be good enough that an overnight charge will last all day, or days.

 

[Easy Rider]

I ride every weekend near a bunch of electronic companies in Silicon Valley. I think they should invent a charger on a slider with a locking device what unlocks when the car is fully charged. I see on an average of 6 chargers per parking lot and if you live here, there are way too many electric cars per charging stations.

 

[biknut]

I ride every weekend near a bunch of electronic companies in Silicon Valley. I think they should invent a charger on a slider with a locking device what unlocks when the car is fully charged. I see on an average of 6 chargers per parking lot and if you live here, there are way too many electric cars per charging stations.

Here it's just the opposite, there's way more charging stations than cars. I've yet to even notice a car using a charging station.

In the last 2 years I've noticed about 3 Chevy Volts, and 1 Tesla on the road. I don't think I would know a Leaf if I saw one.

One of my customers owned a Volt, and he told me he loved it.

 

[Easy Rider]

In the last 2 years I've noticed about 3 Chevy Volts, and 1 Tesla on the road. I don't think I would know a Leaf if I saw one.

I usually can see that many electrics if not more on my way to work every morning and a Leaf the minute I open up my garage. My neighbor has one and charges it with his solar panels.

 

[paul]

electric here is $0.54 a kw, i dont think we will see any charging stations here lol

 

[Pablo]

electric here is $0.54 a kw, i dont think we will see any charging stations here lol

A down side to paradise? No way!!

 

[Pablo]

The better system would be a battery small and light enough enough to carry into the office and plug in by the water cooler.

Absolutely why I love NCM. One charging on my gun bench right now.

 

[BarelyAWake]

Revolution? erm... if so it's the slowest "revolution" ever lol, & I don't mean the cars

Range & recharge, range & recharge - two admittedly valid counterpoints to electric vehicles when comparing them to the quick & easy refill of any ICE & debated constantly, endlessly, most folks seem to be waiting for the batteries to be improved, waiting for charging stations, waiting for a "quick" recharge solution but then again... are those points really that valid for most of us, for the majority of our daily usage?

Honestly? I really don't think so.

With a national average of 2.28 vehicles per household & with 95% of trips shorter than 30 miles, 99% below 70 miles* it's an almost painfully clear case of unfamiliarity and even unrealistic expectations. It's not what we need, it's what we want - we want to be able to drive thousands of miles nonstop at the drop of a hat, for any reason or none at all, in any vehicle we'd bother to own.

Catch is, most of us never do & if we do, it's once in a great while and for many, not in their daily driver - in fact the more likely distance trips are a concern, the higher the likelihood there's more then one household vehicle, the higher the average household income... sure there's exceptions but we're dealing with averages here, the majority of vehicle usage & the applicability of electric vehicles in general.

So, if the daily driver doesn't need to exceed current battery tech, doesn't need the infrastructure of readily available charging stations, doesn't do much more then go to work & back, pick up the kids & some groceries and as it could replace the ICE for 95% of all use thereby nearly paying for itself and/or drastically reducing household expenditures - what are we waiting for exactly?

Exotic supercars like the Telsa? Charging stations every five miles? Batteries that can emulate ICE in every way including the sexy vroomie sounds?

It's all a bit silly really, we've had the tech and we've had it for a long, long time - but we just don't want some boring bubble car that can "only" do what we need it to, it's clearly never been about the right tool for the job and all about what we're used to - cheap gas and limitless horizons now! We're just not very patient or even reasonable when it comes to such things, which makes it all the more odd that we're still "waiting"

*http://www.solarjourneyusa.com/EVdistanceAnalysis7.php

 

[biknut]

You make a lot of valid points BA. I've had a lot of the same thoughts about electrics as you mention. I've come to the conclusion I could probably live with most of the preconceived limitations.

All my wife's daily driving is less then 30 miles. She won't even get on the freeway. It's already been the case that if I wanted to go on a trip to say somewhere like West Texas, a thousand miles round trip from my house, I'd rent a car. Not because my car wouldn't make it, but just to not put the miles on it.

Revolutions can start small, but catch fire fast. I don't think the fire is started yet, but the kindling is set in place.

Actually we may be farther along than we think. In terms of sheer numbers electric bicycles are by far leading the way to the future. Manufacturers are predicting that by 2016 annual sales will be in the hundreds of thousands.

What you allude to about the difference between what we need, and what we think we need is probably the biggest obstacle to revolution. I'm even guilty of it myself. I've owned my electric bicycle for almost 2 months now. It's taken me almost a month to come to the realization that my electric is less restricted than my China Girls. Ridden correctly it has more range than any of my gas motorized bicycles, and more importantly more range than I ever need for all day riding. In other words it can out ride my butt.

Now that I realize that, I can't think of any reason to ever want a gas motorized bicycle again. If it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone.

 

[Intrepid Wheelwoman]

I know just in terms of my own personal vehicle use I find that electric solutions work best for me. When my daughter's Rover car went to the great scrapyard in the sky I gave her my 1977 Datsun because I simply wasn't using it. All my journeys are local trips and well within the range of an electric bike or if I'm having a good day a conventional bicycle.
For a while there a good many traders here in NZ were selling China Girl kits, but their numbers have dwindled and it's the electric kits and parts that are now on the rise. More OEM electric bicycles are in the shops too, but for NZ in the years of the Great Recession they tend to be beyond most ordinary folk's price range.
Our traffic regulations tend to favour electric bikes and trikes more than IC conversions. Electrics are free and clear, but IC conversions can find themselves needing moped registration if it's plain they are outside the definition of a powercycle.

So far it's a quiet EV revolution that's still a little slow, but it is happening. Here in NZ petrol is expensive, - around $NZ2.50 a litre, - so there is a lot more incentive for folk to look at alternatives. Even though the Datsun is capable of 40-45 miles to the gallon, longer trips to the city or out of our region require us to plan ahead so we can budget for fuel. In a month or two my daughter and I will be going to visit my sister in Taihape and that will require a certain amount of intrepid level planning to prepare for the journey (My daughter has a disabling illness too so we will share the driving). Such trips are rare however.

With our own situation though the car spends most of it's time with the cat asleep on its bonnet in the driveway. With her electronics, computer science and programming background my daughter is working on building up an electric bicycle for herself. All my bikes are too old fashioned for her it seems
The simple fact is though we don't really need a car and it's only kept in case of emergencies. I know we didn't really need to have two cars in the driveway either, so it's good that one has gone. Anything IC powered I have is for tinkering and fun, the electrics are for doing the real work.

 

[Intrepid Wheelwoman]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vd2ztw4bXI4

 

[biknut]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vd2ztw4bXI4

Pretty interesting video. I can see how useful a cargo bike could be.


I've noticed electric bicycles are popping up for sale in more and more places too. Walmart has something like 13 different ones listed online. REI has a couple. Also a prominent bicycle shop here in Dallas has one on their showroom floor. This last shop is probably the most surprising because they cater to traditional bicycle riders exclusively. I really wouldn't have expected them to have an electric. With shops like this selling them, that exposes electrics to a lot of average riders that might not otherwise ever see one, and also goes a long way toward reducing the stigma of electric bicycles that a lot of traditional riders have. They're harder to make fun of when your favorite shop is promoting them.

 

[biknut]

I think the best way to promote electrics is just to buy one and be seen riding it responsibly on the street. Right now I think peoples expectations are low. When I ride my electric like a bicycle, people hardly notice it. When I'm riding it keeping up with traffic, that gets peoples attention big time.

Where I live a lot people generally like bicycles, but since everything is spread out over so many miles, bicycles just don't seem that useful. When they see a bicycle that can keep up with traffic that changes everything about the way they think about bicycles.

Another obstacle along these same lines for electrics is the fact that most manufacturers follow federal guidelines, and limit their bikes to 20 mph top speed. Europe is just as bad or worse. Here in Texas, and probably most places, the idea of traveling 20 mph in traffic isn't very enticing, but now smart lawyers working for the manufacturers have figured a way around speed laws. Loopholes, there's always loopholes. Most laws restrict electric bicycles to 20 mph on flat ground, under it's own power. That's given rise to a new type of propulsion called Pedelec. Pedelec bikes won't go even 1 mph on their own. You have to pedal them to make them move at all. An adjustable sensor is used to measure the amount of pressure being applied to the pedal, and applies an appropriate amount of electric power to the motor. Bikes such as this are now on the market that can legally go up to 30 mph.