Questions about electric (smart) cars?

Question

I'm thinking about buying an electric car (possibly a smart car) but have a few questions.

1) How much does it cost on average to run for one year?

2) If driving at 30mph how long will the battery last?

3) If not at home, where do you charge it?

4) How long does it take to charge?

5) How safe are they compared to larger cars?

I know they're good for driving around a city but don't understand how suitable they'd be for longer trips. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks :o)

Answer 1

there is a new smart electric car coming out, but have no idea about its performance...perhaps a dealer would be able to provide you with your answers?

to be honest, i wouldnt trust a smart car, they are pretty tiny compared to other cars - i think i would feel really nervous!

Answer 2

Phoenix Motorcars will release a consumer version of its zero-emission, freeway-speed, green vehicle in late 2008.  Go to their web site for more information:  www.phoenixmotorcars.com.  The car may not be ready by late 2008 as their first generation of batteries had a problem.  The battery maker fixed it in their current 2nd generation battery pack but it might delay the car a bit.  They are working on a 10 minute charge time from "charging stations" or about 6-8 hours from normal household current.  Range is hoped to be around 150 to 200 miles.

The only other freeway speed, 200 miles+, recharge in 5 minutes car almost ready is from Feel Good Cars, doing business as Zenn Motors (www.zenncars.com).  Their "cityZenn" to be ready by the fall of 2009, uses an Electrical Energy Storage Unit which is a hybrid untracapitor/barium-titanate battery from EEStor company and combines the best features of batteries and untracapitors.   Its supposed to have double the watts per kilogram of the most advanced lithium-ion batteries and provide the car with a 500 mile range and a 5 minute recharge time.

Answer 3

First of all, our US based correspondents are wrong.  Smart does produce an all electric car and its fully road legal. Its called the Smart-ev. Its not yet in full production and the first production run is being leased to company fleets for evaluation.  Initial results have been very good.  Like all fully electric vehicles, the ability to run for long distances is an issue.

On safety, I have driven a petrol smart car for years, and they are amazingly tough and great fun.

Answer 4

Questions 1, 2 and 4 should be answered by your car dealer.

Question 3 Any motoring organisation should be able to tell you, failing that ask your local council they maybe able to help.

Question 5. That depends a great deal on the driver. A car is as safe as anything else, depends on the user. But the best advice you can get is from another electric car user, ask your car dealer if he could let you know who else has bought one from them who lives local, then ask them.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

DON ONE.

Answer 5

There are no answers to any of your questions because there are, in fact, no street-legal electric cars available anywhere, and at this writing it seems unlikely that there will be for several years.  All of the electric car websites give 'introduction dates' well into the future, and that includes Tesla, which promises delivery in the fall of 2009.  The one guy I'd trust, who is the general manager of GM's Chevrolet Division, said that they might get the Chevy Volt running by 2010 _if_ they can get the batteries to work.  

It's interesting that people have been writing about electric cars as if they exist.  They don't.

Answer 6

SmartCars are gasoline, not electric.

1) Generally speaking, it costs 2-3 cents per mile to recharge.  So if you drive 10,000 miles, it will cost roughly $250.

2) That depends on the car.  A ZAP Xebra has a range of about 20 miles.  A Green Vehicles Triac (first affordable highway speed EV, available in July) can go over 100 miles.

3) There are electric charging stations around, particularly in California.  You can charge up an EV anywhere you can plug it in.

4) Usually EVs take anywhere from 4-8 hours to fully recharge, but they can get a significant percentage recharge in just an hour or two.

5) Again, it just depends on the car.  Generally speaking EVs are just as safe as any other car.

You just have to research them and find the EV that fits your needs.  Right now there aren't many high-speed long-range options, but there will be in the next year or two.  Check out this website for lots of EV info:

http://greenhome . huddler . com/products/category/electric-vehicle

(sorry, stupid Yahoo gives me an error when I paste the link, but just take out the spaces).