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You're right, you'll need good batteries, and even basic lead acid the cost adds up when you need a dozen of them.

The motor's aren't super cheap either, they are fairly large motors.

The one part that is easy to over look for cost is the controller, I think they are almost as much as the motor. Start adding up all these 4 figure parts. and it's easy to hit that 5 figure mark.

Stuff like a 144VDC controller, easily $1500 http://www.evparts.com/products/street-vehicle/controllers--dot/72-to-348-volt-street-vehicle-controllers/ct2232.htm
Motor: $1200-$2000 http://www.evparts.com/products/street-vehicle/motors--dot/96-to-192-volt-street-vehicle-motors/

And that's just getting started, look at the price of cable large enough for that voltage/current, and the price is easily over $1/foot

Sure, someone will come along with cheaper options, but just saying not hard to hit the price this guy hit.

You're right, you'll need good batteries, and even basic lead acid the cost adds up when you need a dozen of them.

The motor's aren't super cheap either, they are fairly large motors.

The one part that is easy to over look for cost is the controller, I think they are almost as much as the motor. Start adding up all these 4 figure parts. and it's easy to hit that 5 figure mark.

Stuff like a 144VDC controller, easily $1500 http://www.evparts.com/products/street-vehicle/controllers--dot/72-to-348-volt-street-vehicle-controllers/ct2232.htm
Motor: $1200-$2000 http://www.evparts.com/products/street-vehicle/motors--dot/96-to-192-volt-street-vehicle-motors/

And that's just getting started, look at the price of cable large enough for that voltage/current, and the price is easily over $1/foot

Sure, someone will come along with cheaper options, but just saying not hard to hit the price this guy hit.

Even home-built models can be fast. The problem is range. Battery technology essentially sucks.

Cheaper (deep cycle lead-acid) batteries are heavy, charge relatively slowly, and don't store anywhere near as much energy-per-pound as gasoline. They have to be changed out after about 500 - 700 charge cycles.

Moderately priced (flooded NiCads) are somewhat lighter, and last forever (life of vehicle). They have moderately better range for their weight, but still charge slowly.

Expensive (Lithium Ion, Nickel metal, other "exotics") can be used to give range because of their higher density and lighter weight, but at a cost that is often 3X the price of a new Honda.

Fuel cells take a long time to "warm up," and are expensive.

Hybrids -- well, they're not really electric nor non-polluting, are they?

When you consider that as little as 10%-20% of the energy in gasoline is applied to the tires, and electric vehicles can be as high as 70%, you realize that batteries are a very poor way of storing energy.

One more thing: Neither the DC nor AC motors presently used in electric vehicles has permanent magnets. The DC motors are series wound motors capable of 6000 RPM. The AC models often can go over 10000, allowing them to be used with only one ratio to the wheels. Neither can be considered bulky; a "large" dc motor is 18 inches long with a 9 inch diameter. The AC motors are often about the size of a coffee can.

Also, check out the tzero.

First person who mentions putting generators on the wheels, or a windmill on the roof shall be shot.

I'll keep that in mind as I pass you on the highway.

While the waiting list is pretty long and the price is high, you can get an electric car with a 100+ mile range that does the quarter mile faster than a late 90's Vette. Go see the T-Zero at A/C Propulsion's site.

Another way to go is to find an electric car conversion shop or individual. Purchase a cheap ICE vehicle, spend another $6-$10K converting it and you have a vehicle that will last as long as the body holds up that looks like everyone elses car, but needs far less maintenence and no gasoline.

Or you could just do the whole thing yourself. If done right your range will be between 40 and 60 miles per charge.

Remember Optima Yellow Top deep cycle batteries are your friends.

"I for one would love to see a video of an ev doing a smoke show.. i've done tonnes of them in my iroc, but.. i've never actually heard what it sounds like to spin rubber fast enough to cause them to burn.. all i ever hear is the sound coming out of the three inch duals.. i can't even begin to imagine what a silent car sounds like roasting it's rubber.. hehe.."

It's not a video, but check out these shots of an "electric smokeshow".

If you really want video, head for Wilde Evolutions and order a video of one of the past NEDRA races... if you think an electric burnout must sound cool, wait till you hear the sound of an electric dragster launch.

Roger.

I don't know about the TZero, but Russ Wilde's electic mazda beat a viper in the 1/4 mile....

"....until you reach 10 to 20 million or more EV population level, you're not going to require additional electrical generating capacity...By owners charging their electric vehicles in the evening hours (valley periods) they recieve the benefits of off-peak (typically lower) electic rates. By raising the valleys and bringing up the base load demand, the electric utility is able to more efficienty utilize its existing plant capacity. This is a remendous near-term economic benefit to our electric utilities because it represents a new market for electricity sales with no additional associated capital asset expense."

- Build your own electric vehicle, pg. 38

Don't get me wrong, electric toy dragsters sound like fun, but they are not THAT fast.

Not yet, anyway. Russ Wilde of evparts owns a modified mazda that can smoke a dodge viper off the line. It can do the 1/4 mile in 11.039, whick is only two hundreths slower than the '69 AMX my dad used to drag race. Russ Wilde is working on a 1000HP *street legal* racer. There's no way you can build a door-slamming gas-burner with that power, since it could never be licenced (it could not meet emissions standards). The electric will be totally legal, and have *much* better performance than the souped up cameros and their kin that you see on the street.

BTW, despite what GM wants you to think, you don't need the inductive charger generators of "electricity stations" like they use for the EV1. Most electric conversions plug into an ordinary outlet to charge. Most houses today come with electricity....