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Deep cycle lead acid can last a lot longer than that with shallow cycling, intelligent charging and the use of a desulphator. Mine are over ten years old now, work fine. They've lasted that long because I never beat on them.

    Telco exchanges had/have big aquarium looking lead acid backup batteries that lasted twenty years then tons got sold off cheap to enthusiasts where they were put into service for the earlier adopter off grid solar guys. This is *old* mother earth news and home power magazine info, and the battery subject has been looked at in depth by literally hundreds of people, and year after decade lead acid still rules for the cash involved for large applications, until you get to utility scale, where it is pumped water storage and turbines, etc.

Lead acid is still the king for stationary storage purposes when it comes to amp hours/dollars, for home use. I seriously doubt that lithium ion will come close for a long time, I mean, look at what replacement cellphone and laptop batteries cost.

  And how many just car starter batteries do we see at whatever*mart or the auto parts stores that use lithium tech yet? Yep, about zilch, people don't want to spend a thousand bucks for a starter battery. There are still some advances in lead acid out there, the most common you see for cars is the spiral system from Optima http://www.optimabatteries.com/home.php , and the Firefly company http://www.fireflyenergy.com/ is allegedly going to start having more fleet sales "soon" with their lead "sponge" tech, and perhaps eventually normal retail.

The cheapest locally sourced way to get lead acid today that I have found is to look around at forklift stores and get an electric traction battery pack @ 12 to 48 VDC (probably other voltages as well, haven't looked for awhile now).

They are *heavy* and come in steel cases with lifting points and welded bus bars.

Optima has a patent on unrolling the core and creating a spiral.If they are able to use this, then they would have quite the batteries.

I work in the field of electric storage, including batteries, and there is absolutely no reason they cannot come out with a vehicle that can't use batteries that can be rapid-charged, nor set up the charger to do them. (Granted, you would still be looking at a charge time of roughly an half-hour to an hour, little longer than it takes to get gas.) The standard deep-cycle batteries used for applications like RV's and boats cannot be charged like this, but those like the Optima and Odyssey do have this capability.

This begs the question, then, why is there not a workable electric car out there? 200 miles is plenty for the average person's daily driving, and it would be a simple matter to charge the vehicle every night. (In fact, this is better for the health of deep cycle batteries than full discharge.)

Further, a half hour recharge would only be a slight inconvenience on cross-country trips, especially since recharging stations could be set up right along the interstate, or set up in rest stops, not requiring the underground tanks and the like that a gas station does. Generally, after driving 200 miles, I for one am ready to get out of the car for a little while anyway.

The biggest downside that I see is that the cost of replacing the batteries (especially premium batteries like the Odyssey or Optima) would be considerable, given that these cars would have to use banks of 10-15 batteries, at a current cost of about $160 per battery. Of course, the massive boost to production of these would probably create competition and an economy of scale, driving the price down, as more and more migrated to electric cars. The savings on gas (which will only get more expensive) would also be considerable, although a high volume of these cars would create additional demand on the electrical grid.

Using the generator as a starter motor is probably the absolute best way to go. This is probably coming on automobiles, too; we'll end up with a combination AC motor/alternator-generator for starting and charging. This will be driven by everything and I mean everything on the car going electric. No more vacuum lines, no more hydraulic system. The system will be higher-voltage (automobiles are about to go 48V, even in the US) and that will reduce the gauge of wire necessary for the electrical system, further saving weight. Doing this would allow us to eliminate all the pulleys and belts on the vehicle. This will require using higher-technology batteries, like the Optima types, because electrical system problems (especially battery failure) are the #1 cause of breakdowns.

Buy an Optima Blue Top. It's a gel cell, and they are indestructable. The Blue Top is a Marine Battery, and optima recommends them over the Deep Cycle Yellow top for UPS usage.

http://www.optimabatteries.com

I had a Red Top in my 83 GTI that was 12 years old (the battery, car was older). It started my car (which sat outside all night) on a -45 degree morning (actual -45, without wind chill). Any battery that can go 12 years and still do that is amazing. The military puts them in everything from Hummers to helicopters.

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.

These guys make batteries that don't leak gas.

But, the idea of car batteries flying around a hospital doesn't sit quite well with me.

If you want a cheep sealed battery with automotive capacity just run down to Schucks, Checker, Kragen, Autozone, pep boys, wherever and pick up an Optima Yellow top (deep cycle). Then you don't have to worry about hydrogen build-up in your computer room.
These batterys are sealed wet cells that will last for years.. expect to drop about $150-200 US

Optima's and other type of sealed automotive batterys can be ordered from either Summit Racing or Jegs