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While $20k for a new automobile may be your price point for purchasing one of these vehicles, why do you think this is a ridiculous price? Dismissing the cost here as if Tesla was somehow gouging the customers and that they have maybe $5k worth of parts and engineering in this vehicle is sort of absurd on your part.

There are some incredibly cheap electric automobiles including Zap Jonway, who sells an incredibly cheap electric vehicle. They don't have the performance of Tesla vehicles though. You could also get a golf cart if you don't want to worry about any sort of performance.

As for used vehicles, thanks for the "cash for clunker" program of Obama there are considerably fewer of those vehicles around to buy and their price is currently quite a bit higher... if you can even find them. Yes, there are "used" or "pre-owned" vehicles, but you can't find any $100 or $200 vehicles any more that you can take apart just for parts or spend a summer trying to rebuild.

The market that Telsa is going for right now are those who in America would normally be buying a BMW or Lexus, where $78k is typical.... perhaps a bit high but not too much. With the performance and the kind of interior work that you get with the Model S, I think it is priced about right and perhaps even a bargain for an electric automobile. If it doesn't fit your budget, don't be complaining.

Aptera 2e: $24,000-$46,000
Tesla Whitestar (AKA: Model S): $60,000
Zap Zebra: $11,700 (There are a few of these in my area. 25 mile range on one charge, 40 mph)

Electric cars have been lingering at the high point because no significant car has been rough to market. The Tesla and the Volt appear to be the firsts going there.

What about these?

MDI Enterprises S.A. - Air compressed cars
Electric Tiger Star Truck
Zenn Motor Company
Tata Motors
GM before the Volt
Zap Electric Cars
Global Electric Motors
Phoenix Motorcars
Dynasty Electric Cars
Nice Car Company
Reva
I could keep going but let me Google that for you.

We need to take the first steps if we are ever to migrate from oil to electric.

I agree.

If CD Players and DVD players are your guide, the price of electric cars will come down when they're mass produced in China and sold in Wal*Mart.

Like, perhaps, the way that ZAP has partnered with China Youngman Automotive Group?

http://www.zapworld.com/electric-vehicles/electric-cars/xebra-sedan

For the fully electric version.

It's been available in the states for 2 years now.

That thing looks like it would be safer itf it were actually made out of LEGO. Might have more pickup too, judging by the looks of it. :p

http://www.zapworld.com/electric-vehicles/electric-cars/xebra-sedan

For the fully electric version.

It's been available in the states for 2 years now.

At $100,000 for a Tesla, I think Apteras ($30,000) or Zaps ($12,000) might be more economic choice. These people don't really need a performance company car.

After all, I've never yet heard of a diesel vehicle that couldn't be converted, from thirties farm tractors to school buses to VW Golfs. And, yes, biodiesel can be made from all sorts of stuff. not just waste but even harvested by the ton from algae. And since it's got a much higher energy density that, say, hydrogen or natural gas, a smaller fuel tank can take you farther and cheaper.

But as for "the USA", if you mean the federal government, I'm not exactly impressed with any branch's performance so far.
If you're talking about the citizenry, they're mostly too busy watching reality TV and hoping for another "wardrobe malfunction" to do much of anything so far, though four dollar gas prices have sure gotten more people off their asses.
Municipalities have been doing an excellent job already of converting their fleet vehicles but mostly haven't gone much beyond that and in many cases are required to buy virgin source fuel from the campaign contributors with the most local pull.
Out here in Oregon, we're busy as hell, from building processing plants to gas stations to inventing new manufacturing technologies. But we're not exactly typical.
Me? I've never owned a car yet. I'm looking to buy one next year but it will probably be something like a Zap but with better batteries and a customized, low-weight freight area.

http://www.zapworld.com/electric-vehicles/electric-cars/xebra-sedan

Zapp is a company that's long on hype, and this link is to vaporware of a future model, but they will sell you an electric bike for $350 or an electric vespa-type scooter for $3500 or, soonish, the zebra for $12K. It's an around-town car, not a highway car.
Disclaimer: I no longer own zapp stock.

You forgot to very important companies. ZAP is due to deliver their ZAP-X crossover utility vehicle in 2010 which is, first of all, nicely designed and offers a range comparable to any mid-size sedan. There's also Phoenix who already produces reasonably priced EVs for fleets and plans on introducing consumer models next year.

Actually, most small (sub compact) size electric cars have similar ranges to gas powered cars

Do you have figures on that? I've always figured that the range for a gasoline car is ~300 miles. All the EV sites I've seen touting economical EVs(excludes the Telsa) is around 100 miles.

As for recharge time, it's all dependant on two factors. Well, one usually ends up being the limiter. The first is battery chemistry. You can only charge a lead-acid battery so fast. NiMH is a bit faster, and you have a better 'fast charge' ability. LiIon is better yet, though it gets really slow near the end. The second is the wattage capacity of your charging system.

If all you have is a 120V outlet, you're only going to be able to push about 1.5KWh into the batteries in an hour. 2KWh for a 'heavy duty' 20Amp dedicated circuit. Switch to a dryer type outlet at 240V@30A, and you're up to 6KWh. Which would fill most EV batteries in about 3 hours. The Tesla, sportscar that it is, has a 53KWh battery. That dryer outlet would take 9 hours to charge it from empty. There's nothing except the pain of handling 000 gauge* wires and running most of a modern house's capacity to it to keep you from charging it in just over an hour. Well, assuming the charging system can keep up. Of course, at that point a transformer and kicking the voltage up to levels only line workers normally see**.

However, electric cars are so much more efficient that california would end up with GOBS more power if they simply redirected the gas for cars into powerplants.

Better yet, just burn the crude oil, better still, build nuclear plants, wind farms, etc... Leave the gasoline for other areas.

Over the last 10 years electric cars have been a niche market.

They've been a niche market for the last 100+. Look up Jay Leno's antique electric car.

However the current technology actually allows for wide spread use and the price tag (especially when you include power/fuel expenses) are actually comperable.

Not yet. You can obtain a ~35 mpg gasoline car for around $15k. Zap wants $14k for a truck with a max speed of 25mph, a payload capacity of 770 pounds, and a range of 30 miles. Great for zipping around a warehouse, not so great for commuting in most areas. The Zap-X, which looks like a car has a ESRP of $60k. The Tesla is $100k.

Conversion kits seem to run around $10k, excluding the batteries.

Even if you assume power is free, in many cases battery aging and replacement needs exceed the cost of the gasoline in and of itself.

It is getting better, but slowly.

With near term developments in super capcitors and batteries, the range of applications will increase, the fueling times will decrease and the cost will drop.

Fueling times, at this point, are generally limited by infrastructure. There's not magic bullet out there to make batteries cheap enough to make them the right choice anytime in the near future, I'm afraid.

*IE bloody huge
**lethal very quickly if not done right. I'm thinking 600-1000V. A thousand volts could handle the charge using 'only' 4 or 5 gauge wire. Still going to look and handle worse than a garden hose full of water.

I have to agree that in general most of these electric vehicles suck in looks. This one is a better one... though they make lots of butt ugly models as well.

http://www.zapworld.com/electric-vehicles/electric-cars/zap-x

Don't forget the Zap Car

Is there a comprehensive list of reasonably available electric vehicles?

The Reva ( http://www.revaindia.com/ ) has already been mentioned elsewhere in this thread --- one which I actually considered purchasing is the Twike ( http://www.twike.com/ ) (really more of an enclosed three wheel recumbent bicycle) --- there are some others though. A quick search on Google reveals:

  - http://www.zapworld.com/
  - http://www.teslamotors.com/index.php
  - http://www.gemcar.com/
  - http://www.zenncars.com/

There was an article in the local (Harrisburg, PA) paper recently about a local who'd purchased an all-electric scooter, and another about a (school teacher?) who had refurbished an electric car from the 70s which was street-legal 'causeit was grand-fathered in.

Of all the above, the only one which seems to have full equivalency to a gasoline powered vehicle is the Tesla (which is ~$100,000 if memory serves) --- I thought about getting a Twike, but it's ~$20,000, and would've required me to rent a vehicle for vacations, or to drive our other car (an 8 year old Cavalier w/ ~130,000 miles), so got a Chevy Aveo ($9,999 when I bought it the other year).

William

Well actually there is an solution for you "when in the bush" (hope you find cell service!)The following remote power solution states for iPod, but has been reported to be compatable with the iPhone: http://www.zapworld.com/zapstore/searchresult.aspx ?CategoryID=51/ Expect to see many more solutions like this!

Wristwatches have forgone user-replaceable batteries for ages.

Come again? Every wristwatch I've ever seen (even a $3.50 budget watch from Wal-Mart) either has a pop-off back or a back held on with small screws. Either way, the average time to replace the battery is maybe a minute or two in my experience.

If you were going to pick a consumer device that doesn't have easily replaceable batteries, you'd have to pick something like a rechargeable electric toothbrush. Those typically have nonstandard, often soldered-in batteries in a hard-to-open package. Ditto for most rechargeable flashlights, rechargeable mini-vacs, etc. Still user-serviceable, but only if you are a very above-average consumer.

Would a user-replaceable battery in the iPhone have been a nice feature? Of course it would. Will I stop using my iPhone because it doesn't have one? No. Do I think this case has merit? Hell, no---and particularly not in light of the iPod having expensive, hard-to-replace batteries for almost six years....

BTW, I predict third-party expansion pack batteries that snap onto the back within six months, e.g. an iPhone model of the TunePower. Reportedly, the iZap already works, though I'd imagine it would block the camera.

What about the Zap Car

The Xebra and Zap Truck get 25 Miles per charge

but since batteries aren't there yet I'd say the best choice is their "Trybrid" Obvio runs off of electric AND Ethanol (E-100), Gasoline, or Natural Gas. and gets over 40mpg.

BUT if the Zap X CrossOver ever gets produced (although very expensive) it's suppsed to get 350 miles per charge although I'll admit it doesn't sound realistic.. but they do have Lotus working with them on it.

What about the Zap Car

The Xebra and Zap Truck get 25 Miles per charge

but since batteries aren't there yet I'd say the best choice is their "Trybrid" Obvio runs off of electric AND Ethanol (E-100), Gasoline, or Natural Gas. and gets over 40mpg.

BUT if the Zap X CrossOver ever gets produced (although very expensive) it's suppsed to get 350 miles per charge although I'll admit it doesn't sound realistic.. but they do have Lotus working with them on it.

What about the Zap Car

The Xebra and Zap Truck get 25 Miles per charge

but since batteries aren't there yet I'd say the best choice is their "Trybrid" Obvio runs off of electric AND Ethanol (E-100), Gasoline, or Natural Gas. and gets over 40mpg.

BUT if the Zap X CrossOver ever gets produced (although very expensive) it's suppsed to get 350 miles per charge although I'll admit it doesn't sound realistic.. but they do have Lotus working with them on it.

I think the route to all electric cars will be traveled using better and better hybrid technology to wean people off of gasoline.

They originally had a deal with ZAP! from California who distributed them ONLY to their "licensed franchises" (those that paid $50K for the right...)The ZAP! Smarts are no longer even on their website!
Now it appears that anyone can buy them direct from G&K as long as they buy 10 cars. Wholesale price is around $24K for these and they only convert the top of the line Passion model and the Passion cabrio.

The resale prices of these will go in the toilet as soon as the 2008 model is available from "official" channels and "real" smart dealers will not do any work on the older converted models as the converted models have had their computer systems reverse engineered and tweaked to meet US EPA standards. I don't think the converted ones will work with smart's computer diagnostics either.

I have some friends that paid close to $30K for one of these and they have no regrets, they are all Early Adopters and are used to this nonsense.
The money is nothing. But right now they have a car that says "LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME!"

note: I drove one of these around the US for several months a couple years ago when a German friend brought it here on a "Tourist Visa".
It was a bunch of fun to drive and everyone I spoke to said "Everyone should drive one of these", but when I asked them if THEY would buy one or let their KIDS drive one, most everyone said "NO WAY!"
They wanted to wrap their kids in a much sheet metal as possible so they were "safe".

I've always viewed hybrid as a sick joke that has been propogated as the only "workable solution" by the collusion of auto manufacturers, big oil and the US Gov't.

Take a look at ZapCar (pops)
The claimed performance statistics are a total of 644bhp from four in-wheel electric motors, a 350-mile single charge range, 155 mph top speed, 0-60 mph acceleration in 4.6 seconds and a 10 minute recharge time. ...ohh and the Zap-X is designed by Lotus, so it actually looks like a car you want to drive.

No word on when this car will come out, but the tech it's using is currently available, so it should be within the year.
Much sooner than this year 2020 BS. I can only hope ZapCar makes an impact so that this oil centric cabal will stop lying and start making electric cars a reality. Because they are lying, lying through their teeth.

They are going to have to be dragged kicking and screaming away from oil, which is why we will see years of Biodiesel and hybrid nonsense to come. And one way to drag them kicking and screaming is generating strong consumer demand for more cars like the Zap-X.

Many of these are more-or-less performance oriented vehicles. . .

Tesla Roadster: http://www.teslamotors.com/

Tango: http://www.commutercars.com/

UEV Spyder: http://www.universalelectricvehicle.com/spyder.htm l

Wrightspeed X1: http://www.wrightspeed.com/x1.html

ZAP-X: http://www.zapworld.com/ZAPWorld.aspx?id=4560

Silence: http://www.silenceinc.ca/accueilEN.htm

VentureOne: http://www.venturevehicles.com/

Phoenix SUT & SUV: http://www.phoenixmotorcars.com/

You don't have to put the panel on the car, you can put it on your home roof http://mdsolar.blogspot.com/2007/01/slashdot-users -selling-solar.html. The cars take about 4 hours to charge with their on board compressors if that fits your driving habits.

You can get on a wait list for a car here http://www.theaircar.com/models_iwantone.html. NB, the solar link is also a wait list.

I think I'm going to wait for batteries in a car because that solves my back up power needs but this gets to my speed needs better than the zebra: http://www.zapworld.com/ZAPWorld.aspx?id=188.

Here's another three wheeler one of my customers told me about http://www.zapworld.com/ZAPWorld.aspx?id=188. They are doing this with lead acid.
--
Run you car from your roof. http://mdsolar.blogspot.com/2007/01/slashdot-users -selling-solar.html

So much of personal transportation depends on gasoline and freight depends on diesel [...] No serious alternatives are emerging and the time is running out on those sectors.

You might take a look at some of the used ones they have: http://www.zapworld.com/cars/salecars.asp

That does look nice. But that's a proposed 2005 model. The *early* electric cars were by and large ugly. The picture I linked to is a Citicar circa 1970. It created a perception that electric = ugly in a lot of peoples minds. Many of the new models are not much better. For $14,000 I do not want something that looks like this. I don't get the whole "let's make a freaky body for our electric car" mentality.

That does look nice. But that's a proposed 2005 model. The *early* electric cars were by and large ugly. The picture I linked to is a Citicar circa 1970. It created a perception that electric = ugly in a lot of peoples minds. Many of the new models are not much better. For $14,000 I do not want something that looks like this. I don't get the whole "let's make a freaky body for our electric car" mentality.

Smart is trying to sell in the US, and received Department of Transportation and EPA certifications months ago, but is currently blocked by CA state government. I wonder who could be behind that move?

There are several hundred millions of dollars worth of 'Americanized' Smart cars currently sitting in a California wharehouse, waiting for distribution by the company called ZAP: "ZAP has spent in excess of $10 million on this project and there are numerous jobs at stake." Some Smart cars were even ceremoniously donated to politicians.

This is what happens in a fascist government: corporations conspire with politicians to maintain profits at the public expense. Thank you, good night, and we don't care.

These things are not "Minivans". (At least, not as they're defined in the US.) They're "mini-vehicles", period. And yes, they're on sale in the US. No, I seriously doubt they'll catch on.

Not sure where you got the Ford or GM connection.

For me, with a 10 mile commute, the answer is a hybrid human/electric vehicle: specifically, a cheap used bicycle from a thrift store, and a Zap Express electric motor kit. http://www.zapworld.com/products/ETC_clearance.asp As an advantage, it gives me exercise without ever despairing of getting home.

http://www.zapworld.com/

They sell electric cars as well as modified cars for fairly decent prices.

smart cars are available in US from ZAP: http://zapworld.com/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5217861/ http://www.zapworld.com/cars/smartCar.asp "Hybrids are crap, utter crap until they get on their worst day 50mpg." On my worst day I got 53 MPG. Darn the day... I was traveling 75mph on a highway. I never have gone below that, but I do admit that I am much more gentle when the light turns green and I do not rely on the air conditioning very much. (Although I was using the air conditioning when I got the 53 mpg.)

Already available in the US.

The Smart Cars are pretty cool-looking and there are more and more of them on the roads in Montreal. Recently, I've seen many used as delivery/promotional vehicules, they tend to get a lot of attention from pedestrians and other drivers.

Mustang and Hemi Chrysler drivers just sneer at them, but they miss the point due to the "more/bigger is better" phenomenon evident in less-evolved humans.

Someone should offer an aftermarket turbo for these things (would never work because they are too tall and would tip over at high speeds, just like an SUV).

OK, let me give it a try:

• 5 million premature deaths every year from air pollution in India alone.
• The same article claims 60-70% "of air pollution in India is due to motor vehicles"
• Draw some reasonable assumptions about the likely cause-effect relationships based on looking at the carcinogenic content of the cloud of exhaust in the picture in the link.
• Figure that 5 million * .60 = 3 million.

You didn't really want me to specifically mail you all of the death certificates in an attachment did you? You wouldn't read them anyway.

Doing the same number crunching for the rest of the world (Bangkok, Manila, Mexico City, etc.), I would say that there's enough of a margin for error in the total, that it shouldn't be necessary to generate controlled experiments to prove the case for each cause of death.

Not that I'm an especially big fan of nuclear power, I just think people would just be leaping out of the pebble-bed pan and into a coal fire.

(Language note: I hate to discourage your courageous use of semi-foreign terms, but you may be confusing the Latin de jure (typically used in a legal context to designate who holds the right to something) with the French term, correctly spelled du jour and meaning "of the day," what you probably intended.)

The smart coupe (not the stylish roadster) has been been available in Canada for several months. The US may get it soon enough.

What? If you want the car, buy some shares of ZAP! ?
What kind of nonsense is that? You must work for ZAP!
So just how MANY shares of ZAP! stock should I buy to get to the top of the waiting list to get a SMART ForTwo?

ZAP! exists not to sell cars, but to pump up their stock price.
These cars are imported by a Registered Importer and converted to US Standards for resale to US Citizens. Overseeing the import and conversion is a company named "Smart-Automobiles LLC" which has NO CONNECTION to Mercedes Benz / DaimlerChrysler.
They have to buy these things RETAIL in Europe, bring them over to the US, convert them, then ZAP! sells "dealerships" and "franchises" across the country and then the "dealer" takes his cut. No wonder the price is so high.

ZAP! exists merely to sell franchises and dealerships for a brand they do not own the rights to.

You cannot buy a Smart ForTwo from ZAP!, you can only buy a dealership.
Despite their advertising claims, ZAP! does NO CONVERSIONS, they are nothing but a bunch of marketing droids in an office trying to get people to think they are a "real" company that actually produces some sort of product.

Here is a conversation on FARK where a few people (including a former employee apparently) pull back the curtain on ZAP!

Here is one quote from the conversation:

The SMART car may be a good idea, but don't buy it from ZAP. They exist for the sole purpose of pumping up their stock price so a few big investors can dump them before any serious shareholders know what happened.

MB / DaimlerChrysler plans to introduce the SMART BRAND to the US with a 2006 model that is a small SUV,built in Brazil called the ForMore, from that point they may introduce a re-designed version of the ForTwo for the US / World market.

It will be interesting to see what happens when the "real" SMART Brand comes to the US and whether all these ZAP! dealers get hit with a restraining order to cease advertising or dealing a Brand they do not have the rights to.

Hey you should bring up your evidence with the EPA they would be astounded at your logical, tested statements. You could bring about a whole new revolution in armchair car-tests, space exploration, no thank you, we have anonymous coward regaling us with tales of what its like everywhere.

Here is a link of the safety features, and the msnbc car test.

If there ever was an inappropriately-named car, this is it.

Well, there's the SMART car: here.

It's around 750 kilos, so I see 300 as being pretty tricky... You'd need to lose 350, so by your guesstimates, the electric motors and batteries would need to weigh in at 100kg. Not very likely.

Maybe 500 - that's not bad. And yes, lots of people drive SMART cars here (UK) - even more on the continent. The parent of your post was specifically talking about a one-person car, the SMART is for two.

Most manufacturers don't have any cars over $100k, let alone two similar cars which have prices $100k apart. No Japanese automaker sells a car which costs more than US$85k (Honda NSX) and only one US Domestic automaker has a vehicle over $100k (Ford GT), not counting limited-run manufacturers like Shelby and Saleen. The two american production cars which were arguably closest together until one of them recently dropped off the map were the Chevrolet Camaro and the Chevrolet Corvette. They used the same engine, but the Camaro's powerplant was detuned so that the Corvette could outrun it - perhaps this is what you were talking about? However, the Corvette also has a double wishbone rear suspension instead of the Camaro's live axle, and the price difference was only $20,000 or so (in extreme cases) between the C5 corvette and the Camaro SS with the same powerplant.

Now, Mercedes-Benz does have AMG models which are about US$100,000 more than the base model, but they are practically a different car. Everything that can be changed without it literally being a different car has been changed; Engine, transmission, wheels, interior, even the available paint colors in some cases.

Or, maybe you're talking about how some cars cost more than others; it's not just about capabilities, it's about a mystique and that has nothing to do with crippling some cars and making others great. Sometimes, it IS about capabilities, and the fact is that you can't make a production car as cheap as a ford focus that can outrun a ferrari enzo, no matter how hard you wish. But, you didn't specify nor give examples, so it's hard to me to say just what you mean, when you didn't bother.

looking at the Saftey Page only proceeded to scare the crap out of me.
"In a front collision the wheels also serve as a crumple zone."

That's wonderful. Many times 4 feet of steel crumple zone in the hood is not enough, but here we have two little dinky wheels to take the edge off the impact.

I did not feel like jumping through all of MSN's convoluded hoops to be able to play the crash video, but it looks to me as though it simply demonstrates that real cars have crumple zones and the "smart" car is a rigid little bubble of doom. I'd like to see the standard 30mph into a cement wall test.

To me this car is cute the way a handgrenade is cute.

I use a ZAP Electricruiser and it's great. I looked at the in-hub motors but there is no way to disconnect them if you run out of power. The ZAP drive works against the tire and can be lifted off the tire if you don't want to use it. The one I have came with a 20AH 12 volt battery which makes it convenient but not good enough. I made an adapter and bought a 35AH battery that works better.
http://www.zapworld.com/products/dxkit_bike.asp

I had the DX kit from ZAP for several years when I was at college in San Francisco. I had a number of interesting experiences.

I opted for the dual battery kit because the claims of distance on a charge were optimistic by about a factor of two. I'm sure if you were on some ultralight bike riding on perfectly flat roads at low speed you could achieve the rated numbers, but in the real world cranking up twin peaks with both you and the motors straining for all you're worth it was alot shorter.

The motor will become less efficient as it heats up. It will heat up as it has to provide more torque, so it will usually quit right on the steepest hill in your journey about the time you've become too tired to pedal the heavy bike without it. Then you'll walk the rest of the way up.

If you have a friction drive like the zap kit did, where the motor drives the wheel via a roller that rides on the tire, it will be useless anytime the tire is wet, dusty, or you're going up a hill where it produces significant resistance. The solution I found to this was to install an extra gear shift on the handlebars, and run a line down the frame to a point opposite the motor. Then ran the cable to a convenient mounting hole in the motor casing so that when I pulled the lever the motor would be pulled into the tire. This let me keep traction in any condition, even snow. I showed this to some people from zap, and they thought it was great. But not great enough to put in their kits apparently. I also designed a roller that worked kind of like a thick spring that could change diameter with pressure so using this you could change gear ratios, but that never went anywhere either. If anyone wants the design to work on building it, let me know.

It won't electrocute you or short out in the rain, even in El Nino, even if you're stupid and go out in El Nino and get drenched. Your brakes however, will fail when they're hydroplaning on your rims as you careen down into the Noe valley at breakneck speeds.

Bike thieves will still steal your bike despite the fact they don't have the charger for it. Either that or someone will steal your battery and headlight and smash them in the street for no good reason. Kryptonite locks will not save you, it'll still be stolen even in broad daylight at a busy mall. I gave up after losing 2 bikes.

If you have to transport it a long distance, like to another state, don't ship it, fly with it. Most airlines have a flat $50 bike fee, just get a bike box from the local bike shop and pack it. Pack your batteries seperately in your luggage on top, so you can show them to the people at the counter in the airport before they check your bag. Lead acid gel cells are safe for commercial airline trainsport, and will likely have this printed on the batteries themselves, as mine did.

If you use the bike every day expect to replace your batteries every year or two, as they'll wear out.

Beware of other cyclists, alot of them will be mad at you for "cheating".

You'll hear lots of interesting things about better technologies, such as improved lithium ion batteries, and small fuel cells which are always "just around the corner". I waited and searched for 5 years to get either one. Even when they actually demonstrated a bike with the same kit as mine running on a li battery with half the weight and 6 times the range, they wouldn't sell it to me. They went on to make $450 laptop batteries instead and refused to license the tech to anyone interested in other applications and refused to build any other size or shape batteries unless you wanted like 100,000 units. As for the fuel cells, saw one on a bike too. But they were always experimental and "Oh we'll have this out in 2 years." It won't happen anytime soon.

You'll also hear about new and improved electric vehicles that are

Zapworld.com sells a do-it-your-self kit to attach a battery pack and motor to your bicycle.

It turns a regular bike into a battery-assisted bike for going faster, going up hills, etc.

I would have gotten one years ago except I'm too short and the frame size of my bike isn't large enough to accommodate the batter pack.

here

Yawn. SO you got a segway to avoid getting sweaty? Why don't you pedal more slowly, or take a break on the ride? One can get from A to B on a bicycle without any reason to switch to a segway, IMO.

Tell me when all the money you saved pays for the segway itself. Now how is this better than a bike or a bus, or just 2 feet.

To me, it seems we've been given enough ways to move ourselves already. What are we solving by moving people 11mph instead of 3mph, but for $5k and a pile of eletronics to head dumpster-bound in 10 years?

Fad. I'd get one of these anyway