Top Electric Cars - the Good and Bad

• The Aptera 2e.


The Aptera 2 Series (formerly the Aptera typ-1) is a high-efficiency passenger three-wheeled automobile produced by Aptera Motors. The California based company is currently allowing residents of California to pre-order the car.

The first variant of the Series 2 slated for production is the Aptera 2e, a battery electric car. Aptera clams the 2e will accelerate from zero to sixty in under ten seconds, and is able to reach a top speed of 85+ miles per hour. The Aptra 2h, a plug-in-hybrid electric car will be priced from the mid-$20,000 to the $40,000 range, depending on options.

The first Aptera 2h used a small water cooled EFI gasoline engine, with a closed loop Oxygen feedback and a catalytic converter coupled with a 12kw generator/starter. With a five gallon tank the Aptera would have had a range of 600 to 700 miles, compared to the 120 mile range of the Aptera 2e. The Aptera 2h is a series hybrid. The engine would not connect to the drive train it is used to only recharge the batteries.

As with any hybrid, fuel economy is depends on the trip length and the battery charge at the start of the trip. For trips of less than 50 miles on a full battery charge the charging motor will not start at all. Resulting in the same energy use as a pure electric car will get. If on the other hand the car was not plugged in and batteries were not charged the Aptrea would get 130 miles per U.S. gallon. Aptrea Motors quotes 300 miles per U.S. gallon when starting with a fully charged battery on a 120 mile trip.


• Myers Motors Duo

Safety Features:

Spherical body design (like a motorcycle helmet)

Layered composite construction, low center of gravity

Three-point shoulder safety harness / Automotive safety glass

Emergency parking brake / Inertia switch / Emergency Power Off button

Hazard warning lights / Full dash board instrumentation/Seat with head restraint

Curb side driver door / Interior door lock

Benefits:

No more Gas station trips needed

Reduced or eliminated global warming impact

Gets more attention than a $100,000 sports car

Zero emissions for cleaner, healthier air

Access to HOV carpool lanes at 76 mph*

Motorcycle parking and fees

First on first off the ferry

Most energy efficient vehicle on the road

Charge in convenience of your own garage

General:

Onboard battery charger 110 Volt

DC Motor/Controller

Three-wheeled vehicle registers, insures and parks as a motorcycle

72-inch wheel base, 57 inches vehicle height

75 mph top speed, 50-60 mile range

Construction:

A-arm front suspension / Single sided swing arm rear suspension

Cog-belt drive, Three-wheel disc brakes, Spring over hydraulic shocks, 13-inch wheels


Comforts:

Power windows, AM/FM stereo & CD player standard

Two power ports for laptop & cell phone

Heater/defroster, fan operated / Vents (3)

6 cf Trunk storage /Adjustable seat back

Tilt steering wheel / Rack & pinion steering


Additional Features:

30+ hp

Lithium-Ion batteries


Battery life: Approx. 2500 charge/discharge cycles at 50 mile range

Charging:

$20 of electricity for 1000 miles of driving at $0.10 / kWh


About 4-5 miles of driving per hour of charging at 110/20 amp outlet (depending on driving habits)

About 15-20 miles of driving per hour of charging at 220/30 amp outlet (depending on driving habits)


• Mitsubishi i-MiEV

MIEV motors are constructed using an in-wheel motor rotor, an in-wheel motor, a rotor bracket, stator bracket and inverter directly behind the brakes. The batteries can be charged from a standard 15 A/200 V car charger in seven hours and with a three phase electric charger in 25 minutes. The batteries are located under the floor pan and in the Colt uses 22 li-lion modules to produce a cumulative 325 volt. The design allows for an entirely electric vehicle, or a hybrid using the batteries to supplement a traditional internal combustion motor.

According to Mitsubishi, locating the motor behind the wheel offers the company three distinct advantages.

1. It allows for a true four wheel drive system without need of transmission, drive shafts, differential gears or other complex mechanical components. Mitsubishi Motors has been one of the few companies to persist in offering 4WD on vehicles other than SUVs since the technology's heyday in the 1980s.

2. Placing the drive system entirely in the wheels allows for greater freedom of design for interior stylists.

3. The space created facilitates the storage of the batteries, allowing for extra modules to be fitted which would offer increased power and range compared to previous electric vehicles.


• Coda Sedan

• STYLING: The Coda has better street presence than photos show, but it's hardly cutting edge. Style could be a drawback for buyers, who Coda thinks will move up to a full electric car.

• PERFORMANCE: In cut-and-thrust New York City traffic, we had our foot in it and the car kept up just fine. We can't comment on highway performance; the most we saw was about 45 mph.

• SEATING & INTERIOR: The front seats were comfortable for our 20-minute trip, though surprisingly low to the floor. The beltline is low too, so visibility was fine. The rear had enough leg room a full-size adult male human. Styling and plastic quality was acceptable.

• INSTRUMENT PANEL: The new dash will include both digital instruments and advanced airbags, which had the longest lead time of any component. The company must still crash another 30 or so cars to validate them.

• REFINEMENT: The din of New York exterior noise was fairly well suppressed, though some electric motor whine was apparent. A remarkably noisy heater/air-conditioner pump would be replaced in production cars.

• BUILD QUALITY: This is the biggest question for Coda: Can Chinese-designed and built cars offer the high standards of design and build quality that Western buyers require? Panel gaps were wide but consistent, and we can only say nothing fell off during our tenure in the car..

• SUMMARY: This first Coda may never attract fashion-forward car buyers, but the greenest of Southern Californians likely look for different qualities in carbon-free cars.

• PRICE: A list price of $45,000 seems absurd for a not-very-stylish compact car, but the Coda is eligible for a $7,500 Federal tax credit. The state of California may add its own credit as well.



BYD e6

So far, all we know is that the E6 will be a 5 seater with an acceleration of 0 to 100 kph of around 10 seconds. Top speed should be top speed of 160 kph (100 mph), and the battery pack, which is located under the rear passenger seats, will be based on BYD's own lithium-ion iron phosphate technology. Range per charge is expected to be 300 km (186 miles).

But most impressive of all:

"BYD projected the battery had a life of 2,000 cycles, for a lifetime range of about 600,000 km (373,000 miles)"

Charging of the battery will take the night with 220V, but the E6 electric car can also take a fast charge that can bring the battery to 80% SOC in about 15 minutes.

::BYD Introduces Electric E6 Crossover at Beijing Auto Show, ::Beijing 2008: BYD e6 electric MPV, possible production EV in two years

Update December 2008: GM is Weeping: BYD F3DM Plug-in Hybrid Goes On Sale in China, 3 Years Before Volt


• Think City

Think City is short and boxy, with doe-eyed headlights and a nifty glass hatchback. The City has a top speed of around 65 miles per hour, a range of more than 120 miles in city driving, and a full complement of safety features such as ABS and airbags. The cabin is comfortable, well-built and handsome.

Think promises that up to 95 percent of the City is recyclable. Even the body panels are color-impregnated plastic. This makes them tough and dent resistant, and also eliminates the toxins that are released during the painting process. Seeking to counter General Motors' highly publicized EV1 electric car, Ford purchased Pivco in 1999.

Ford pumped tens of millions of dollars into what it curiously renamed the Think Car. California’s electric-vehicle mandate was first watered down to include hybrid vehicles, Then quashed completely in 2003 under continuous threat of legal action by major auto manufacturers such as DaimlerChrysler and General Motors.

Recharging the Think brand

Sale of Think was not due to the electric-car company lack of potential. There was always a very dedicated following amongst Ford for Think. Think still has a good relationship with the American car company and many parts on the Think City, such as the steering wheel, are still sourced from Ford. For all you fans of automotive trivia: Think taillights are identical to those once used in the Lamborghini Diablo supercar.

Think was bought for a paltry $15 million two years ago. Of the initial investment, Development has moved quickly because they had a 90 percent finished car and a good factory."

Early last year additional funds totaling approximately $93 million were raised for development. The company plans to sell its cars almost entirely via the Internet. Customers will buy the car, but lease the batteries in a system, the mobility-pack fee would be $100 to $200 per month (depending on the market) and would include the batteries, car insurance, carbon offsets and even Web service. An owner could text message his/her car and receive messages back with service updates and diagnostics. The batteries would be replaced and recycled when the vehicle detects lost their optimum efficiency levels.