You must have an old worn battery pack, the wrong set of batteries, or use a lead foot in your Beetle to have less range than a C-car as my Beetle has only a dozen Trojan T145s and had a max range of 65 miles in the 1993 Tour de Sol and that included a 150 pound passenger in addition to my 180 pounds. Nine years later that same battery pack still has a 55+ mile range and this is in hilly New England.
On Sat, 19 Oct 2002 22:27:39 -0700 (PDT) gail <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > > Bob Rice wrote: > > > > > My take on all this. Can't SOMEBODY offer this poor woman a > REAL EV? > > Maybe a clean, turnkey conversion? God, she has paid her dues, to > drive EV, > > for sure. She needs something she can keep up with traffic, and > not be in > > the shop more than she is on the road. She could be happy in a 90 > volt > > Rabbit, I'm sure? Don't think she needs a 70 MPH car, like a 120 > volt Rabbit > > ,will do. Isn't there a EAA chapter out where she lives? I would > help her > > fix it up, but the distance is a bit far, EVen for a 120 volt > car,G>! > > Bob, > > Thank you for trying to help with my EV problems, but I don't think > you > understand. To me, my Citicars and Comutacars are REAL EVs. I also > have > some others, a 120 Volt VW Beetle (with less range than my C-Cars), > a 96 > Volt Bradley GT II and a 96 Volt Aztec. I prefer the C-Cars. I > have EVs > all over the place but only one Comutacar is running right now and > it is > the one I was inquiring about tires for recently. Since I received > several responses regarding the tires I am still undecided as to > which to > get, will try to narrow that down before another one goes flat. > > I take my best Comutacar to a golf cart shop and twice spent a > considerable amount of money for work on the motor, but it was still > overheating and then something else broke, I think maybe the > microswitch > again, just as I was pulling into the Pets Mart parking lot. My > neighbor > pushed it home for me and it has been parked since. I am thinking of > trying a different golf cart shop but haven't had time yet. > > Yes, there is an EAA chapter here and they are a great group of > people. > I was very active in the chapter for many years but we were not > getting > EVs on the road in numbers large enough to make any difference in > the air > quality, less than an EV a year. I am probably one of those referred > to in > a recent post as enviro-wackos. My main interest in EVs is their > lack of > pollution and I do not care if they go fast or far. I get by on my > E-bike > for most purposes, always ride it to work and school as it is way > more > convenient than a car at those places. I work for an environmental > research institute and am an environmental studies major so can park > my > bike in my office, and in the classroom. That way I don't need to > worry > that it will be stolen while I am in school, as my first one was. > > I was very excited about the possibility of getting a Th!nk City, > until > the recent decision by Ford to not produce it. I started looking > into > NEVs, as one of those would serve my transportation needs. There is > a > very cute one being rented to tourists on the Strip, but my > understanding > is that the manufacturer has gone out of business. The Lido was my > favorite of those I saw when I looked at the various web sites. I > contacted the local dealer and was told (maybe a couple of weeks > ago) that > I should grab one within a few days because they were being > discontinued > and I would have a collector's item. That is exactly what I DO NOT > want. > It is very seldom that I go anywhere in one of my cars that someone > does > not ask where they can get one. I want to be able to give them the > name > and address of a local dealer, not tell them to build one themselves > or > see if they can find one on the internet and then do their own > maintenance. This does not excite the average person interested in > a > vehicle for transportation. > > So, I am debating as to whether I should keep looking for an NEV and > hope > there will be a company building them that will stay in business and > support them so I will have a place to which to refer people who > want one, > or keep looking for a way to get the EVs I have repaired and > running. I > have had to rent an ICE a few times this year to get to places out > of > range of my bike when I couldn't take the time to go by bus. That > works ok > except that I have been away from gasoline pumps for so long that I > find > using one an extremely unpleasant experience. > > The following is part of an e-mail ad I received from a local Toyota > salesperson. I sent a message back asking to be taken off their > mailing > list until they have a car that CAN be plugged in. > > Gail > > Toyota Prius > > Prius' technical achievements are some of the most advanced on the > road > today, yet the beauty of it all is how seamless its technology is to > driver and passenger alike. The Toyota Hybrid System (THS) combines > a > highly efficient VVT-i gas engine with an advanced electric motor to > not > only power the Prius, but also recharge the vehicle's batteries > thanks to > an ingenious generator and regenerative braking system. This means > the > Prius never needs to be plugged in for recharging. > > > > ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/.
