Martin WINLOW wrote:
Hi Peter, Would you be prepared to tell us all what that 3.5 years of lead cost?
I'm not Peter, but have bought quite a few packs of lead-acid batteries
over the years.
My first EV (back in 1975) used twelve 6v golf cart batteries. I bought
them for $28 each. I murdered them from ignorance and abuse in about 6
months and a few thousand miles. The next set lasted about twice as long.
My second EV (1978) used fourteen 6v EV-106 golf cart batteries
("advanced" at the time). They cost about $35 each. I got about 2 years
and 10k miles out of them. I went through a couple more packs, gradually
honing my skills at not committing "batricide", so I could get 10-15k
miles on a set.
My third EV (1987) used twelve 6v golf cart batteries from Sam's Club at
about $40 each. They lasted about 18k miles and 7 years, though I did
replace one of them at 5 years.
My fourth EV (1997) got twelve 12v 95ah Concorde AGMs at $127 each. They
lasted me 7-10 years and about 12k miles (the first one failed after 7
years, 6 lasted the full 10 years).
My present EV has fifteen 8v golf cart batteries, bought from Sam's Club
for 77$ each in 2010. They're still going strong.
Independent from this, I've worked with many others and their EVs. I'm
also constantly getting batteries of all types, and testing them (in
hopes of finding something better than lead). I have BB600 nicads, GM
EV1 nimh batteries, half a dozen types of lithiums, and many more. My
overall conclusions are:
- Lead is still the cheapest to buy initially, and lowest cost
per mile.
- Golf cart batteries have the greatest range and lowest cost per mile.
- AGMs last half as long and cost twice as much, but are cleaner and
offer faster acceleration.
- Nimh are great; but you can't get them.
- Lithiums are promising. 3x the range, but over 3x the cost of lead.
They only pay for themselves if the life claims turn out to be
true. So far, none of the lithiums I've tested except A123
cells have met their specs. In particular, most lithiums are
shot in 3-5 years.
--
Humanity is acquiring all the right technology for all the wrong
reasons. -- R. Buckminster Fuller
--
Lee A. Hart, http://www.sunrise-ev.com/LeesEVs.htm
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