SlashGear Japan
Prius owners watch out. That mild-mannered SUV in your rear-view mirror might not look anything special, but it’s not only gunning for you at the traffic lights but in the economy stakes too! Back in 2006 Lotus Engineering did their technical thing with the Aluminium Performance Crossover concept at the Geneva motor-show, a V6 petrol-powered demonstrator intended to show off their skills at making a lightweight but strong body structure and chassis. Now ZAP have partnered up with them and decided to throw out the V6 lump, replacing it with four in-wheel electric motors.
If you’re thinking that means “city runabout”, you’d be wrong. Potentially charged in just 10 minutes, the ZAP-X will have a 350 mile range on a single “tank” of electrons and develop the equivalent of 644bhp, making its 155mph top-speed sound all too feasible. Four-wheel drive should hopefully keep that fancy body stuck to the road, too.
Price is still tbc, but the prototype ZAP-X will be on show at the North American Dealers’ Exhibition annual meeting for them to kick the tyres.
Zap, Lotus team up on electric crossover SUV [Jalopnik]
59 Responses to “ZAP-X SUV is 644bhp electric monster”
Breck Shortley January 30, 2007
Wow. sign me up!
+6sharon henriquez March 17, 2007
Would love to see this in America at a reasonable price and with great gas efficiency.
+3John March 24, 2007
If these specs are correct then Zap has addressed the two key problems of electric vehicles; range and charge time.
If this ends up with a nice interior design and turns out to be reliable they certainly will do well in the market, even outside of the Hollywood crowd.
+9Guy Smith March 29, 2007
The other motor manufactures will not like it. With only 4/5 moving parts their after sales service income stream will be out of the window. What’s the betting one of the big five will buy it up and kill it???!!!
+8matt April 1, 2007
What are the tail pipes for?
NeutralCliff April 21, 2007
[quote comment="19725"]What are the tail pipes for?[/quote]
The tailpipes are for venting exhaust from the v6 engine. You’re looking at a picture of the original Lotus APX concept car which the ZAP-X is based upon.
+5kent beuchert May 7, 2007
None of the electric car’s issues of range and recharge time has been solved until
-17the car’s are affordable to the general public. For all the effect this $120,000 car will have on the environment, it may as well be the Moon rover. People jsut don’t understand what the automakers do – you can’t replace ICEs with electrics until they are economically viable. This one isn’t. I suspect the battery pack alone cost upwards of $40,000.
Dean May 8, 2007
The car’s price is suppossed to be around 60k……so, it is nearly mainstream…especially when considering the money you will save from 4 bucks a gallon gas prices. Shoot in 15 years, you will probably save 30k in gas, so it sounds like a reasonable price to me.
+9overdoze May 15, 2007
[quote comment="19548"]The other motor manufactures will not like it. With only 4/5 moving parts their after sales service income stream will be out of the window. What’s the betting one of the big five will buy it up and kill it???!!![/quote]
I agree. I think all these hyper news is just to make the big 5 notice and hence a bigger paycheck to shut up or buy out. On the otherhand, if this car get on the market. I would be the first customer to order even if it cost 100K.
+3shelleylauren May 25, 2007
What I’d seriously think about doing is getting a cheaper city car for my around town driving and starting a little car club to jointly own one or two of them for longer trips along the same lines as a flying club.
+2Chris Davies May 25, 2007
It’s an interesting idea. There are actually a couple of schemes in London at the moment where for a monthly fee they supply you with an electric city car during the week and then there’s a catalogue of vintage/unusual/exotica to play with at the weekends.
[quote comment="22672"]What I’d seriously think about doing is getting a cheaper city car for my around town driving and starting a little car club to jointly own one or two of them for longer trips along the same lines as a flying club.[/quote]
NeutralMatt S June 8, 2007
“None of the electric car’s issues of range and recharge time has been solved until the car’s are affordable to the general public. For all the effect this $120,000 car will have on the environment, it may as well be the Moon rover. People jsut don’t understand what the automakers do – you can’t replace ICEs with electrics until they are economically viable. This one isn’t. I suspect the battery pack alone cost upwards of $40,000.”
If these stats are or became factual in the short term (1-2 years) then the car would be worth every penny at $120,000 or even $150,000. Has anyone even bothered to do the math on the suggested life of the battery at 9,000 cycles and “Potentially charged in just 10 minutes, the ZAP-X will have a 350 mile range on a single “tank” of electrons”. 9,000 * 350? anyone? That is 3,150,000 miles. Yeah 3.15 Million miles whereas one of the other famed electric cars “Tesla” is struggling to get a 200 mile range and 100,000 – 250,000 mile battery life (depending if you include the degraded life of the battery). I hope I am wrong but this Zap-x seems like extreme over hype. Oh yeah, and a charge time of 10 minutes? How do they plan on transmitting that quantity of electricity in 10 minutes? The charger unit would be rediculous?
Don’t get me wrong I am not against electric cars of motorcycles. I strongly look forward to owning one in the near future. But a company suggesting 3.15 million mile battery life is just rediculous.
to get off topic does anybody else realize that those alternative fuels being advertised aren’t really going to help the environment all that much if at all. Think about the conservation of energy then think about the supply chain and process of extracting ethanol from plants or hydrogen from water. It doesn’t make sense to me unless the hydrogen gets extracted using hydro, wind, solar or any other seriously renewable resource.
+8James A June 12, 2007
“Potentially charged in just 10 minutes, the ZAP-X will have a 350 mile range on a single “tank” of electrons”. 9,000 * 350? anyone? That is 3,150,000 miles. Yeah 3.15 Million miles whereas one of the other famed electric cars “Tesla” is struggling to get a 200 mile range and 100,000 – 250,000 mile battery life (depending if you include the degraded life of the battery). I hope I am wrong but this Zap-x seems like extreme over hype. Oh yeah, and a charge time of 10 minutes?”
Matt, I agree. This sounds too good to be true. I hope it’s all true. How the heck could a battery last that long? This would mean their battery was up to 12.6 times better than Tesla’s battery, assuming the Tesla lasted 250,000kms. It’s range is 57% better, has a 25 Mile per hour higher top speed, and can charge in 10 minutes.
Their current truck has a 25 mile range…
+1David Lassiter July 29, 2007
Kent Beuchert is a fake working for the oil / gas lobby and has posted on hundreds of websites through dummy email accounts. He has been posting for six years on this topic – ridiculous if you think about it. He has made up locations in McLean, VA and Tampa, FL and goes under the guise of a computer analyst. Please forward any information you may have on him as I am writing a story. Regards – David Lassiter
+9GregB August 15, 2007
Just for clarification, there is nothing in any of the articles to say that it charges from empty in 10 minutes.. I’d assume this is merely a top-up.
GregB
NeutralGregB August 15, 2007
Oh, another thing…
Regarding the extra range over the Tesla, that could be due to extra batteries, and/or the photo-voltaic glass.. So not hard to imagine the “why”.
Speculation – gotta love it! :-)
GregB
NeutralRobin S August 18, 2007
Kent Beuchert wrote:
“None of the electric car’s issues of range and recharge time has been solved until the car’s are affordable to the general public. For all the effect this $120,000 car will have on the environment, it may as well be the Moon rover. People jsut don’t understand what the automakers do – you can’t replace ICEs with electrics until they are economically viable. This one isn’t. I suspect the battery pack alone cost upwards of $40,000.”
Did Kent Beuchert have any comments about the viability of LCD monitors & TVs when they were new? Hello? My 20-inch monitor cost just 10% of the price that was being charged eight years ago for the same thing (no adjustment for inflation, either). My monitor also performs better than the originals. For that matter, I remember seeing my first CD player in 1983. It was a single-CD tabletop model costing $1,000.00, weighing about ten pounds. Ridiculed as “impractical” by the usual late-adopters. Today, I can buy a portable CD player for less than $25.00. Weighs something like 11 ounces. More features, too. And how about cellular phones?
That same applies to the auto industry. Items introduced to the luxury car market are always given the same treatment. Air conditioning originally raised the cost of luxury cars by 50%, because it was new. Similar history for power windows, seats, steering, brakes, CD player, air bags, anti-lock brakes, disc brakes, automatic transmission, fuel injection…
My 2006 Scion XB has all these features once described as “impractical” and “too expensive to make any difference.” I paid less than $16,000 for the car, tax included. So, all these impractical features have been made mainstream and economical. Love it.
Now, add high-performance batteries to the list of standard features on your entry-level vehicle. The electric motor has one moving part, and is highly efficient. No need for the conventional transmission. You’ve long ago traded-in your fossil fuel vehicle (FFV?) for a better-performing, economical EV. Fewer repairs. Fun to drive. Hassle-free. You even “fill ‘er up” from home.
Established industry has a lot to lose. We have much to gain. If we need to wait several years for EVs to become cheap, let’s get started now.
+7Steve M August 25, 2007
My questions are these:
+1Aren’t they having problems with cooling the batteries?
Do the batteries lose charge gradually or suddenly over the 350 mile range?
Has anyone seen this car actually in motion, rather than sitting on a stand at an exhibition?
Roger S August 28, 2007
Four in-wheel motors. That raises some interesting questions.
First, the bonus: If that has the power it indicates. That makes for a nice truck design where you need to pull something, like that new Yaght you’ve bought ;)
Now the questions:
What does that do to the maintenance aspects? If one motor goes, has it been designed so the rest continue to work with no additional strain, just a loss in a bit of power and 3-wheel drive instead of 4?
What happens when you go in for the regular rotate-tires maintenance?
Is it a standard wheel size so you can get tires from whatever manufacturer? Probably, this question probably isn’t a concern but in-wheel engines are definitely a change from the norm. For example, the name alone conjures an image of a not-so-standard wheel so you can expect to initially not be able to select from multiple vendors. I wouldn’t expect your standard Boss Model 226 wheel to work even though the tire and bolt specs could match.
NeutralLaurentien August 29, 2007
If this car meets its promise of annouced performance, then the electrical cars have made it.
A DC motor per wheel is an idea that was once explored by the IREQ, Hydro-Quebec research center near Montreal. This allows anything to happen there like ESP, ABS, etc. With the proper tech there, these cars can be very good even on ice.
Lets see the specs:
- 570 km of range
- 10 minutes of rescharge
- 5 s to go from 0 to 100 km/h
Of course, the question is will we need a special charging station in order to acheive those 10 minutes or is any AC outler going to do the job. You see, if this car delivers than we can expect this system to be installed on any rest area in any country and then after 2 hours of drving, you go for your expresso while connecting your car.
This is a real sports car with acceleration figures as good as a Porsche Carrera, that is what you get with electrical motors: a lot of acceleration and torque. You can surely get a real punch.
We just need the factory to go to mass production so we can a reasonnable price one day or else could they do a simpler sedan for every family ? I would like to see a contender against the SVE Cleanove only sold in France.
If this car is as good as it seems, then we have ni reasons to stick to the petrol driven cars, especially when you spend most of your time in cities. It might be the first true greenhouse gas fighter and its is about time we go for it.
+4Ted T August 30, 2007
[quote comment="27289"]My questions are these:
Aren’t they having problems with cooling the batteries?
Do the batteries lose charge gradually or suddenly over the 350 mile range?
Has anyone seen this car actually in motion, rather than sitting on a stand at an exhibition?[/quote]
I believe the battery being used is made in China by “Advanced Battery Technologies” (abat.ob on NASDAQ) they are using a PLI battery that has solved that problem.
Electric cars are coming!
+5Ewdison Then August 30, 2007
i wish one day we will have H20 cars that uses water and garbage (food left overs and etc) :)
-2X Henderson August 31, 2007
For all that are looking for answers about the recharge time. It would be 4 to 6 hours at home and the 10 min apply to a special recharging station which will only take it to 95%. I have done a littke research about this car and according to some articales it will go for around 60K. There is another company (Phoniex) working on the same concept, longer disttance quicker charge. Their’s is a truck or SUV which will go for even less. The only plus to Zap X over Phoniex is Zap has the ability to be upgraded to a 7 passanger. Look up Zap world and there is a video clip as well as a brocher that can be looked at about the features.
-2michael hughes August 31, 2007
Whats the point in showing pictures of a petrol car ?
That doesn’t prove anything.
The press release would have more credibility if they produced technical data.
NeutralBill September 8, 2007
I want you…
+1Ty September 8, 2007
@Ewdi
Yea, that would be a wonderful and environment safe invention.
I remember about 5-7 years ago when they released that they were going to be building these.
+2Nichen September 16, 2007
I would say it´s around a 250 000 mile lifespan for the battery. Or around 20 years. I believe they calculated the whole thing a bit odd, perhaps they took
900 000 miles as an average annual drive per year or something, you tell me… :)
Still, electric cars are here to stay, no question about it.
+2Nothing can tell us they can´t match up with gasoline cars any longer.
Nichen September 16, 2007
By the way, you would need a 380 V, 250 kW charger to charge a car for 10 minutes. They´ve already tried it with the Phoenix Motorcar and it works fine, although you need a lot of electronjuice to quickcharge it. But hey, if you have a 570 kilometer range perhpas you don´t have to quickcharge that often. I believe most of the charging would be made at home.
+3Dee September 19, 2007
This is a concept car. Its overblown hype. This car will NEVER come onto the market …without a gasoline engine
-10kmartinez September 24, 2007
It’s hard not to be skeptical about electric vehicles because people are concerned with their range and charging time. Ultimately we need to invest and look into electric vehicles! Gas prices have been at an all time high this month and if this continues I don’t know how I am going to survive especially as a full time student in college. I had the opportunity to drive this interesting car by ZAP, which was a ZAP Xebra and I loved it. I drive to school and work and back, running errands, almost 4 times a day. It’s hard to do all this with my car even though it’s a four cylinder it takes $45 to fill it up! Trust me that a lot especially for someone who is working part time. But I believe if a car like the ZAP-X SUV came to the market and succeeded, people would be eating their words. But everything takes time to perfect, but at least ZAP is trying with their trucks and Xebra Sedans. Honestly if I had about $10,000 I would get one.
+2KH September 25, 2007
This is a concept vehicle that is using tech. that has been used in a concept vehicle several years ago. From March 2001. The KAZ EV – Meet the world’s first 8 passenger EV capable of a top speed of 186 mph and a range of nearly 200 miles. http://evworld.com/article.cfm?storyid=155
+2Wade October 27, 2007
Quick charge time may only be useful for day use fleet vehicles. Considering the fact that electric utilities have excess power during the night and are considering a dual rate to encourage night time use, the best time to charge for the majority is at night when we could potentially be paying maybe 4 cents a KW. I just throw out that price because where I live, we currently pay 5 cents. A lot cheaper than many of you are paying on your day rate. I really wish I had an electric car to take advantage of those rates.
NeutralEdward November 15, 2007
To Dee,
“This is a concept car. Its overblown hype. This car will NEVER come onto the market …without a gasoline engine”
I don’t see why not…after all ZAP has already introduced other very successful EVs into the market. Besides, this technology is available now. Please don’t be so pessimistic.
+6Stewart November 30, 2007
This EV uses LiPo (Lithium Polymer) batteries along with brushless in wheel motors. The recharge time is very realistic and the car will come with a charging unit with cooling system and computer management so it can mash all that jiuce in there that quick. I have LiPo Batteries in my power tools and a remote control car and they charge this quik with the same type of system. LiPo’s are also biodegradeable and have no toxic emissions or chemicles that harm humans or the enviroment we live in! This type of systen generates a ton of heat hence the battery and charger cooling system, however the batteries them selves are not affected by the heat, other components would catch fire if not properly cooled. Dischargeing does not generate heat. Only charging. LiPo batteries are as close to a “slow release capacitor” as you can get. They provide maximum power to the very end and drop off to “0″ within seconds. Like running out of gas. when it’s gone it’s gone! This car will charge at home or any where in 10-15 minutes. (I would pack a 100′ extension cord to “borrow” some juice from any outside outlet I could find until new laws are passed…lol) But wait…..Now think…How green is this car? It’s carbon footprint may be just as bad as a gas one…why? Where is your electritity made? A coal plant? If so then youre still not helping. More electricty=more coal burning=more green house gasses. Now if you live in a state that uses Nuclear or Hydro-Electric, Wind or Solar like Washington does(Nuke& Hodro) then youre truly green! Just remember your carbon footprint and where any power you use, may come from in how you choose to be green. I’m buying this car all day long(I live in WA) And Yes LiPo batt’s last that long. 3.5mil miles is realistic and yes the batteries will cost around 2/3 the vehicles price or $40,000 US. But hey, at $60k and and a $27k Federal “Green” subsidy and Tax incentives this car will cost about $30,000 which makes this the best vehicke on the road, period! This 7 passenger , 644Hp, 100% torqe from 0, grocery getter slash Freeway Bullie will be aty the top of the food chain bar none! Here’s the brochure. http://www.zapworld.com/files/zap-docs/zap-apx.pdf
+2Stewart November 30, 2007
To answer the question about the wheel tire package. The hub motors operate independantly in unison. If one goes the others pick up the slack. And thats a huge ‘IF”… this type of DC electric motor has over 100 years of “real world”proven use to be worry free. You can put what ever wheel tire combo you like, just like any other car you drive. To adress the question and comparison to the Tesla roadster. It goes like this… there is NO comparison at all. The Tesla is a niche car using old tech packaged in a Hi-tech wrapper. Their batteries are the honest equivelant of 6000, 8cell Lithium Ion (LiOn)Lap Top or cell phone batteries linked together. A grade schooler could do that for the science fair and run the whole school for a minute or so! Whoopee! The marvel is not the car but the power supply. Lithium Ion Polymer (LiPo) batteries are the answer to this problem. If the Tesla used this power source, then it too would probably achieve 350-400 mile status. It is my feeling we’ll see this car in mid 2010. Aah…that just happens to be when the Benz is paid off, and by then I’ll gladly jump ship and be a full time devotee of my EV. and at the puney cost of about 1c a mile or $3.50 to juice her up, just add leather and wood trim and I’m in!
+1Stewart November 30, 2007
Oh and one last thing…LiPo batteries are like nothing any of you are used to. What ever you do know about normal batteries, I mean all of them, Alkaline, NiMh, LiOn,etc…rechargable or not doesn’t matter. Nothing you know applies to this type of battery. LiPo’s are to Alkaline’s, what Didital is to analogue. If you understand how a capicitor works then you can start there as your knoweledge base. You do not need Gigawat generators and Massive King Kong Voltage to force feed this type of battery. If you did, it would explode, litterally! I Know, I’ve done it before. Of course, not using the micro chiped, liquid cooled charger supplied. Think of this battery as an electric sponge. This battery will charge in 10 minutes or less to 100% and completely discharge to 1%. The charger will then take over and computer manage the rest of the discharge to 0% then begin the recharge cycle anew. This ensures that 2 things happen. No battery memory like only charging to 75% and telling you it’s 100% like your cell phone does after a few years use. And it extends and conditions the battery for maximum life like 9000 charges. This car will plug in to your wall with a standard 120v outlet and in car charging system. So…….yes this EV will most likely have a heat pump like your house. It will serve at least 2 purposes. One, heating and cooling the interior, and two, managing the heat dissipation from the charging cycle while plugged in. I hope all of my
+2practical user based knowledge is helpful to the Nay sayers out there who just don’t understand what they’re talking about when they say this is ‘Hyped Up” marketing to get attention. It is not, and all you doubters should go back to school and read before you Blog!
paul m s December 14, 2007
If this battery is as good as it sounds I want one in my house
+1Stewart December 20, 2007
To see more about these batteries, take a trip to your local RC Hobby store. LiPo batteries are the latest craze because of their power and output ratios. Unfortunately they’re rather expensive. Almost 2x’s as much because of the charging system and materiels used. Even so…they’re rediclously awsome to say the least. If a Tesla roadster had this type of battery system it’d do 170-190 mph and not even break a sweat..No joke! Unfortunately they use a central drive motor geared to the rear wheels. Thats still old hat compared to “in-wheel” brushless motors. The best part is theres no power curve. It’s all 100% ft.lbs. of torque from “0″ on up! That means you’d bald your new Yokohama’s in a day! Thank god and my wallet for a computer assisted agresive take off, management system…lol. The console should have a button that reads “JATO” for the speed freaks and folks who wanna un-kink their spines via massive longitudinal “G’s” at take off!
NeutralStewart December 21, 2007
I spoke with a sales representative from ZAP. She confirmed this EV will be out by Mid 2010 and have a real cost of $60,000 US and charge in under 10 minutes to 95% capacity and another 20min for the last 5% to allow for conditioning. Testing and RD is in it’s second phase should be ready for production mid 2009.
+2Fabian January 3, 2008
Hi Stewart,
You mentioned:
“”But hey, at $60k and and a $27k Federal “Green” subsidy and Tax incentives this car will cost about $30,000 which makes this the best vehicke on the road, period! “”
Can someone point me to more specific information about these subsidies and Tax incentives ? or just sen me a message with this info to: flamaest@softhome.net
Thanks,
+1Fabian.
Brandon G January 7, 2008
I love the idea. I think that they have really done their homework, but the major problem that I see at the moment is what happens when something goes wrong. Who fixes it? I’m guessing that the local small town garage isn’t going to have the know-how to fix the computers and work on the high voltage battery or motors… short of sending it back to Calif., how do you get it worked on.
+1Stewart January 14, 2008
Aah! Th real question should will it ever break down? The answer is probaby not in your life time. Batteries maybe. The DC drive motors are technically the same used in trolleys, busses, locomotives etc… There’s over 150 years of real time usage and proven technology behind this simple design. Jay Leno has an electric car over 100 years old and all he’s ever done is put some new batteries in, seriously! The motor is the same principal as todays and has never broken ever. Now who can say that about a gas engine?
As for the Taxes go to IRS.gov and your city, county, state URL’s and see what they offer as incentives for purchase. Not all reigons and cities and counties will offer the same. If you live in a smoggy locale like LA. then you get great incentives from the Governator, Schwartzenegger. WA a bit less because our whole state is green. The IRS tax incentives should be the same across the board however.
This car is a bit expensive for most folks and very fast too. So….A more realistic vehicle is the http://www.Miles.com 4dr sedan that looks identical to a VW Passat. Will go 90mph and 150miles/charge. Costs only 30k loaded and about 20k after incentives.
-1W Jones January 24, 2008
For those of us who have been looking for an electric car for when the leases on our BMWs and MBs and Lexuses (Lexi?) have come to term realize that the substantiations here, albeit wonderfully desired, lead us to the following conclusion:
VAPORWARE!
Wish it wasn’t so.
Neutralpaul February 4, 2008
I’m very excited for ZAP to release the Zap-x as it will probably be my next car if it stands up to it’s promises. As for why people are all hyped on electric cars now, from doing some digging I found that almost every major car manufacturer had an electric version back in 2003 and they disappeared, interesting read “Who Killed The Electric Car” (http://www.sonyclassics.com/wh.....tric.html), NPR (http://www.npr.org/templates/s.....Id=5524918) & http://www.whokilledtheelectriccar.com/index.html.
Cheers,
NeutralPaul
evmdfan July 29, 2009
you’re absolutely right. And I can say I’m more excited to see news about affordable electric cars, then all the news I see about the Tesla car (because for electric cars to make a difference, they need to be affordable enough for me and you to buy them). Also, if you liked the movie, check out the book Two Cents Per Mile by Nevres Cefo ( http://www.twocentspermile.com ). It goes much further in depth, and it’s a great read.
NeutralFabian February 7, 2008
Wow, my last post yeaterday asking about further details on the “$27k Federal “Green” subsidy and Tax incentives” with web links and all has dissappeared.
.
Can someone point me to the exact Federal form for getting a credit on an EV car and how much that credit is. If possible can you also provide the California form as well?
Thanks,
NeutralFabain.
wenbo February 14, 2008
People would need a special charging station if to make a full charge under 10 minutes. for home perhaps 16 hours / 8hours that’s the best guess, I am not even considering energy lose in electric torque conversion and other types energy lose
NeutralDerrick February 22, 2008
I just got off the phone with a Sales Person from Zap. I inquired about their crossover SUV (aka Zap-X or Zap-APX) and I was told the car won’t be available until 2010!!! This is a far cry from the mid 2008 delivery date. I’d like to think that these guys are serious and this isn’t just vaporware but it does make you wonder. I’m hoping that this car does become a reality and performs as well as promised.
NeutralAbram730 February 27, 2008
Stewart, are you up on what is coming in batteries?
NanoSafe Battery?
MIT Nanotube Super Capacitor’s are projected to have a 300,000 cycle life.
NeutralJerome March 1, 2008
To Derrick,
“I just got off the phone with a Sales Person from Zap. I inquired about their crossover SUV (aka Zap-X or Zap-APX) and I was told the car won’t be available until 2010!!!”
Why would they offer a Zap-X for sale now? You can reserve one for $25,000 or add one to the cart here:
Neutralhttp://www.zapworld.com/electr.....cars/zap-x
Stewart April 10, 2008
Hi Abram730.
NeutralWhile I am aware of MIT’s progress in this field, the point of focus was on production technology that we, as regular people can use now. If it has to be used by NASA and the military first, then we won’t see any prtactical application of this type any time soon. And while that progress is very, very exciting is simply is not practical…yet. I have beem watching the Miles electric car very closely. I believer this will be the First to production EV that has a realistic range(150mi) and features we’re acustomed to in a 4dr sedan. This is great news, because the price is right too. This will set the price point far below where major automotive companies greedy hands would like to sell them.
Stewart April 10, 2008
Post update. the Miles EV can be Found at http://www.milesev.com.
NeutralI had miss-posted the URL previously.
Fabian April 21, 2008
Has anyone read the WIRED article on ZAP?
ZAP Motors finally getting ZAPed-out!
http://www.wired.com/print/car...../ff_zapped
F.
NeutralMatt June 23, 2008
This car is expected to cost $60,000, thats right sixty thousand for a car that performs similarly to porsches and ferarris. And Power Windows, Power Door Locks, Power Steering, GPS , and On Board Carputer with Full Entertainment System come standard of course.
NeutralMatt June 23, 2008
Oh, i just read the post above mine, lol. thats to bad, but the technology is there to create a vehicle with these specs, check out this link, and there is already a working production car.
Neutralhttp://www.drive.com.au/Editor.....&vf=23
Matt June 23, 2008
[quote comment="43919"]Oh, i just read the post above mine, lol. thats to bad, but the technology is there to create a vehicle with these specs, check out this link, and there is already a working production car.
http://www.drive.com.au/Editor.....f=23/quote
sorry i meant there is a working *prototype* car
NeutralRedwood George June 24, 2008
Wow – Zap, with a long, long history of vaporware, empty promises and shareholder lawsuits, promises something that seems too good to be true. I’ll believe it when I see them available for delivery at my local Zap dealer.
+1