Zap Xebra

[tracysbeans]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(darelldd @ May 28 2007, 12:40 AM) [snapback]450892[/snapback]</div>

Yikes. A note to the drivers of ANY vehicle: EVERY vehicle can be tipped over. The fewer wheels it has, the easier.
[/b]

That's exactly what I was going to say. Never say never. As a long time sales person I never guarantee anything for sure.

[darelldd]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tracysbeans @ May 28 2007, 08:02 AM) [snapback]450965[/snapback]</div>

Never say never. As a long time sales person I never guarantee anything for sure.
[/b]

This is funny!

I certainly understand that the low CG is going to make the car more stable - we see that in the Rav for sure. The E-version handles way the heck better than the gas version since the gas version has the big heavy engine up there above the axels, while the E-version has the weight of the batteries below the exels. Certainly makes a difference.

But you turn any of these cars hard across a slope, or slide them into a curb, or hit them from the side with another vehicle - they'll go over. And yes - lifting one wheel well off the ground is a pretty good sign that the possibility exists!

The Tango is an amazing thing to watch in action, that's for sure. It seems like an optical illusion when yous see it able to power-slide around tight turns without lifing a wheel or even appearing to lean any more than a ground-hugging sports car!

If any of these cars DO manage to roll, the chance of them ending up back on their wheels is highter than "normal" cars because of the low CG.

[daniel]

Entirely off-topic, but now that the pictures are back up, I figured I'd see if I can post a new picture now.

[attachmentid=8446]

[hyo silver]

That's the karmic kaleidoscopic stabliser that keeps the car from keeling over, correct?

[daniel]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hyo silver @ Jun 1 2007, 10:48 PM) [snapback]453797[/snapback]</div>

That's the karmic kaleidoscopic stabliser that keeps the car from keeling over, correct?
[/b]

According to Darell, the car can keel over. Didn't the make-believe spaceship Firefly run off of Big Balls that looked like that, and could only be obtained by stealing them from really mean people who looked like cute little kids? Or am I confusing it with something else?

Okay, actually, you are half right. That's a picture looking into my big kaleidoscope.

[attachmentid=8460]

[daniel]

I decided to calculate the mileage in electrons for Yvette (the E-'Vette) (formerly Escuincle, but nobody could remember or spell that, so my souped-up Xebra SD is now Yvette).

I have probably done this wrong, so I'd appreciate being corrected:

From my Kill-a-Watt meter, I know that Yvette gets about 3 miles per KWH. This seems typical of all Xebras.

From a Google search, one amp is 6.25e18 electrons per second, which is 2.25e22 electrons per hour.

One watt = one volt times one amp, so one KW is 1,000 VA; and one KWH = 1,000 VA for one hour. Therefore 1/3 KWH (the energy that moves Yvette a mile) = 333 v times an hour's amperage, which we already know is 2.25e22 electrons.

Now this is the part I am least confident about:

At 117 volts (household voltage) 1/3 KWH should be (333/117) * (2.25e22 electrons).

So Yvette uses 6.4e22 electrons per mile, or forty million billion electrons per millimeter, or one billion billion electrons per inch. Or in other words, Yvette gets one quintillionth of an inch per electron.

CAVEAT: I am using the American definitions for billion and quintillion. In all other countries these words refer to different quantities.

Additional caveat: With a 220-volt charger Yvette would go twice as far on an electron.

Yet another caveat: I am counting electrons at the wall outlet. Counting them at the generating station or at Yvette's motor would result in entirely different numbers.

Last caveat: Electrons, as Mr. Heisenberg and others have pointed out, are very slippery things, and difficult to pin down.

Conclusion: 1.9 cents per mile is about like getting gas for $1 per gallon if you drive a Prius, or 25 cents per gallon if you drive an SUV except that with Yvette you never have to pump gas and she's quiet and she doesn't STINK like nearly all fossil-fuel cars.

[MacGuffin]

We have am 06 ZAP Xebra SD which we got used for $1700 about 6 months ago. It does the easy job we ask of it, but I certainly wouldn't recommend buying one to anybody.

We got it because we live only 2.5 miles from my wife's work and it would only be used for that drive. The range is probably 15 tops, don't know, haven't ever gone that far. Have gone over 10 miles before charging and found the car to be really sluggish. The top speed is 32mph, which is a bit of a problem on some of the Arterials around here. There is one stretch on her route where the limit is 35 and it is hard to keep up with traffic.

We don't really have our own parking spot, so it fits in a tiny space next to our house, which is one of the reasons we got it. Another reason was that minimum liability insurance requirements on it are quite cheap since it is classified as a motorcycle. (If you go through the right insurance anyway, some companies are now charging full car rates)

Finally I like to avoid buying islamic Oil if I can avoid it, so I like just plugging it in. So if you have a short trip to take on roads with low speed limits, no hills, no weather extremes, don't mind having to fix lots of stupid little things because of shoddy workmanship, don't mind lots of attention anytime you drive it, then the ZAP is almost tolerable if you can get one cheap.

Not exactly a ringing endorsement. I say just wait a little while longer until proper electric cars hit the US market, avoid glorified golf carts like the Xebra.

[daniel]

I have driven mine 40 miles on a charge, with my aftermarket battery pack, and the top speed is around 37 mph (according to my Garmin Nuvi) on flat ground. The first year I had it there were several very minor problems that required repair, but none since then. It did need several aftermarket upgrades when new.

It is a short-range, low-speed car, but I like mine better than MacGuffin seems to like his. (I am driving it nearly every day again now, while I wait for the electric Porsche to get repair parts.) It's true that acceleration is sluggish, and that it slows noticeably on the uphills (a shortcoming that Allan's Zenn does not suffer from) but it was actually pretty zippy when it had the 84-volt lead battery system. Unfortunately, the AGM batteries proved to be short-lived. LiFePO4 is more robust, but does not deliver as much power, and my 72-volt configuration is less than ideal for the car.

I like my Xebra a lot, but I agree with MacGuffin that a proper electric car from a major manufacturer will be a big improvement.

[MacGuffin]

Yes I do think with the battery upgrades it would be much better. A bit better speed and range. Ours has the original Deka Dominators which are not great batteries.

Not sure if we want to sink any more money into it though. Major issue is that it doesn't take kindly to bad weather, which isn't a huge issue here in SoCal, but even with our mild winters here, it is too fogged up to drive in the mornings this time of year and the "defroster" is a joke. I know they have made improvements since the '06 but I still think it is way overpriced if you buy it new.