$40K Smart EV: Is it ready for the3 U.S. ?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hill @ Feb 20 2007, 08:29 PM) [snapback]393628[/snapback]</div>

This is what I found interesting on their WEB site

"Hybrid Technologies, Inc. holds the licensing agreements for all two, three and four-wheeled vehicles, as well as Lithium/Solar power system technology for residential and commercial properties. "

What does this mean???

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hill @ Feb 20 2007, 10:13 PM) [snapback]393661[/snapback]</div>

Wow, that's less than 5 years of daily use, with nightly recharge. That's assuming the innate aging of the li-ion battery doesn't kill it sooner. No sale here, given that. That's consistent with (actually better than) some other auto Li-ion applications being marketed now. Of the three companies offering Prius PHEV conversions, one offers a 2 year warranty on the battery (Hymotion), the others offer no warranty at all. Other posters have suggested that longer-lived li-ion traction batteries are on the way and will be available in the near future, based on lithium-manganese and other chemistries. But from what I can tell, if you get a car built today with Li-ion batteries, that's the kind of life expectancy you get.

The implicit price of the 80 mile battery pack is $15K, given that the incremental 40 mile pack is $7500. So, if it lasts 5 years, that $3K/year in battery wear, before you factor in any other cost.

OK, maybe I'm being a little pessimistic. It's a question of whether the aging of the li-ion battery would kill it before the charge cycles would. If the battery didn't age, you'd get as much as 80*1500 = 120,000 miles. But most (all?) current-gen li-ion batteries simply age, independent of recharge cycles. So, they need to specify a warranty in terms of years and miles before I'd consider it.

Gives an interesting datapoint though -- that itty bitty car requires 500 lbs of li-ion batteries? The EV1 only required half a ton of lead-based batteries when it was first built, less using NiMH, and had about that range. So, something doesn't quite square up, for me. I thought li-ions were vastly lighter than that.

 

I'm getting tired of hearing about cars that are "going to be available some day."

I don't mean I'm tired of threads on PC about these cars. I mean I'm tired of manufacturers making promises that never materialize.

First one to market gets my business. But it has to be safe, freeway-capable, and go at least 100 miles on a charge.

Oh, yes, and it's got to come out before I'm too old to drive a car!