(ET) EV, ET costs

["Humphrey, Timothy" <HumphreyT neads ang af mil>]

Caution: Some facts may be interspersed within the following opinions.


The EV1 was an experiment from the get-go. GM never intended to sell them.
The next iteration maybe, but not the EV1.

Lead batteries do not have a "disposition cost" as far as the environment
goes; they are 99% recyclable. However they have a definate fiscal cost. 
For
example say you get 5 years from your typical $420.00 ET battery pack, then
you have an amortized "fuel" cost of 420/5 = $84 per year, not including
charging costs. I know my gas tractor doesn't burn $84 of gas per year 
(more
like $20.00/yr for mowing and maybe $35.00/yr for snow-plowing.). However,
that little difference is worth it to me. The reduced noise, vibration, 
heat
and noxious fumes are all affordable at that rate. 


The power plant is probably more than 1000 times cleaner than your typical
JD ICE tractor. see http://www.evadc.org/pwrplnt.pdf for some more info. 
And
remember the ICE can never be refueled with clean wind, solar, hydro,
nuclear, or bio energies.

If you could manufacture ET's for ~ $2500.00 (deck included), and market
them through Lowes, Home Depot, Wal-Mart, you wouldn't be able to keep up
with demand.


Stay Charged!

Hump



> -----Original Message-----
> From: Pieter Litchfield [mailto:plitch attglobal net]
> Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2003 7:12 AM
> To: Discussion List Electrac tractor
> Subject: Re: (ET) gm car
> 
> 
> Well don't condemn GM too soon.  There isn't any 
> infrastructure out there,
> little public acceptance (except here).  I think they were 
> leased because GM
> didn't want to have owners "stranded" down the road, giving 
> the perception
> that GM was acting unethically by selling a product that it wouldn't
> support.  At least with all the leased vehicles off the road, 
> we can't say
> GM unfairly abandoned us.
> 
> For the moment, it appears that hybrids are gaining acceptance.
> 
> Does anyone know of a study that attempts to quantify all the costs of
> building and operating a vehicle?  Manufacturing, raw 
> materials, fuel, fuel
> transpiration,disposal, etc?  I love my ET, but I'm not 
> convinced when all
> is taken into account that it is an economic choice.  For 
> example, while the
> vehicle itself is "clean", the power plant that made the Kws 
> to charge it is
> not.  But it can be or a cost.  IInterestingly, the pollution from the
> mid-west falls where I live, so my advocating for more 
> electric vehicles
> could have a real personal "cost" to me.  Anyway, that Kw must be
> transported on the grid with losses, transformed (producing 
> heat) to charge
> the battery, and stored in a medium that produces a chemical reaction
> resulting in a bit of gas discharge. In addition, the 
> batteries contain lead
> which has a disposal cost encountered every few years.  And 
> we have barely
> scratched the surface of costs. So what are the "true" costs 
> of producing
> and using an ET (or any EV) compared to, say, a John Deere of 
> comparable HP?
> No taking sides, just curious.
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "William Korthof" <wkorthof earthlink net>
> To: "Neil Dennis" <wombat dssinternet net>; "Elec-trak"
> <elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu>
> Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2003 8:41 PM
> Subject: Re: (ET) gm car
> 
> 
> > Yeah, by hook and by crook GM is yanking away
> > each of the EV1 electric cars from the "owners"
> > as quickly as they legally can. It's a shame GM
> > stopped EV1 production (a long time ago!). But
> > it's also disappointing that they refused to allow
> > anyone to buy an EV1 (lease only!) for _any_
> > price from the start to the end. Many thousands
> > of EV1 wannabe "wait list" EV customer were
> > turned away as well, and now every single EV1
> > ---1000+ or so---is being taken off the road.
> >
> > Boy am I glad GM is so enthusiastic about
> > building technology for the future. not.
> >
> > /wk
> >
> > At 06:59 PM 3/11/03 -0500, Neil Dennis wrote:
> > >An announcment in the news tonight, GM is recalling their 
> electric car
> > >and going out of the business.
> > >
> > >Kinda a downer {)-{
> > >
> > >wombat
> >
>