REVA announces lithium electric car and fast charge stations

[marctorrance]

I think if you could get a reliable 3.2V 200Ah lithium battery for 350 USD you'd be doing very well.  Some manufacturers (e.g. Thunder Sky, Ieehoo) have very low production quality and I wouldn't expect RECC to have any dealings with them.

There's a video on youtube of one guy who got stung by Thunder Sky:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB1iKYgKSqo

Ieehoo seems to be targeting consumers directly on forums, using odd snippets of technical information:
http://visforvoltage.org/forum/5476-wha ... -batteries
To me that indicates the product is still in R&D stage and not ready for use.  If you can get a few EV-heads to subsidise your R&D, why not?  But RECC won't touch that stuff with a bargepole.

[nat]

A quick google gets me a price of about 350 USD for a 3.2volt 200ah li-ion cell. 15 of these would make a 48volt 200ah pack. Now they say the range is 75 miles - about double what the PB version gets so lets say they have either got a higher voltage or higher capacity pack. I will go with the higher capacity pack - 400ah. So to get the 48 volt 400ah pack they might have used 30 3.2 volt 200ah blocks. 30*350 USD = $10500 now this is the retail price - say at least a 40% markup - down to $6300 - 1.4 USD to GPB = 4500. I Would expect them to be able to negotiate a better price for quantity - then there is the BMS and charger to take into account. I dont think the BMS would cost very much - around the same as the charger. Stick goingreens markup on it and I also think it will come out at about £6000

If this extra cost estimate is correct then they've got no chance. c. £14k for a G-Wiz_type car with a range of 75 miles !

[marctorrance]

Maybe they'll reduce the battery warranty to one year on the lead-acid models, remove leather, air conditioning (have they already done that?) and alloy options, and install some Numax junk in there instead of Trojan.  That might get people more interested in the Reva L-ion.
Maybe also throw in free mobile servicing for three years, a no-quibble policy (like they did for the first generation DC), upgrade the motor to achieve 60 mph top speed, and it could work, provided the cost is substantially lower than a Th!nk.

As the price of the packs comes down it would be possible to increase the range.  There may be enough space in there for 150kg of lithium ion batteries.

Personally, I'm a bit surprised they didn't go for a more mature battery technology (e.g. Ni-MH).

[JT]

for the upgrade option, keep in mind that, at least in India, there was no AC car until the REVAi.  So when they say the upgrade is available to all REVAi owners, they might just mean all AC owners.  There really isn't all that much different electrically speaking in the REVAi over the original AC.  Fast charging is exciting, but I'd like to know what it does to battery life.

[ST]

This is great news. Let's put aside the cost considerations until we know what they'll be for a moment. I particularly like the idea of the fast charging capabilities as well and the idea of a fast charging network.

I would imagine the performance of the basic car would be much improved if there is a 175kg weight saving. That's the same as taking two adults out of the car. By my calculations, that would bring the weight of the car down from 650kg to 475kg - a 27% weight saving.

Mike - I love the idea of a fast charging network. If this were in place, it would give me a very good reason to trade in my car for a new one.

I think you'd need a few more stations than you're suggesting though. For instance, From Birmingham to beyond Manchester, or down beyond Bristol, you'd need another charging point on route - and the same from London driving to South Wales - you'd probably quite easily double the number of charging points you're suggesting before you get the basics of a really good network.

[ST]

I've just re-read what I've written and it's just struck me that I'm writing on an electric car forum about driving from London to South Wales in a G-Wiz. Who would have thought anyone could have proposed that a few months ago? Okay, so you wouldn't want to do that on a regular basis, but the fact we can talk about the potential for doing that shows how big a step this is in the right direction.

[GarryBright]

What roads are you planning to drive on?

[MB]

I've just had a statement from Reva about upgrades:

REVA is also developing upgrade kits that will enable existing REVA (G-Wiz in the UK) owners with an ac motor and lead acid powertrain to upgrade to the lithium-ion powertrain later in 2009.

[ST]

What roads are you planning to drive on?

Next time you drive on a motorway, keep your eye on the inside lane. You'll see people pottering along quite happily at 50mph. Not many, I'll grant you, but they are there.

I assume that the G-Wiz i is similar to the G-Wiz DC that I've got in that it gets to within 5mph of its top speed quite quickly and then crawls up the rest of the way? Remove 175kg of weight and I'd imagine the performance becomes a lot better.

If so, an occasional jaunt along the motorways would not be out of the question.

I would assume that the charging points would not actually be on motorways themselves. More likely they would be close to motorways and therefore accessible to people driving on the motorway and people driving on normal A and B roads. That would give drivers more choice as to the roads they wish to use.

Put the charging points at places like 24-hour supermarkets and they would be even better as they'd become a useful resource for electric cars in that local region and therefore encourage further adoption of electric cars. I'm sure that somewhere around the perimeter line you'd be able to find sites that fit all three criteria.

[MB]

My thoughts precisely, Simon. For instance, a suitable fast charging location for the M4, 50 miles west from the centre of London, would be close to Junction 12 of the M4.

Within a minutes drive of the junction, you have a large Sainsbury's supermarket, plus a decent sized shopping centre. Putting a fast charging point there would be suitable for people driving on the M4, the A4 and for anyone who lives in Reading.

I've not taken my G-Wiz on a motorway, but I do regularly drive it on a dual carriageway without a problem. I also drive a double decker bus with a top speed of 45mph on motorways occasionally. It's not ideal, but it's okay so long as you're not doing it all the time.