Electric cars head toward another dead end

**ghosthunter** · September 12th, 2013 09:47 AM

Originally Posted by niky

The replacement batteries for e-scooters should be cheap. The smaller ones still use lead-acid batteries, so it's not going to be expensive.

That's the secret to electric transport. Don't try to make them fit into the same box as the gasoline car. Too big, too heavy, too expensive. Use them as lightweight inner city transport, and that's where they'll work.

Funnily enough, after Typhoon Maring, a lot of the e-scooters were out and running the very next day.

P1,000 per cell. The small e-scooter used four batteries in series. So that is P4,000 for the batteries.

**Ry_Tower** · September 12th, 2013 09:51 AM

Then maybe that's the secret for e-vehicles. Small and lightweigt only.

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**ghosthunter** · September 12th, 2013 10:07 AM

Originally Posted by Ry_Tower

Then maybe that's the secret for e-vehicles. Small and lightweigt only.

But even e-scooters have limited range. Usually between 30 to 60 kilometers per full charge. Adequate for going around the neighborhood but you would think twice before using it to get across the city.

**foresterx** · September 12th, 2013 10:43 AM

i think it has a future but it will take a while. right now Tesla is the only electric car that is doing really good in terms of sales and is actually a great car in terms of performance and features. drove one in the states and i was actually surprised at how fast it was and how good it handled besides the great ride and roomy interior paired with hi-tech features, if Tesla was available in the philippines and charging stations are available in most gas stations then i would definitely buy one. the Tesla one of the few things that actually lived up to it's hype.

**niky** · September 12th, 2013 11:09 AM

Originally Posted by ghosthunter

But even e-scooters have limited range. Usually between 30 to 60 kilometers per full charge. Adequate for going around the neighborhood but you would think twice before using it to get across the city.

60 requires the bigger bikes with larger cells. The small ones get about 30-40.

Then you're de-padyak until you get home to charge.

Hey... that makes them hybrids!

**ghosthunter** · September 12th, 2013 11:15 AM

Originally Posted by foresterx

i think it has a future but it will take a while. right now Tesla is the only electric car that is doing really good in terms of sales and is actually a great car in terms of performance and features. drove one in the states and i was actually surprised at how fast it was and how good it handled besides the great ride and roomy interior paired with hi-tech features, if Tesla was available in the philippines and charging stations are available in most gas stations then i would definitely buy one. the Tesla one of the few things that actually lived up to it's hype.

That is a lot of "IF". Also charging stations is a chicken or egg problem. Building charging stations for electric cars that may never see the road or people buying electric cars with no place to recharge outside their own homes.

The one that MVP bought is estimated to have costed around P6,000,000 not including shipping costs and the cost of a full blown charging station. Personally, with my P6M++ funds, I would rather buy a car with a conventional engine that can drive driven to any destination without needing to plan ahead of where to plug-in the car overnight.

**ghosthunter** · September 12th, 2013 11:16 AM

Originally Posted by niky

60 requires the bigger bikes with larger cells. The small ones get about 30-40.

Then you're de-padyak until you get home to charge.

Hey... that makes them hybrids!

The ones owned by our office staff does NOT have pedals. So if he runs out of charge, it is either walk or take a taxi.

**s10pao** · September 12th, 2013 11:25 AM

Originally Posted by niky

60 requires the bigger bikes with larger cells. The small ones get about 30-40.

Then you're de-padyak until you get home to charge.

Hey... that makes them hybrids!

ung bang 30-40 Km range city driving conditions na un?

**Ry_Tower** · September 12th, 2013 11:34 AM

Originally Posted by niky

60 requires the bigger bikes with larger cells. The small ones get about 30-40.

Then you're de-padyak until you get home to charge.

Hey... that makes them hybrids!

Okay nga ito, hybrid bikes!

For P6M, i'll buy me a Z4 sDrive 30i brand new.

**oj88** · September 12th, 2013 11:48 AM

EVs I think will remain as a niche market. It's obviously only practical for use over short distances and since charging takes several hours at least, you can't set up charging stations the same way you build gasoline stations. If you have to, it has to be big.... think trailer park big or a multi-level parking/charging structure or have charging receptacles available on the side of the road (where parking is allowed). Setting up that kind of infrastructure is a chicken and egg thing. You need these charging stations to sell EVs and you need enough EVs on the road to make the investment on these infrastructure worthwhile.

Not to mention that we have one fundamental problem... we are short on parking spaces as it is. Bottom line is that you will only have a chance to charge it at home, forcing you to plan your trips carefully. That's probably a lot to ask for from consumers.