Specifying shorter range
Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2012 9:06 pm
Before I look a complete dork in public I thought I'd pitch this one on the Forum to see if there has been earlier conversation on the subject of specifying cars with even more limited range than is common. (I am new to the Society)
The thinking goes like this: I live on an island and I drive 8 miles to work. On a big day I may drive 50 miles, but that will involve being parked for several hours at locations with charging points. I am unlikely to need a car that will do more than 50 miles on a charge. So has anybody spoken to the manufacturers and asked for this to be an item one can specify.
It seems odd that I can get pointless items like the paint colour specified or the wheel trims in a ICE car and I can specify the engine size or way the roof folds up, but I cannot specify the size of petrol tank in it. Obviousy no-one ever asks, so range is a function of 'economy' not volume of fuel carried.
If an EV is basically 3x the cost of an average ICE vehicle of the same size then is it fair to assume that the additional 200% is probably the battery cost? (the engine and electic motor probably being comparable). So if I asked for a half size battery then would that reduce my vehicle costs by 1/3? Has anybody tried this on with the manufacturers?
If anybody has got any comment or suggestion then I'd be glad to hear.
Thanks,
Neil
The thinking goes like this: I live on an island and I drive 8 miles to work. On a big day I may drive 50 miles, but that will involve being parked for several hours at locations with charging points. I am unlikely to need a car that will do more than 50 miles on a charge. So has anybody spoken to the manufacturers and asked for this to be an item one can specify.
It seems odd that I can get pointless items like the paint colour specified or the wheel trims in a ICE car and I can specify the engine size or way the roof folds up, but I cannot specify the size of petrol tank in it. Obviousy no-one ever asks, so range is a function of 'economy' not volume of fuel carried.
If an EV is basically 3x the cost of an average ICE vehicle of the same size then is it fair to assume that the additional 200% is probably the battery cost? (the engine and electic motor probably being comparable). So if I asked for a half size battery then would that reduce my vehicle costs by 1/3? Has anybody tried this on with the manufacturers?
If anybody has got any comment or suggestion then I'd be glad to hear.
Thanks,
Neil