"World's first mass-produced electric car will hit roads by 2011" - renault production

[demoleft]

"The car maker is developing three models: a sedan, a compact city car and a panel van. In Denmark, a car will cost up to 200,000 kroner (£23,080) to buy.

"Around 160,000 electric cars will be made available every year. I believe the sales will be in the tens of thousands," said Jens Moberg, the chief executive of Better Place Denmark, the Danish subsidiary of the transport company developing the lithium batteries fitted in the vehicles.

Electric car drivers will need to sign up for a monthly subscription with Better Place to get access to the batteries. "It will be like signing up for a mobile phone contract," said Moberg.

He declined to say how much a subscription would cost, but said that the 250-watt battery would cost €8,000 (£6,870) to manufacture in 2011-2012. "I expect the cost to come down afterwards as production expands," he said."

source: the guardian, http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/aug/18/renault-electric-car


first sales will take place in denmark and israel.
a pilot project. no - more than that. a foot into the future. hopefully, at affordable subscriptions.

ciao DUers.

[Statistical]

1. The engineer in me hates when media gets scientific terms wrong.... grr

"He declined to say how much a subscription would cost, but said that the 250-watt battery would cost €8,000 (£6,870) to manufacture in 2011-2012."

Giving us the wattage of the battery is useless. The capacity measured in KWH killowatt hours is what matters.

I could make a 250-watt battery that could only move a car 12 feet before being discharged for a lot less than $6,800 but that wouldn't be very useful.

Sometimes I think the media doesn't even lookup watts and kilowatt hours in wikipedia to understand what they are before reporting.

Ok rant over. :)

[wtmusic]

4. I see that one all the time.

Power vs. energy. Maybe having EVs in the picture will elevate the discourse.

[Statistical]

5. Hopefully it would be like saying a traditional car has a 200 HP gas tank. n/t

[wtmusic]

7. Manufacturers aren't helping.

Nissan launches ‘100% Torque’ campaign to promote the LEAF EV

http://www.4wheelsnews.com/nissan-launches-100-torque-campaign-to-promote-the-leaf-ev/

:silly:

100% torque? 0 emissions? 367mpg? Ech, don't get me started.

[Statistical]

9. Lol. Yeah that is pretty bad. n/t

[baldguy]

2. First?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_Electric

[demoleft]

3. hehe ;) this is fantastic. thanx. n/t

[DCKit]

6. Almost £24K (over $38K) and you still have to rent the batteries? WTF?

Electric cars, by design, should be far less expensive than ICE vehicles - except for the batteries. Kind of the same reason Wal Mart's shelves are stocked with electrics of all types and sizes, and only very few ICE models.

[Statistical]

8. The Nissan Leaf will be out in 2010. n/t