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Back in June we talked about Ohio-based start-up Advanced Mechanical Products (AMP) developing and taking orders for Saturn Sky Roadsters converted to run on all-electric power. They’d said they’d have a prototype ready in a month. Well, new video shows road testing of the prototype, proving they’ve hit their deadline and are on schedule.
AMP plans on this car being priced for a well-off-but-not-ultra-rich budget, so a converted car runs about $50,000. If you already own a Saturn Sky, budget $25,000 for your conversion – but this after-sale services is only for those living in the Greater Cincinnati area. While it still sounds pricy, AMP says the conversion will cost around $0.04 per mile to run, which is pretty darn cheap.
They hope to get a 150 mile-per-charge range, and a lot of get-up-and-go with ability to hit 0 to 60 in under 6 seconds and a top speed of 90 mph. All this with lithium phosphate batteries running two brushless DC motors. Check out the video for a peek under the hood.
Via AutoblogGreen, Advanced Mechanical Products
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written by Dexter_egr, August 04, 2008
Assumptions:
1) Extra investment - $25,000 (cause you were going to pay 25,000 for the vehicle already, gas or electric aside, right?) ;D
2) Cost per mile, gasoline - $0.16.667 per mile (based on my current vehicle's economy of 24 miles/ per gallon and gasoline at $4 per gallon)
3) 12,000 miles driven per year (typical average used by auto insurance companies)
4) Straight numerical calculation, no consideration of monetary inflation, changing gasoline price, battery life-cycle, maintenance, etc.
Results:
1) Cost of (gasoline) fuel to drive for a single year - $2,000
2) Cost of (electric) fuel to drive for a single year - $480
3) Number of years necessary for annual fuel savings to offset $25,000 investment - 16.45 (!)
Conclusion: not good, finacially speaking. That said, it's still an improvement in technology and a worthwhile achievement for the industry. Certainly volume of production will bring the price down in the future, and overall technology will continue to improve. Those with the financial means and the desire to do so can avail themselves of the current technology, just for the warm fuzzies; but real people like you and me are still on the sidelines. We'll get our turn someday.
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written by Mike O'Brien, August 04, 2008
If its a single geared electric motor, you don't have to pay for transmission fluid, air filters, engine coolant, oil changes (or if you do, I guarantee they'll be few and far between). There are a lot less parts underneath the hood which can lead to a lot less in maintenance costs.
Probably worth the money to some people just so they don't have to take their car in as often...
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written by Dexter_egr, August 04, 2008
For the purpose of discussion, I think it's more than fair to assume that any decrease in annual maintence cost for the ICE would be offset by the cost of battery replacement for the EV.
Let's also not forget that regardless of what type of fuel it uses (electricity, petroleum, or hydrogen), a machine is still a machine. It will still break down and it will still need maintenance of some sort.
Not trying to be a killjoy, just keeping my feet on the ground. :)
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If you include battery cost, a Tesla is not cheaper than gas (for most cars)-- per mile, it's (currently) >$.25/mi for batteries. Tesla also needed a >200 mile range to get 50KW of power. The extended life of the new Li-Phosphate/Titanate batteries hopefully means the cost/mile will go down, even if battery cells oost the same.