Tom, Your points are well taken. Many of us (myself included) get so caught up in what we are doing in our own garages that we forget the big picture. I got a conversion because I thought an EV was the right thing to do. We complained when GM killed the EV1 and now most OEMs are making electrics. It's a good thing!
Conversions have never been right for most people who want the support of dealers when there is a problem. Now they will have that support and will be more likely to drive an electric. That's a good thing! Peter Flipsen Jr PS - I'd buy an OEM electric today if I could afford it. On Oct 1, 2013 7:08 AM, "tomw" <[email protected]> wrote: > I'm surprised that it wasn't obvious that the availability of OEM EVs like > the Leaf would drastically reduce conversions. I recall discussions with > this conclusion when the Leaf first became available. There is no way you > can do a conversion with the fit and finish, interior space, range, power, > and quality and reliability of a Leaf for similar cost (after the $7500 > credit). The 80kW peak AC motor/controller would cost you almost as much > as > the Leaf. A conversion using a series DC motor would cost almost as much > as > a Leaf since a 24 kWh LiFePO4 pack would cost around $10k delivered, and > you > wouldn't have the same quality or fit and finish. > > As for feeling sorry for ourselves as unappreciated pioneers, rubbish. That > was the whole point of being a pioneer - to show the practicality of EVs > and > get more on the road. I want to see more ice vehicles replaced with > electric or some other clean technology on a large scale, and that requires > OEM vehicles sold by the millions. I was happy to see all those OEM > vehicles at NPD - we even had a Fisker Karma (I think the (23"?) wheels and > tires for that car probably cost more than my battery pack). I also > enjoyed > looking over the new cars and talking with their owners about them. One > guy > was so enthusiastic, I was ready to buy a Leaf after talking to him! And > they ARE pioneers relative to most people. > > At least in my experience, there is not that much difference in > reliability. > I've not experienced much down time with my EV over the last 4 years, and > it > has never failed out on the road. Of course reliability of conversions > varies widely, depending on quality of components and work. > > I think there will still be people doing conversions as a hobby project, > but > fewer as OEM prices decrease. I think people will make use of junkyard > parts to cobble together a lower cost EV, or buy two wrecked Leafs to make > one, much like some currently do with ice vehicles, and about on the same > scale, but it will take several years before many are available. > > Definitely a different situation now, and that's a good thing. > > > > -- > View this message in context: > http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/Plug-In-Day-2013-tp4665446p4665460.html > Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at > Nabble.com. > _______________________________________________ > UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub > http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org > For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA ( > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.evdl.org/private.cgi/ev-evdl.org/attachments/20131001/e94aeb56/attachment.htm> _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
