On 28 Sep 2015 at 20:31, Lawrence Rhodes via EV wrote:

> The debate should be about  light or heavy vehicles and efficiency.  If you
> have an efficient vehicle that is light you might draw 55wh per mile.  The
> typical heavy conversion like the I3 , Leaf, Rav4, IMEV, or any other of the
> currently available EV's are just too heavy to give good range with a small
> pack.

I may have missed something here, but I don't see what debate you're talking 
about.  Nobody is going to argue that a light, efficient vehicle isn't a 
route to getting decent range out of a small, cheap battery.

The problem is selling the EV.  In the real world of real customers buying 
real cars in real first-world nations, there's a limit on lightening 
vehicles, at least if you're staying in the 4-wheel class.  You're 
constrained not just by customer expectations - safety, comfort, cupholders -
 but also by vehicle safety regulations.  You can evade them with a 3-
wheeler, but we've seen where that goes.

The market for ultralight (non-bike) EVs is small, though probably not 
nonexistent.  But because sales are and will be low, economy of scale is 
limited.  That in turn means minimally-equipped vehicles and/or high prices. 
Both of these further crimp the market size.  You're just not going to get 
very many people to give up their Corollas and RAV4s unless you match or 
exceed their current rides for comfort and safety.

I think the key to modest sales success with ultralight EVs is to follow the 
example set by Renault with the Twizy.  They emphasize its quirkiness. They 
get race car drivers to have fun with it and shoot video of them.  They're 
not really trying to sell it so much as practical transportation, but more 
as entertainment.  They seem to be having modest success with that.

David Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA
EVDL Administrator

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