Unbeliever

http://commutercars.com/

You won't like the price.

They're trying to get a production line going for mass produced versions which should be much cheaper.

--Carlos V.

dombey

interchangeable battery packs isn't an option short term. It's one thing to fill a propane tank to run your grill because the energy content is known (as with any fuel). However, if you have a bunch of batteries that degrade over time, you may end up paying full price for a battery that puts out 1/2 the energy you paid for.
If that happens, I'll be the first in line w/ my attorney ready to sue someone's ass. Weigths and measures are taken VERY seriously.
The only way to fix, that I can think of, would be to have batteries that don't fade (good luck) or to pay when you return and your car keeps track of the energy expended, and then you just pay for what the battery dispensed...which then means you have a few million potential fraud cases instead of a a few thousand.

Elistan

Strange little data point regarding power plant electricity generation vs point-of-use electricity generation.

I pay about $0.15 per kWh at home.
Based on calculations I did, it'd cost me about $0.45 per kWh to use a Honda generator running on gasoline.

dombey

yeah dude, a couple of things though.

Electric rates are actually WAY lower than what you're paying. I pay about 4 cents/kw off peak and about 21 cents on peak. Obviously the cost of the energy doesn't change with the time of day; they crank up the price until demand falls, so they can always be producing an efficient amount of energy w/o any outages. Basic economics - but the point is that the actual cost to product that energy is very, very little (given they're making money at 4 cents too).

The generator...it's apples and oranges unfortunately. You're talking about a tiny little engine that costs like $20 to build, vs. a state of the art power plant that powers an entire metro area and costs tens of millions to build...obviously the big one is going to be much more efficient. If it wasn't, everyone would be running honda generators in the back yard.

Elistan

I know, that was my point - to show the differences between the two. (For what its worth, by the way, some of the Honda generators cost several thousand dollars to purchase...)