Click on photo (above) to be taken to a website detailing data re: this Bradley Electric vehicle.
Here you will be introduced to the "new" battery/electric" alternative to gasoline to fuel
your car. I will provide links to many sites promoting electric cars. Please, do not hesitate to contact me, Don
Davidson @ don.57@msn.com for more local information. I look forward to your email expressing interest in using batteries to power your car.
Actually "battery power" is not new. Between the years of 1890 to 1915 battery power was
the only way to fuel cars.
I was first introduced to electric cars in 1979 when my dad & I began building our first
EV (Electric Vehicle). I will refer to gasoline powered cars as "ICE" (Internal Combustion Engine).
Until recently, the battery itself has not improved much in the past 100 or so years.
Most modified cars converted to battery power have used many heavy traditional car batteries to power them. Until recently.
In the past few years rechargable batteries such as NICAD batteries and quite recently, Lithium Ion batteries are now
being used in Hybrid cars and when the cost of these batteries drop, will be used and electric cars will again become
a popuar alternative.
Disclaimer: Yes, battery powered cars are not meant (yet) to be driven "long distance" or
in extremely cold weather as energy to heat the car is taken from the batteries that drive the car, limiting the distance
it can be driven between charges.
Speaking of range or distance it can be driven, a typical EV can go about 50 miles before
needing to be charged again. Yes, it takes about 6 hours to recharge these batteries. Most people do
not routinely drive 50 miles on a daily basis to/from
work, to get groceries, banking, etc. City driving is where an ICE car suffers the most in fuel economy.
Why an electric car? Simplicity & economy. A traditional gasoline powered car has
hundreds of parts necessary for it to run. An electric car has only 3 parts: First, the battery which stores the energy, which
is fed to the second component which is the controller that "controls" the energy coming from the battery which in turn is
fed to the third component, the motor.
Electric cars are about 90% efficient-no wasted energy. Gasoline powered cars are only about
35% efficient and energy is wasted in the form of heat (commonly used to warm your car in the winter). This is why radiators
are necessary to keep a gasoline engine from over heating. The actual cost to operate an electric car is less than 50
cents to travel about 50 miles. It will cost about 50 cents on your electric utility bill to charge your electric car batteries
to travel about 50 miles.
The first generation of Hybrid cars have explored the use of batteries in a car, but primary
power still comes from the ICE, not batteries in Hybrid cars. The next generation of Hybrid cars will have more batteries
in them and will be called "Plug In" Hybrids, (available to public around 2010), allowing at least 20, up to 40 miles
driven on pure battery power before the ICE begins to run.
General Motors will have available to the public by 2010 an electric car called the VOLT which is a pure electric car. It does have an ICE but this ICE is used to run
a generator to keep the batteries charged, thus eliminating the need to "plug in" the VOLT although, you would plug it in overnight to eliminate this need. For more info on the VOLT,
check out this website: http://www.gm-volt.com/about/
If by any chance you'd like to assist me with forming a local Central NY Chapter of the Electric Auto Association,
please do not hesitate to contact me. Check out this website: www.eaaev.org
Thanks!
