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EV WORLD EXCLUSIVE ARTICLE |
One of the first mass-produced, Chinese-made electric vehicles to be offered in North America is the Xebra from ZAP. Because it has only three-wheels, it can be licensed in some states as a motorcycle. Top speed around 35 mph.
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Some simple, but vital points to consider before you buy that EV.
Open Access Article Originally Published: March 20, 2009
You are finally ready to take the plunge.
The foundation of your decision may be a concern for the environment. Perhaps you want to step up and do your part to reduce our contry's dependence on imported fuel... or maybe you simply love the technology, but for whatever reason, you have decided that the time is right. You want to purchase an electric vehicle.
You start to do research on available products and the companies that supply those products. Very soon, you begin wondering just how green these products really are. Very soon you begin to wonder how reliable these companies will be. You may have additional considerations that come into play as you do your research.
Of course we at EV World can't make your decision for you. We can't say something like, "Well, just buy this model from that manufacturer and you'll be happy with your purchase." You will have to develop your own criteria and base your decision upon those criteria. What we can do is suggest a partial list of that you may use as part of your decision-making process. Most-likely, our list won't cover all your considerations and our list may include things that you don't care about, but we think we can give you a start.
- Have you heard of the company before? Are articles about the company available from independent sources? It is easy for the company to produce press releases and PR pieces, but you probably want to hear what others have to say about the company.
- Is there a users' group for the company's products? Can you contact other customers to gain an understanding of their experiences with the company and its products?
- Does the company have a dealer network? Even if the company is too small to have its own dealer network, there are "Green Vehicle" companies in several states in the US. These independent companies carry vehicles from a number of manufacturers.
- Does the company have a physical presence in your country or are they just a web-site? How long have they been in business? Are products available from them for immediate sale, or is the company taking orders for a production run that's scheduled for some time in the future? What is the delivery time being quoted? What are delivery costs? Are taxes and license fees included?
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Reader Comments
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10 comments so far...
26-Apr-2009
66631
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Dan Case.... Let me assure you that EV World has no connections with the oil industry. Further, we really don't appreciate the use of abusive terms towards us or our other readers. While we generally don't censure our readers comments, you last remarks do cross the line and we have decided to remove them.
We encourage you to continue to comment, but request that you do so in a more civil manner. Passion is fine, animosity is not.
Posted by: Bill Moore
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29-Mar-2009
66266
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I thought this was EV World, a place for pro"green" ; Why do an article that scares the crap out of the avg. potental buyer? Scare tactics are normaly used by the OIL gluts so the electric technology can be supressed even LONGER. A semi truck can be total electric & go coast to coast on several charges while carring his normal 80,000lb load why should anyone hesitate to buy Green? 35-45mph GIVE ME A BREAK ! The technology is here, the internet is available, the price is NOT right, yet but slowly getting there. Most insurance co. give incentives, most people recieve tax breaks& most importantly, your babies or decendants will NOT have to breath POISON carbonmonoxide!! End of argument. Thank you , Dan
Posted by: dan case
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29-Mar-2009
66272
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excuse me; appears i made a couple mistakes; it is 80,000lb. G.V.W. & i missed the "e" in breathe. Want to add; with things the way they are with the enviroment; Do we really need to ban smoking & do very little on the deadly emissons of carbonmonoxide? Thanx again, Dan [bettycase@att.net]
Posted by: Dan Case
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26-Mar-2009
66224
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Stupid article! Being green and saving money on driving cost are not the same. At this moment it costs you to be green so you pay for your ideas.
All I want is to drive cheap and stop giving my money to the greedy Arabs. I want us to be energy rich like we used to be and keep our money in the US . We have oil and gas, we have some wind and solar-neither of which will keep the lights on in the house.
An electric car or for me a small pickup would be great but as it is now no one builds one . We could have had these years ago but the CEOs have stock in the oil companies just like they do in the car companies. It's time to stop talking trash and build the damn thing so we can buy it at a decent price. If I can write books using electric vehicles we can bulld them. http://wwrutland.wordpress.com
Posted by: ww rutland
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12-Apr-2009
66447
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Mr. Rutland states: Stupid article! Being green and saving money on driving cost are not the same. At this moment it costs you to be green so you pay for your ideas.
I totally disagree. Our company modifies Gem electric vehicles to achieve 40MPH. These cars sell for less than $7500 each. When gas was $3.00 a gallon, I was saving $11 per day driving to and from work. Thats over $200/month. I didnt depreciate my expensive sportscar, didnt have to worry about door dings, and actually enjoyed the commute a bit more. Gems hold their price so basically, you sell for what you bought it for, so all you to in between in save gas and have fun!
I don;t feel you need to spend a ton of money to go green, we let helpyou get in the game for $7K versus $70K for tessla's roadster. I'd start with the Gem - it's proven technology and you can fix it yourself!
electricautozone.com
Posted by: Anthony Rizzo
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29-Mar-2009
66260
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Dear Madam and Sir,
I am very pleased to present our products and our company to you!
CITIC GUOAN MENGGULI CO., LTD (shorted for MGL) is mainly engaged in the R&D as well as the production of the cathode materials for lithium-ion secondary battery and lithium ion secondary power battery. MGL was invested by CITIC GUOAN Group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of China CITIC Group. Due to the independent technology advantages, MGL has become the first and one of the biggest cathode materials LiCoO2 manufactures in China. Meanwhile, MGL has commercialized the LiMn2O4 cathode material, which has better safety performance than the LiCoO2.
As for the battery division, MGL stands at the world’s first and largest manufacturer of large capacity lithium-ion power battery; we have devoted ourselves in lithium ion power batteries since April.2000.
In the past few years, our batteries have successfully applied on various electric vehicles, such as Electric Bike, Electric Motorcycle, Electric Golf Car, and Electric Bus. In 2008, MGL successfully applied our batteries on the Pure Electric Buses during the Olympic Games. Besides that, we developed a High Power Battery Pack, which allows to discharge at very high current, up to 25C. MGL successfully applied it on the Forklift Truck in the US. market. We hope that we could help you with your business! And I would be very glad to answer your question about lithium ion batteries!
Mit freundlichen Gruessen und best regards,
Sincerely,
Jack Yan
CITIC GUOAN MGL Co.,Ltd
Add: No.18, Baifuquan Road, Changping District, Beijing
Tel: +86-10-89742633
Fax: +86-10-89747497
Mobile: +86-15011185917
My blog: http://jackbattery.diytrade.com
Website: www.mgl.com.cn
Posted by: Jack Yan
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27-Apr-2009
66632
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I really opplogize; I didn't intend to direct any comment to anyone, Just trying to state my own opinion in a tone that none believers in "Green" might pay attention! It is very aggravating to put a price on human life compared with driving Green. Sorry , Dan
Posted by: dan case
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27-Apr-2009
66633
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Now I remember; Bill, your idea is great & my harsh comments surfaced when I read the comment by electricautozone : 40mpg "Better " than the standard 30mpg BUT to me, this is not GREEN ! I.C.E.s still emit poison. Then, to put a price on humanity ! Sorry for the harshness. Dan
Posted by: dan case
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20-Mar-2009
66181
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I believe that you have done a disservice to ZAP in stating that they have a top speed of 35 mph. This is simply false. I have been driving a ZAP Xebra for two years now and have logged over 14 ,000 miles. My daily commute is 37 miles round trip and includes a net climb of nearly 500ft. (on my trip home). On the way to work (the down hill part) I can achieve as much as 62 mph. Most of the flatter part of my trip is at 45 mph. The trip home (the up hill part) I might get bogged down as far as 35 mph. But the same thing can be said for my Toyota truck as well because that hill requires second gear to make it up.
Posted by: Chuck Swackhammer
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21-Mar-2009
66185
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I built a BugE kit vehicle and I'm very satisfied with it so far. By building from the ground up, I can service everything on the vehicle myself so service after the sale isn't an issue. The only reason I would need to take my vehicle for service is to get it inspected once a year!
Also, there is an active Yahoo group plus some websites put up by other builders that may be of assistance to new BugE builders.
One of the questions I get asked quite often is, "how many MPG is it equivalent to?"
My response is the following. "The electric cost per trip is around a penny or two a mile.. However, the 4-battery energy pack is depleted just a bit every cycle. I only get a finite amount of cycles from a battery pack (perhaps 300). So, I figure by dividing the cost of the battery pack by the number of expected cycles gives a true cost of around $2.60 per 20 mile trip.
Adding more batteries for greater speed, range or passenger capacity adds quite a bit to the cost per trip. For example, 3x the batteries still may only get you the same distance but at 3x the cost. So, in my opinion, keeping the vehicle small and simple is the way to go.
William McCracken
http://greenev.blogspot.com
Posted by: William McCracken
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