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More on a Kiwi EV

Although I can often be seen on various places around the internet claiming that the EV is not ready for "the big time" yet and that it may not even be a positive step in the quest to mitigate climate change, I still think NZ is a country that could benefit from such vehicles.

We are rather unusual insomuch as the vast majority of our electricity already comes from renewable resources, so EVs won't actually do much (if anything) to increase carbon emissions.

So, quietly, without funding, and treated as nothing more than an "idle" task, I've been doing some preliminary work on the design and construction of a small 2-person "commuter" EV specifically aimed at filling what I perceive to be a potentially profitable niche in the Kiwi market.

As I've mentioned previously, this would be a vehicle built largely of composite materials (an area where again NZ has great skills and expertise) and which is designed primarily for getting to and from work, or the supermarket or wherever.

It's certainly not going to be a Tesla Roadster with mindblowing acceleration and a massive range.

But then again.. it's not going to break the bank.

I'd like to be able to come up with an EV that would sell for about the same price as a Jap import -- perhaps around the $10K figure.

For that money you'd get a "brand new" zero-emissions vehicle that could be recharged from a household 3-pin plug, could carry two adults in comfort, have enough luggage space to bring home the groceries and be small enough to get concessionary parking rates in urban areas (of course that'd require councils to play ball).

Total power would be in the vicinity of just 10-15KW which is more than enough to enable 100kph speeds on the motorway (albeit with somewhat leisurely acceleration) and range would be up to 80kms on a charge.

Okay, it's not going to replace the Commodore or Falcon when you want to drive to Taupo with boat in tow for the Christmas holidays -- but it could be a very useful and cost-effective alternative to a second-hand Honda, Toyota, Mazda or Mitsi charged with the task of getting you to and from work each day.

So far things are panning out quite well in the preliminary design area.

The composite shell is very "doable" and the estimated price is well within the amount budgeted.

By using a brushless electric motor in each wheel-hub it becomes possible to dispense with heavy/expensive gearboxes and those motors also do a significant amount of the braking work (regeneratively), thus allowing for comparatively lightweight disks and calipers.

Batteries are (of course) the big issue and (somewhat surprisingly) the best value on a watt-hour basis still appears to be the humble lead-acid variety -- although I don't have volume prices for the far better (on a watt per Kg basis) lithium alternatives yet.

Of course none of this preliminary work has required the investment of any cash -- it's all just research, calculations and time. Unfortunately, that means I'll probably soon put my results in a folder and stick them on a shelf.

However, if anyone out there is interested in getting a small EV venture going in NZ, you're welcome to drop me a line.

In the meantime, I'll keep an eye on that folder, update it when new or alternative technologies catch my attention, and perhaps -- if funds ever allow, just build one for myself.

But let's have some input from readers...

What ideas do you have to improve the concept of the commuter EV? What are "must have's" and what are the things you can do without (compared to a Jap import) if it meant keeping the price under $10K?

Who knows, someone with vision and venture capital may just be watching.

And no, it would not be called "The e-Treka".

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