Yuasa is a well-known Japanese supplier of batteries. They just started to target the burgeoning market for automotive lithium cells. They commemorated this occasion with an electric car imported from the U.S.—in 1917.
Genzo Shimazu, the first president of Japan Storage Battery Co., one of GS Yuasa’s forerunners, had imported the Detroit, manufactured by Detroit Electric Brougham of the US, as a company car befitting a battery maker. Using a conventional lead-based storage battery to propel its motor, the Detroit can travel about 33 kilometers after having been charged for five to six hours. Technology hasn’t advanced a lot in the past 90 years, or so it seems.
The company restored their former president’s electric ride to celebrate its launch of production of automotive lithium-ion batteries, The Nikkei [sub] reports
“We hope the restoration will raise green awareness,” Yuasa’s president Makoto Yoda said after a test run. Or make that black awareness.
Unless they find a way to make an all-electric car that will be able to run for 430miles without needing a 7hour recharge, the all electric vehicle idea will be doomed for failure.
The plugin hybrid idea sounds goodin theory, but having both a gasoline motor and batteries adds too much weight, so fuel consumption goes up, and this kind of defeats the purpose of putting hybrid technology into the car.
And something more. The electricity coming out of a power plant is rarely a flower in the green scheme of things, at least in the US.
Given the Volt only promises to barely outperform this car, it’s a pity GM couldn’t have built it to be even half as elegant.
But are they after-market wheels?
Of course they’re aftermarket; the originals were eaten by termites ;-).
I didn’t want to subscribe – but were there any schemes afoot such as replacing the original lead-acid batteries with modern lithium cells to see what kind of range improvement there would be?
Think about it, any improvement of less than 3-4X in range would be an embarrassment!
Aside: I wonder if the car was equipped with one of those wonderful Marconi-Levinson sound systems?
I am suspicious that this body may be mounted on a modern chassis complete with gas engine. The wheels of a genuine vintage vehicle are way larger.
Notice this four seater is arranged with the front two passengers (obviously you put the kids there)facing the driver who sits in the back seat along with another passenger. Who may or may not be his wife. The driver controls steering by operating a tiller bar and speed by a lever which rotates the drum controller located under the floor. Having travelled in such a vehicle myself I can tell you, with this arrangement, the top speed of 18mph is quite fast enough.
However you can travel a surprising distance in a short time, at least as quick as a typical transport bus will average in suburbia. Regarding safety, your vantage point is very high – higher than in a SUV as the photo shows. The real article would be even taller because of the extra wheel diameter.
It’s no secret that they were mostly marketed to women who couldn’t manage handcranking a 3-litre gas engine of the period. Also by some men who broke their arms trying to no doubt. Backfiring is a bitch.
I am told some of those cars were delivered to the dealership as kit cars with part of the packing crate doubling for the battery box. When constructing the battery pack, the accompanying booklet reminds the would-be motorist that when mixing the hydrochloric acid powder (which is readily available from your local chemist or apothecary) it’s best to do it in a lead bucket.
Yeah I can see me doing that !
T2
It’s interesting that they’d use a Detroit Electric.
Zap acquired the rights to the name and was going to partner with China Youngman Automobile Group to produce the vehicles. That partnership sold their ownership rights to Dutch investors for $300 million, with Zap retaining US distribution rights. Proton is now involved and Detroit Electic claims they will have two highway speed electric sedans in production by the end of ’09, with ranges of 110 and 200 miles for $23K and $30K. They’re doing the “signing up dealers now” routine common to automotive startups.
Perhaps Yuasa, in addition to paying homage to their founder, is hoping to sell batteries to the new Detroit Electric car company.
I did notice that Detroit Electric, run by a guy named Albert Lam, has updated their web site impressively.
http://detroit-electric.co.uk/
I’m not at all surprised about the revival of the Detroit Electric brand. Talk to anyone who has the slightest interest in early automobiles, and you’ll find that Detroit Electric is probably the only well known brand. It, to electric cars, is the equivalent of Stanley when it comes to steam powered cars.
Unfortunately, I get this niggling feeling that the revival of Detroit Electric is going to be on the same lines as the revival(s) of Norton and Indian. As in, please let them die once and for all!
Yup, they cheated on the wheels which should be wooden spoked, mounting (IIRC) clincher tires. Makes you wonder what else they faked. Tsk, tsk.
I think most people have somewhat lengthy commutes. I know right now I do 15-20 miles roundtrip — which is shorter than almost everyone I nkow. That also includes a straight shot, sitting in traffic, not taking side-streets for faster time(s).
My commute in 2 months is going to be 85 miles round trip. If an electric car can’t do this on a single charge at highway speeds it is fairly useless.
If it can do this, it is probably ONLY useful for commuting. I have about 150 miles (bike) or 250 miles (car) before needing to fill up. I find these fairly short, esp on a long trip.
I don’t think most people are going to be interested in electric cars w/o at least a 300 mile range.
If your commute is “only”, say 50 miles a day and you ONLY commute, that is 200 miles a week, 800 miles a month, 9600 miles a year (assuming you have no vacation).
Gas at $3.00/gal in a decent cheap-o econobox with proven parts is going to yield probably 320 gallons of gas @ 30mpg mixed. That comes out to $960/year.
To pay for an all electric vehicle assuming no battery replacement ever, and assuming it was say, $20k, it would take you 6-8 years to make up the cost difference, also assuming electricity is free.
It really is a no go for economic reasons alone unless it’s already cheaper than an econobox.
Family legend has it that my Great-grandmother drove a Baker Electric back before the First War.
Electrics are not new technology. They lost out to ICE powered vehicles for good reasons. And those reasons have not changed, nor are they likely to change.
Robstar, you left out one cost with you gas car vs electric car comparison. That is the cost of maintenance. The gas car is gonna need at least 2 oil changes a year. It’s gonna new air filters, spark plugs, fuel filters, timing belt replacements, coolant flushes, and probably a few other things I left out over it’s lifetime.
The EV still is gonna need the tire rotations, brake service, and transmission fluid flushes. But the money saved on fuel and maintenance both must be factored in.