Honda will be showing a prototype electric car at the Tokyo Auto Show in October, as the EV-adverse automaker prepares to offer a battery-electric option. And though development is going forward now, according to reports from Automotive News [sub], the Honda EV won’t be reaching the market until 2015. Honda had previously committed to its nickel-metal hydride battery technology (along with its hydrogen fuel cell system), and it’s not clear that this new vehicle represents a shift to lithium-ion technology. That might explain the long delay; Nissan’s Leaf EV and GM’s Volt EREV are supposed to go on sale in late 2010. But Honda’s not slacking, it’s just doing things the old-fashioned way. The Motor Company will be releasing electric motorcycles around the same time the Leaf and Volt come out and building from there. Sound familiar?
Considering an electric car would be extraordinarily durable and reliable – what would the range need to be for people here to consider buying one.
Also, for those with an electrical engineering or related background – as I understand it large electric motors used in industrial applications can last for decades with minimal wear. Is that correct?
I always thought that heat was very, very bad for li-ion, decreasing the total number of charge/discharge cycles (eg don’t leave your laptop battery in the car during the summer).
Is this true? Any chemistry experts around?
There are already several electric motorcycles out, but all have insufficient range/speed for me.
Will Honda’s work? I doubt it.
Considering electric bikes are sub 10k in a lot of cases, I hope Hondas is as well.
The current problem with electric bikes is 40-70 mile range max.
I need an electric bike that can do 70 miles w/o recharge averaging 60-70mph (or else I get run over on the highway).
@jmo:
To answer your question, perhaps it’s best to look at trams (streetcars) and trolleybuses, which are the most heavily used electric vehicles today.
A properly maintained tram will last 40-50 years.
A properly maintained trolleybus will last at least 25 years.
Mind you there are public transit vehicles taking thousands of people per day, out on the road every day all day, so yes, they are maintained more heavily and overhauled more than a typical private car may be, but they also typically take a lot more wear & tear, and spend a lot more on the road.
So let’s compare them with say a diesel bus, which typically needs replacement after 15-18 years, maybe even less. The bus fleet in most developed countries seems to be 5-10 years old (you do see older buses brought in peak hours to “help out”, but these probably can’t stand more than a few hours of usage per day). On the other hand 30-40 year old trams are a common sight.
However these vehicles have the advantage in the lifetime sense that they don’t have batteries, they run off overhead transmission lines.
Electric motors are a very mature technology, and very simple compared to their ICE counterparts. The problem are the batteries. This is where the innovation needs to happen. If we can get to the mindset that these are as swappable as the ones in your walkman or cell-phone, than the rest of the car should last.
I can even see those modular car concepts where people buy the exterior of the car separately from the engine&the rest to “refresh” the look of their car come to life in that case.
Honda is not as dumb as they look.
Both heat and cold are enemies of lithium-ion cells, as are overcharging and deep cycle draining. This is why the Volt plan is to keep the batteries charged between 30-80% (I think) and temperature-controlled for decent performance.
Honda faces the same packaging challenges with a motorcycle as cars do, due to the energy density limitations with batteries (lithium ion being the best available today).
Let’s not forget that Honda built an EV back in the nineties:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_EV_Plus
It’s fate was the same as GM’s EV-1: the leased cars were scrapped after the leases ended. But it worked pretty well, given the range limitations of the NiMh batteries.
“Electric vehicles require much less service and maintenance than internal combustion engine vehicles. They do not require routine oil changes. They do not have any tailpipe emissions and therefore do not require any muffler or exhaust system work. They do not require replacement spark plugs, hoses or belts. ”
I could certainly see replacing the batter pack ever 5-7 years as being cheaper and much less of an inconvenience than the much more intensive maintaince of an ICE vehicle.
Conventional motor bikes are dangerous enough. Electric motor bikes ought to be even more dangerous: Now nobody can SEE or HEAR you coming. Great.
Targa>
With the amount of insulation & electronic devices installed on the “entertainment-on-wheels” vehicles cars, not making noise doesn’t really increase the danger any, IMHO.
Electric bikes are fun to ride with the instant torque available. Some are very scary. However I need to have my ipod, with a recording of a loud exhaust in order to feel at home.
Check out the electric bicycle option! The Pedego also uses a lithium ion battery.
http://www.pedegoelectricbikes.com