What is the Vectrix?

Electric bike zips up Berkeley hills with ease

Posted by Adam Browning (Guest Contributor) at 9:44 AM on 24 Apr 2008

An ex-girlfriend of mine placed great diagnostic weight on the following question: Would you rather have one cookie now or two cookies later? I am generally a two-cookies-later person, and she ... well, now that I think of it, she was more of a two-cookies-now kind of person, which explains ...

Photo: Sonietta46

I digress. The point is that if you have been reading all the recent news about the Tesla and the Volt, and now Think is coming to America, and apparently Project Better Place is going hook up everyone in Denmark and Israel -- and you are perhaps pissed at the oil companies, and food riots are scaring the shit out of you, and the rocketing price of gas makes you wonder if the peak oil kids are right -- well, who can blame you for wanting an electric car right now? Unfortunately, you are kind of screwed. I mean, the Zenn is kind of cute, but 35 mph? Tesla takes reservations, but a reservation doesn't really get you to the grocery store, does it?

Enter the Vectrix. Nickel-metal hydride batteries provide for 62 mph and a range of 40-60 miles. As far as I can tell, in terms of speed, power, and range, it is the most vehicle-like electric vehicle currently available on the market. Last weekend, I checked out a bike that belongs to XO (pronounced Zo, but maybe his friends call him Hug-and-Kiss?), who lives on the top of the Berkeley hills and commutes into San Francisco every day. Yep -- rides it across the Bay Bridge. Then back. And up Marin Avenue.

Now, for those of you that don't know, Marin is ridiculously steep. If this weren't Berkeley, you'd suspect that the road planning department was infiltrated by brake pad and clutch repair corporate interests. There's just no reason for a street so steep to go up so straight for so long. Check out Google's streetview to get an idea.

XO rode me on the back, and the bike had no problem making it up Marin. That's with nearly 400 lbs of electric-vehicle enthusiasts on board. Quite impressive.

Here's a couple videos of extremely low quality and artistic value of XO going up and down Marin. Zippy, eh?

Batteries take about 4 kwh to fill up. If you take the low end of the range (40 miles), that means you are scooting on 1-2 cents per mile. Compare that to 15-20 cents/mile on gas.

So, if you want your cookie now, you are in luck. This is your cookie.

For story: What is the Vectrix?
11 Comments | Post a Comment

Tesla is also

a 95K investment.

I am guessing most of the car drivers in the world are not going to be able to afford that.

The Zenn (much more modestly priced at 15K, but still out of reach for anyone who's looking at used car prices of 2 to 5K) seems to be the kind of car people in my home state (ridiculously cold northern latitude state, flat land) would buy if they bike 8 months out of the year and drive 4 months because of the weather. Also useful for hauling things too heavy for bikes (i.e. the monthly trip to the co-op to stock up, gardening tools, piles of huge bags of compost, etc).

At 8K, I am not sure what greater purpose a Vectrix serves other than a need for speed. Personally I would rather slow things down a notch (plan ahead, leave with ample commute time) and take a self charging electric bike like the Giant Twist Freedom DX (2K).

by turanga leela at 10:17 AM on 24 Apr 2008

Bike link

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/upgrade/425397 ...

Sorry--meant to link that in my previous post.

by turanga leela at 10:18 AM on 24 Apr 2008

prius mods

with a lithium-ion battery, and a 250 dollar firewall-breaking wire, you can trick a prius into driving electric only up to 52 mph with a 40 mile range.

total cost--60 k or down to 55k depending. and you still have a gas tank that can be used when you flip a switch (from overriding gas mode to turning it back on).

however, same car with lead-acid battery can go 52 mph with a 15 mile range. total cost 38k. still has the gas tank. getting there on price.

of course, this is all mod territory. toyota could do this with the prius with different battery options (the option they announced is pathetic in the extreme--it's like they don't care).

i'm looking at putting together a company in LA that will do this kind of modding (with various options) right now. the tech all exists and works on my prius. the issue is simply price point. and one thing i believe more strongly than anything else--price point is a function of will. the way is there. can the will follow? stay tuned.

by robertogreen at 11:22 AM on 24 Apr 2008

Cool. What does this scooter cost?

How long does it take to charge? Range is a funny thing with electric vehicles. At 60 MPH it will probably go maybe ten miles. Mileage claims are fairly meaningless without qualifiers.

turanga leela links to a bike that claims up to 75 miles on a charge with just two 26 volt batteries. Don't be sucked in. Anyone can get hundreds of miles on a single charge. The trick is to not use the battery much and what good is an electric bike if you don't use the battery much? That particular design is very common here in Seattle.

For electric bicycles, range is a function of:

1)hills
2)speed
3)headwinds
4)effort
5)weight
6)amp-hours
7)acceleration

The same is true for motorcycles but you don't get option 4.

The only thing on that list that isn't a variable is number 6. So, to get claimed mileage, everything has to be just right and for electric bicycles, somebody has to be humping hard. Some people buy an electric bike thinking they are getting a cheap electric scooter and return it to the store when they can't go more than five miles on it without pedaling.

Manufacturers, realizing that a few too many people simply are not smart enough to ride an electric bike with a throttle, have taken options away from them. This bike design forces the rider to share the load. Many of them don't even come with a throttle. No pedal, no move.

In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world

by biodiversivist at 11:40 AM on 24 Apr 2008

8 thousand smackers

is what this electro-motorcycle costs. See my post above.

It's sort of annoying that these all-electro vehicles don't put the price on their promo websites. You actually have to find a dealer like Eco Auto Inc in order to see prices. http://www.ecoautoinc.com/

by turanga leela at 11:50 AM on 24 Apr 2008

some deets

Couple of responses:
-actually, it costs $12k for the 2008 version, $10k for the 2007 versions.
-the nickel metal hydride batteries are similar to what's in the Toyota Rav4 EVs, and work great. that was kind of the point of my post.
-there are cheaper scooters. like the Zappino. But when i went to check them out, the salespeople told me it wouldn't make it up my hill. no cookie.

Get Some Sun: www.votesolar.org

by Adam Browning at 1:51 PM on 24 Apr 2008

Oasis truck battery

http://www.fireflyenergy.com/index.php?option=com_content ...

37 wh/kg. Compared to around 70 wh/kg for Nimh. Maybe 120 bucks per battery? Around 1.2 kwh of power?

350 pounds, 5 of these 70 pound batteries would be equivalent to a gallon of gas.

Since Nimh can't be had by the public, except in a vehicle. And lithium batteries are way too expensive. This is the best battery do-it-yourselfers can afford.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog

by amazingdrx at 1:15 AM on 25 Apr 2008

Electricity is Coal

So this is something that's been bothering me every time I read another article or see another TV show getting people all frothed up about 100+ mpg plug-in priuses and the latest wave of electric vehicles that don't even burn one ounce of gasoline. It seems to me that it's a little myopic to favor plugging in our automotive habits considering our country's largest energy and carbon footprints come from the predominantly coal-burning grid.

But this is a smart place with smart people. Can somebody explain to me how using electricity to fuel our over-abundant needs to drive absolutely EVERYWHERE in our culture is an environmentally sound idea? What am I missing in the equation? Honestly not trying to be a smart-ass about this. I just want someone to set me straight if I have it wrong.

by jwce21 at 8:26 AM on 25 Apr 2008
[ Parent ]

OK

I'll volunteer.

It's will take a couple of decades to put a halt to excess human GHG emissions. It's a big job.

We have a electrical grid now that is mainly powered by fossil fuel and nuclear power. That produces a lot of GHG. The goal is to go to a 100% renewable powered grid over the next 20 years.

If plugin hybrids and eventually pure electric vehicles take over from internal combustion, GHG spewing gas guzzlers, over that time period. then GHG from transportation will be eliminated.

If I buy a plugin hybrid next week and charge it off the grid, yes it will be using fossil fuel, GHG spewing power plant generated kwhs. but it will still emit less that a gas guzzler traveling the same number of miles.

But, if I invest in solar panels, wind, or biogas power, then I can power my car renewably. By selling excess power back into the grid, i can even charge my plugin car with renewable electricty when i'm away from home.

If government subsidized renewable energy and plugin hybrids and energy conservation at the same level it now subsidizes fossil fuel, nuclear, and fuel farmed energy (ethanol); then my solar panels would pay off in a few years. After that my electric "gas" would be free. Just as free as it is GHG free.

With a deal like this a gold rush manufacturing and selling these devices would ensue. WW 2 like war production in this war on GHG would revive our economy and bolster our failing currency, with lower energy costs canceling inflation and our oily trade deficit (that funds terrorist supporting oil rich nations)canceled.

It's all pretty simple really. Your initial confusion was mainly based on static thinking. A popular skeptical theory that assumes that either the energy economy must be switched over instantly from coal fired to solar fired. Or we must abandon attempts to get an energy revolution started.

This is going to take 20 years of good jobs with benefits, a revived economy and tax base, and recycling of the old energy economy into a GHG free one. With lower energy prices and domstically, locally invested consumer energy dollars. Your gas money will go to the farmer down the road with a biogas power plant or a neighbopr with a solar panel (at the equivalent of 66 cents per gallon of gas), rather than the exxonmob or saudis or conagra (for ethanol).

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog

by amazingdrx at 9:02 AM on 25 Apr 2008

Let me highlight this point from Dr.X

"...it [plug-in hybrid] will still emit less than a gas guzzler [equivalent sized conventional car]traveling the same number of miles."

If the grid were all coal, it would emit no more GHG than a conventional car. If we don't get rid of coal, it won't matter what we drive.

In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world

by biodiversivist at 6:45 AM on 26 Apr 2008

Thanks bio-d

Yep, I meant to add... since the grid is only partially powered by coal. With plugin hybrids the GHG from transportation goes down along with the grid becoming more GHG-free.

Without plugin hybrids, cleaning up the grid doesn't reduce the GHG from vehicles.

Ethanol, for instance, produces twice the GHG per mile that gasoline does.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog

by amazingdrx at 5:35 PM on 26 Apr 2008

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