I get 300mpg. A review of my electric vehicle experience. (w/poll)
Thu May 26, 2005 at 06:12:03 PM PDT
So, I recently bought a shiny new electric scooter, a silver
EVT-4000e, and so far, I'm loving it. This is my second electric moped.
Most people, when you say the word "scooter," think of the Razor scooters that the neighborhood kids are into, or maybe the things that disabled/elderly people ride around in. Well, here I'm talking about a 2-wheeled vehicle with a seat (and hopefully a suspension) that is capable of going at around 30mph. In CA, if it's electric, these can ride in the bike lanes.
If it sounds like pretty much the ideal high efficiency commuting vehicle, that's because it is. Especially in an area like mine, that gets 300 days of sun a year. There are many different makes and models and I hereby declare myself a resource if anyone wants to ask questions because it's a lot of research to figure this out.
More info/review of electric scooters and thoughts about our energy consumption in general after the fold.
Past
My first e-scooter was the eGO Cycle 2, whose big asset is its price. It generally costs $500-$1000 less than the other big brands. It's wicked fun to ride - and has cool retro styling - but if you're using it for more than infrequent errands or weekend gallivanting (i.e. if you're commuting), expect it to break, and break often.
I owned an eGO for a year and a half before the neighborhood hooligans did me a favor and stole it. In that time, I went through 1.5 sets of batteries and through practice can now completely dismantle and reassemble the thing in about 2 hours. It also only got a little more than half the advertised range with me, a 170lb rider. Probably about 2-3 months of my time was spent with it in inoperable condition and the tech service (4000 miles away in RI) was... limited. I was lucky though - I got insurance money; my SigFig also owned one that eventually just completely broke, irreparably. His bitterness drove him to a Piaggio (the parent company of Vespa) Typhoon, a gas scooter that has repair shops nearby to everywhere. I, however, decided to try my hand at another electric scooter.
Present
Deciding early on in my search that I'd have to suck it up and spend more money if I didn't want to repeat my earlier electric scooter mechanic days, I started looking around at the bigger, more substantive models. I wanted to buy the eMax, a German-engineered model that promised 40 mile range and new, more environmentally friendly battery technology (lead-acid is still industry standard). However, it's very new - there's only one company in the U.S. that sells it, and they promised me they'd have some in stock to fill my preorder every month for 4 months before I gave up. Add to that the unsettling complete and utter lack of reviews (despite, according to them, the eMax being on the market for a year already in Germany) in German or otherwise, and I think I made the right decision.
My 2nd choice, and I've never been so happy to settle, is the EVT-4000e.
It has a lot of things going for it: 20-30 mile reliable range, 4 years or so on the market and lots of great press, and I bought it from a dealer in Oakland (~25 miles away from me, and having a sale on these for $2150 currently) who has expertise with all kinds of electric bikes and can do tech support and service. Also, it's an extremely smooth ride, with a way more comfy seat than the bike seat that comes with the eGO - and the hub motor makes it almost noiseless. The turning signal is the loudest thing on the bike. Which means that I have to be extra conscious of sneaking up on other traffic and pedestrians, but also means I won't go deaf from riding the thing. And unlike a gas scooter, there are zero emissions.
If you've ever been within 8 feet of a gas scooter, you'll understand why this is awesome - even apart from environmental concerns. Nothin' says un-sexy like having your hair and clothes smell like exhaust.
Which brings me to the main point of this whole story - In trying to compare my 4000e (which desperately needs a nickname, any ideas?) to the gas-guzzling Typhoon (okay, it gets about 60mpg, but doesn't have a large tank, so you'll still be at the gas station about once/week, unless you have a gas can, which is usually not ideal) I wanted to show exactly how much more energy efficient it is. Which is not easy... My back of the envelope calculation used the following numbers:
- Estimated 8 miles/day with charging each evening
- Estimated (I haven't tested) range = 25 miles
- Battery capacity = 2400 watt-hours
- PG&E fossil fuel usage for my county = 33% of total
- Price of PG&E electricity = 12.87 cents/kilowatt-hour
- Estimated loss of energy from electricity generation/transmission = 75-90%
- Energy in 1 gallon of gasoline = 125,000 Btu
Energy in 1 kWh (kilowatt-hour) electricity = 3,412 Btu
It's hard, because electricity isn't generated by burning gasoline, but by burning a combination of coal, natural gas, fuel oil, mainly --- 60% of electricity from PG&E was generated this way in 2002. So I converted the amount of electricity from fossil fuels I think my bike uses into energy units, and figured out how much gasoline would be needed to produce the same amount of energy.
I estimate I'm getting somewhere between 100-300mpg, and, assuming the various energy sources (fossil fuels, nuclear, solar/wind) are roughly equivalent in cost, I'm paying about $1.20/gallon (plus $2.50 for other sources of energy). At my current usage level, I anticipate 38 days/gallon, assuming one charge a day.
Future
So, no, it's not free for the environment, and I'll still have 4 lead-acid batteries to dispose of properly in a few years. But it's way better than the car I used to own to drive me 4 miles to work and back. Someone out there made their 4000e solar-powered, which is quite fantastic. Also, if I one day achieve my dream of having a house that generates more energy than it uses by solar and wind, then my e-bike becomes cleaner still. (A "4" to the first person that responds to this thread and reminds me what the site was to sign up for all-green energy to your home.)
Anyway, e-scooters are all the rage in Europe - maybe gas prices going up will have the beautiful side effect of Americans becoming invested in efficient, practical electric transportaion too. What do you think about that?
Hm, maybe my next diary will focus on other feel-good, and thoroughly practical things everyone can do to make life easier and decrease energy consumption/waste creation at the same time.
Thanks for reading this far - I am nothing if not a person who uses way too many words to make their point. :-) And Happy Thursday!
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