Comments on: Zap to make electric sedan based on its sports car

Derivative of the Zap-X sport SUV to feature unprecedented combination of efficiency and low cost, carmaker says.

[Hoser McMoose]

Not holding my breath

Interesting idea, but I'm sure not holding my breath for it to become a reality anytime soon. The cost is the big issue. Making an electric vehicle, while being by no means a trivial task, is hardly revolutionary stuff. The trick is making it work well without being obscenely expensive.

Right now the batteries are likely to be just too expensive for a $30,000 pure electric design like this unless it's only got a TINY motor. Certainly they could get by with a lot less batteries than in the Tesla Roadster (which has about a 250hp motor), but even with a motor half as powerful and half the distance (ie 1/4 of the battery power) they would still be looking at probably $10,000 worth of batteries alone. Add in the costs for the actual car and they're going to struggle to even produce the thing for $30,000, let alone be able to sell it for that price.

[theBike45]

100 miles ain't much

I really can't see any purpose in such a car unless it has quick recharge batteries and there
are public recharge stations. In that case, using Altair's estimated future costs of its batteries at $500 per kWhr, and 5 miles per kWhr, 20 kWhrs battery pack would do and cost $10,000, leaving $20,000 for the rest of the car. I'm sure they would offer extra cost extended battery packs for
those who want a semi-practical vehicle.

[grant999]

No purpose?

How is there no purpose to an electric car that can go 100 miles on a single charge? How often do you drive more than 100 miles at a time?

Yes, within a few years there will be recharging stations at offices, malls, hotels and other locations. I just saw another article on news.com about this: Envisioning the solar parking garage (http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9726663-7.html).

[TatianaBetady]

100 MPH......

According to the Zappy website, it is said that the new Zap X is to reach speeds up to 155 MPH and can go 350 miles before it needs a charge.

The best part about the Zap X is that it only takes about 10 minutes to re-charge.

[regulator1956]

Sounds Great

In a 2 car family, driving roundtrip 10 to 40 miles for work each day is the "big" drive for one of the cars. If they tout 100 miles, the reality is probably 40 to 70 miles with traffic, A/C, stereo and headlights.

Have my company provide a plug in the parking lot and I'm golden. I'd only plug in at the office so they'd be paying all my weekday juice.

[bsachs]

Zap

In 1996 I was facinated by the zap bikes and flew from china to their office. I was impressed with the product but not the price. I really thought they were missing the boat with the market as well.
If they were priced right for the masses, the bikes could have been a hit but they were way to high for the masses and it turned out their were better bikes cheaper.
They will most likely miss the boat on the cars as well as I will bet they will not go after the right market this time either. They were entrenched in their thinking with no flexibility at the time.