[ausev] Interested in an EV introduction workshop? Response from NEV commuter

[Tom Morgan]

Erik, Tom Morgan here.  I have some information from the perspective of
a Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (NEV) owner and commuter.

I own a 2002 4 passenger GEM electric vehicle that I use for commuting
and running errands.  I live by UT, 20 blocks from my office which is
across the street from the Capitol, and the vehicle saves me quite a bit
of money.  I bought it used for $4,000 from a dealer in California
(paying $1,000 to have it shipped here).  I calculate it saves me at
least $2,000 a year due to no gas, no oil changes or other Internal
Combustion Engine type maintenance.  I charge it at the office, so fuel
is free to me.  I just recently did have to spend $670 to replace a bad
battery cable, battery, and tune the brakes.  Amortizing the cost of new
batteries over the expected 3 - 5 life expectancy work about to about
$100 - 200 a year - the biggest maintenance cost.

The downsides are: top speed of 25 mph, no doors (can be a bit chilly in
the winter), only can drive on streets that are posted 35 mph or less,
and limited range of 35 miles.  You can get more expensive models that
have doors, and the Zap car (which is not an NEV but legally considered
to be a 3 wheel motorcycle) has a higher top speed.

Most days I walk to and from the office and leave the GEM at the office
in case I need to do errands during the day.  I usually take it home on
the weekends so that I can do errands and ferry children to their
numerous appointments.

To fill the other transportation needs that the GEM cannot perform, I
belong to the Austin Car share organization so I can rent a regular car
for $4 an hour plus mileage on those occasions.

My wife also has a Saturn wagon that we can use when we need to go out
of town or for other trips that needs a regular car.

Hope this helps.  Let me know if you want more information.  - Tom

Tom Morgan
512-370-2112

-----Original Message-----
From: ausev-bounces at austinev.org [mailto:ausev-bounces at austinev.org] On
Behalf Of charles winningham
Sent: Wednesday, February 14, 2007 7:14 AM
To: AustinEV News Announcements and General Discussion
Subject: Re: [ausev] Interested in an EV introduction workshop?

Hello Erik,

I am very interested in your wrokshop and I would attend if it fit
into my schedule.  Evenings are best for me, all except Mondays when I
take another class.

Questions:
1)  I want to know more using an electric car as a commuter vehicle.
All the pros and cons.
2)  I want to know more about the time involved.  Can someone who
wants an electric car to fill a practical need get one converted in a
relatively short amount of time?  Or does everyone need to put in a
year of work?

I will email you more later.

Thanks for your offer.

Charles

On 2/13/07, Sarah & Erik <electricbasset at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi AustinEVers,
>
> I'm working on an introduction to electric vehicle conversions and I'd
> like to extend the idea to the group to gauge interest. This would be
> a couple hours and would touch on the main components needed in an EV,
> an overview of the conversion process, things to keep in mind for
> safety, what you can expect from your EV and any other questions you
> might have.
>
> This will be free, and aimed at anyone considering an EV conversion.
> If you are interested, please reply to me - Erik Bigelow @
> electricbasset at gmail.com. Also please tell me what you're most
> interested in learning more about (long question lists are great!) and
> what times will generally work best for you. I'd like to hold this
> sometime within the next month. Thanks, and I hope to hear from you.
>
> Erik Bigelow
>
> http://www.austinev.org/evalbum/823
> _______________________________________________
> AusEV mailing list
> AusEV at austinev.org
> http://www.austinev.org/mailman/listinfo/ausev
>


-- 
Charles
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