[ausev] A Quandary

[Susan Whitaker]

Hello everyone!

I am new to the concept of EVs and have been watching
the dialog on this discussion group for a few months
now. I live in Plano (north of Dallas) and I am very
interested in owning a fully electric vehicle at some
point. However, I am not technically savvy when it
comes to cars, so I do not think doing a full
conversion myself is an option for me.

Given this, what would you suggest as the best option
for obtaining an electric vehicle:

1) Purchase a "commercially-made" EV - The Zap Xebra
PK is an option within my price range, but does not
quite have the speed or range I would like (only 40
mph top speed & 25 mile range). My currently daily
commute is about 25 miles round trip and requires some
highway driving. If I avoid the highway on my commute,
the time required to get to work would double to 45-50
mins each way instead of the 20-25 minutes required
currently.

2) Have a car converted into a "custom-made" EV - I
realize that the choices for this option are fairly
infinite (only limited by the cars and parts available
and money of course!). I am concerned that to pay
someone to do the conversion and have the components
for the necessary speed/range (top speed of 65-70 mph
and 35-40 mile range) may be prohibitively expensive.
Also, maintenance is another concern I have with an
EV, particularly a custom-made one... if I have a
problem who could I take it to in Dallas to have it
fixed?

3) Wait until there are other options - It seems there
may be some great breakthroughs with battery
technology and thus more accessible EV options that
are right around the corner. Should I just wait until
GM, Honda, Toyota, or whoever comes up with an
affordable option that offers both the highway speed
and range combination I am looking for? Or, do you
think this will be too far away to wait for and thus I
should not hold my breath.

What are your thoughts on this? Any experience or
insight that you would like to share would be very
much appreciated.

Thanks and Regards,
Susan



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