How much energy does it cost to power vectrix, compared to fossil fuels

I do think that the Vectrix's range is among the best, if not the best, on the market currently. My own conservativeness in regards to riding i around, stems more from having just recently gotten it back from the battery recall, and having not properly conditioned the battery. I've been quite busy with work, and so haven't had much free time to get out and do this necessary task. Once I do it, I'm sure that I'll be exploring more. Also, I've not gotten in the habit of spying out where electrical outlets are "publicly" available. Maybe we can start a list or a map of where we find them.

How about 9:30 a.m., at the NW corner of NE 74th St and 168th Ave NE? (http://tinyurl.com/69ty7u)

That's right by the parking garage where I spotted a couple of outlets.

Wearing my fluorescent riding suit, you should easily be able to spot me. :-)

How about 9:30 a.m., at the NW corner of NE 74th St and 168th Ave NE? (http://tinyurl.com/69ty7u)

That's right by the parking garage where I spotted a couple of outlets.

Wearing my fluorescent riding suit, you should easily be able to spot me. :-)

Saturday, 9:30 a.m., at the NW corner of NE 74th St and 168th Ave NE.

I will see you there. Red Vectrix, black riding jacket.

So today I just bought the last of the five 2007 Vectrix bikes that the Green Car Company had in their inventory, a silver one. I also live in Issaquah, and will frequently use this to commute to Microsoft campus and our development offices in Kirkland. (I was full-time at MS for 10 years, but am now a contractor.) If you schedule another ride, I'd be interested in joining you and comparing notes.

By the way, I did my first deep discharge today and ran it dry. Unfortunately, I live on Tiger Mountain and got stranded at the bottom. When the range estimator reads zero, there's really not a lot of leeway there. I got the red battery light within a mile and stared losing power immediately thereafter. Fortunately, I have a friend who lives at the bottom of the hill and was interested enough in my new purchase to let me leech from an outlet. About 20 minutes later I had two bars and enough charge to make it back up the hill.

So today I just bought the last of the five 2007 Vectrix bikes that the Green Car Company had in their inventory, a silver one. I also live in Issaquah, and will frequently use this to commute to Microsoft campus and our development offices in Kirkland. (I was full-time at MS for 10 years, but am now a contractor.) If you schedule another ride, I'd be interested in joining you and comparing notes.

By the way, I did my first deep discharge today and ran it dry. Unfortunately, I live on Tiger Mountain and got stranded at the bottom. When the range estimator reads zero, there's really not a lot of leeway there. I got the red battery light within a mile and stared losing power immediately thereafter. Fortunately, I have a friend who lives at the bottom of the hill and was interested enough in my new purchase to let me leech from an outlet. About 20 minutes later I had two bars and enough charge to make it back up the hill.

Very cool. Welcome to the club. I live on Cougar Mountain. Let me know if you want to meet for a local ride in Issaquah and I will share info. Dave gave me a lot of good info on his experience with his Vectrix. He has been riding since last summer.

I have a steep climb also at the end. I have never had a problem as long as I have an est range of 3 or 4 miles at the end. That drops quickly with a steep incline. My final ride uphill is less than 1/2 mile.

morrison_jay at hotmail.com

James

So today I just bought the last of the five 2007 Vectrix bikes that the Green Car Company had in their inventory, a silver one. I also live in Issaquah, and will frequently use this to commute to Microsoft campus and our development offices in Kirkland. (I was full-time at MS for 10 years, but am now a contractor.) If you schedule another ride, I'd be interested in joining you and comparing notes.

I am available today (Sunday) or after 5 pm on weekdays. My number is 425-677-7690. Give me a call to setup a meeting time.

By the way, I did my first deep discharge today and ran it dry. Unfortunately, I live on Tiger Mountain and got stranded at the bottom. When the range estimator reads zero, there's really not a lot of leeway there.

If the initial charge was from Green Car Company or from the recall, then it was sitting for a few weeks without being plugged in. Your range will improve a lot with a fresh charge and 2 or 3 deep discharge cycles. I am regularly getting about 40 miles now just riding around locally. The sweet spot for range is between 30 mph and 45 mph. That is fast enough for local traffic and still get good range. If you are REALLY trying to extend range because of a destination you have to reach, then 25 mph (40 kmh) is the speed to do.

I have been charging my vectrix through a UPM power meter all week and have some results to report:

I have not been using my timer yet, so these results are based on charging as soon as I get home and leaving it plugged in all night.

Total miles: 61.2
Cost of electricity: $1.67
This is based on tier 2 electricity cost. I get charged on a tier 1 level until I go above a certain amount and then a higher rate kicks in. I occasionally go into the tier 2 range so I based the cost on this price.

Equivalent MPG based on current fuel cost of $4.50 per gallon: 165 MPG

I think this will be even better once I start using the timer and limit my idle time. I saw after the charge is finished and the bike is shutdown, I still draw about 35W of power

Interesting. But wouldn't a calculation of cost per mile be more meaningful?

61.2 miles / $1.67 = $0.027 per mile.

Compared to my Prius, which gets close to 45 mpg. $4.50 per gallon / 45 mpg = $0.10

Compare those two, and the Prius is costing me almost 4 times as much as my Vectrix for fuel.

-Ron

Actually I was going to make a joke, but I forgot the punchline.

I was going to say if I was going to make a comparison between my Vectrix and a equal gas powered bike, the gas powered bike would get 165 MPG but only be able to carry 1/4 gallon of gas.

One thing the cost per mile leaves out is maintenance. It is probably only few additional cents but it's there.

One thing the cost per mile leaves out is maintenance. It is probably only few additional cents but it's there.

Oh, there is of course also the elephant in the room: Battery replacement!

If they exaggerated as much as with their mileage hype claims, then you might get about 40000km out of a $6000.- battery.

$6000.- / 40000km = $0.15 / km

I pay about AU$ 0.0175/km for electricity.

$0.15 / $0.0175 = 8.57 times as much for battery replacement cost as for electricity!

Mr. Mik

One thing the cost per mile leaves out is maintenance. It is probably only few additional cents but it's there.

Oh, there is of course also the elephant in the room: Battery replacement!

If they exaggerated as much as with their mileage hype claims, then you might get about 40000km out of a $6000.- battery.

$6000.- / 40000km = $0.15 / km

I pay about AU$ 0.0175/km for electricity.

$0.15 / $0.0175 = 8.57 times as much for battery replacement cost as for electricity!

Mr. Mik

With a gas powered scooter, isn't there a large expense to replace an engine or other critical parts that wear out after 50,000 miles?

I have never had a gas powered scooter or motorcycle, so I don't know. I am only speculating that any vehicle, motorcycle or scooter is going to have parts that need replacing after 50,000 miles.

There's a website that lets you calculate the MPG equivalent if you know your miles per kilowatt hour: http://car.pege.org/2008-fuel/kwh-mpg.htm

My horribly underpowered test mo-ped gets 36 miles / kWh which is 702 miles per gallon equivalent. A more reasonably powered scoot most probably takes 20 or 25 miles per kWh.

Karen

There's a website that lets you calculate the MPG equivalent if you know your miles per kilowatt hour: http://car.pege.org/2008-fuel/kwh-mpg.htm

My horribly underpowered test mo-ped gets 36 miles / kWh which is 702 miles per gallon equivalent. A more reasonably powered scoot most probably takes 20 or 25 miles per kWh.

Karen

If I recall, my Vectrix uses about 4 kWh per charge when it is completely empty. So if it got 40 miles on that charge, it would only be 10 miles / kWh. If you baby it and get 60 miles per charge, that would be about 15 miles / kwh.

Here are the numbers that the website gave me.

15 Miles per kWh (60 miles per Vectrix charge)
292.5 MPG Miles per US gallon gasoline
322.5 MPG Miles per US gallon Diesel

10 Miles per kWh (40 miles per Vectrix charge)
195 MPG Miles per US gallon gasoline
215 MPG Miles per US gallon Diesel

200 miles per gallon ain't bad!

It'd be nice to have a Vectrix. My mo-ped currently has a maximum speed of 10 mph, downhill with a tailwind. :-) We'll see what happens to my "mileage" once I get the super duper HXT motor on it.

Karen

A comparison based on actual kill-a-watt measurements on my e-max is here:

http://visforvoltage.org/forum/motorcycles-and-large-scooters/1509

I need to update it for the higher fuel costs and my conversion to LiFePO4 cells. But even compared to a 50cc scooter, and 50% coal generated electricity, the energy usage and carbon footprint is pretty favorable.

Can I predict that the price of fossil fuels will go up?

http://europebusines.blogspot.com/2008/08/massive-us-naval-armada-heads-for-iran.html

Can I predict that the price of fossil fuels will go up?

http://europebusines.blogspot.com/2008/08/massive-us-naval-armada-heads-for-iran.html

Scary stuff. Using the Olympics as cover....

Mr. Mik