I have seen members ask about how to get started in electric vehicles, so I thought I would pass along the approach I have taken.
I currently don't have space to convert a car, and production electric cars with reasonable performance and price still seem to be something for the future. But I found a vehicle that I feel can supplement my transportation needs.
I live about 5 miles from work, and often ride my bicycle on good days, but when temperatures get below about 60 degrees or there is a threat of ran, I usually get behind the wheel of my car. I had almost purchased an EVT 4000e scooter, but because I have a short section of road on Butterfield I need to travel, and didn't feel I would be comfortable with its 30 mph top speed.
EVT was advertising a new model, the Z-20, with a bigger motor that they claimed would do 45 mph, and I decided to get myself on the waiting list. Well, almost 2 1/2 years later, it finally arrived at my doorstep.
While the weather has kept me from really putting this bike to the test, I have had it up to about 40 mph and it still had some room left to go faster. It is a very smooth and stable ride and is a real "gas" (pardon the expression) to ride! It has a 60 volt system with a 2500 watt brushless hub motor. For what I got, I felt the $2400 price tag (cycle and shipping) was well worth it.
I had no trouble registering the bike in Illinois, as it came with all the paperwork you would expect with a new vehicle (Certificate of Origin, Odometer statement, and invoice). Of course, the "how many CC's" question was still tough to get past, but I was issued a temporary plate and told I would be issued electric "EL" plates for the motorcycle. Since all electric paperwork needs to go to Springfield, we will see if they deliver. I was originally concerned about how it would be classified, but having a top speed under 45 mph, put me in the moped category, which is what I wanted (no motorcycle license needed).
I plan to keep the motorcycle charged using an off-grid solar power system I have put together. I figured I would need about 100 amp-hours of power per day, to keep the bike running totally by the sun. So, I have a system with some reserve, that should be able to deliver around 200 amp-hours on a good day. So far, I have peaked at about 70 amp-hours, but the sun is still below the tree line, so this time of year, I rarely have full sun hitting the panels.
If anyone is interested in the progress of my project, I'll try to keep you up to date.
Scott Taylor
