[Jonjt]

So, I stumbled across this website, detailing an interesting concept car created by a company called rimac Automobiles (in English, of course).

The e30 M3 testbed they used may be interesting to some of you (or blasphemus), as well.

Let me know what you guys think.

[playground]

To have a car have that much power on the wheels with an electric engine must use up a lot of electricity. Wonder what your power bills would look like after a month of every night recharging.

I don't know, I am not quiet a fan of electric cars yet.

[scalbert]

Originally Posted by playground

To have a car have that much power on the wheels with an electric engine must use up a lot of electricity. Wonder what your power bills would look like after a month of every night recharging.

I don't know, I am not quiet a fan of electric cars yet.

It states: Capacity: 91 kWh

For my area, we pay $0.085 per kWh. So a quick calculation comes up with $7.74 to fully charge or less than 2 gallons of premium fuel.

A petrol burning vehicle with similar power and torque would get less than 15MPG. But lets say 15MPG, which is generous. That same approximate cost would get you thirty miles range. To get the 500km, or 300 miles, would require twenty gallons of fuel. At $4 per gallon, that is $80 versus less than $8 to go the full range.

So yes, your electric bill would go up. But your fuel costs would be nothing.

This issue is with charging versus filling up time. You can fill up a twenty gallon tank in five minutes. To charge 91 kWh, even using a good sized DC charger, would take hours. On 240VAC at 30 AMPs may still take 10+ hours. Not to mention charging station availability.

That said, most don't drive a unique vehicle all day or even on road trips so this works.

[Speed6]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that's not a M3, just a regular E30.

[Jonjt]

Originally Posted by playground

To have a car have that much power on the wheels with an electric engine must use up a lot of electricity. Wonder what your power bills would look like after a month of every night recharging.

I don't know, I am not quiet a fan of electric cars yet.

It would certainly be high but, electricity is much cheaper than gasoline, per unit energy delivered.

[Jonjt]

Originally Posted by scalbert

It states: Capacity: 91 kWh

For my area, we pay $0.085 per kWh. So a quick calculation comes up with $7.74 to fully charge or less than 2 gallons of premium fuel.

A petrol burning vehicle with similar power and torque would get less than 15MPG. But lets say 15MPG, which is generous. That same approximate cost would get you thirty miles range. To get the 500km, or 300 miles, would require twenty gallons of fuel. At $4 per gallon, that is $80 versus less than $8 to go the full range.

So yes, your electric bill would go up. But your fuel costs would be nothing.

This issue is with charging versus filling up time. You can fill up a twenty gallon tank in five minutes. To charge 91 kWh, even using a good sized DC charger, would take hours. On 240VAC at 30 AMPs may still take 10+ hours. Not to mention charging station availability.

That said, most don't drive a unique vehicle all day or even on road trips so this works.

That battery can likely handle hundreds of amps of charge current. Fast charging batteries are an active area of research right now. That hours figure you quoted is dropping to less than one hour, currently.

[Jonjt]

Originally Posted by Speed6

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that's not a M3, just a regular E30.

Yeah, i think you are right. I took them at their word when I should not have.

[scalbert]

Originally Posted by Jonjt

That battery can likely handle hundreds of amps of charge current. Fast charging batteries are an active area of research right now. That hours figure you quoted is dropping to less than one hour, currently.

I had some communication with Rimac on this and other matters. My father-in-law was interested in converting his '40 Ford coupe to electric using their kit. Their charging is similar to what is available right now for other makes. So my calculations were based on what I know about charging my Chevy Volt.

But I agree, the technology is advancing quickly and charge times are decreasing.

[Jonjt]

Originally Posted by scalbert

I had some communication with Rimac on this and other matters. My father-in-law was interested in converting his '40 Ford coupe to electric using their kit. Their charging is similar to what is available right now for other makes. So my calculations were based on what I know about charging my Chevy Volt.

But I agree, the technology is advancing quickly and charge times are decreasing.

Ah, interesting. I guess I jumped the run, a bit.