914 EV discussion, Who's doing or done an electric 914? Options

[Joe Bob]

http://www.electroauto.com/gallery/vp914.shtml
http://electric914.wordpress.com/
http://www.evcl.com/914/

Electro Automotive has a kit for 14K...yikes.....
Otmar seems to be REAL busy building components.....

I'm thinkng of doing one for my twins..... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)
I have two years to get it done.....

[pjf]

There is no substitution for real-world experience with this stuff and I for one want to thank you for your comments. You are right about real world conditions and 550 cycles may be unrealistic. Pulling 1000 amps is definitely not going to help the batteries any and certainly not to be done if you want any kind of range. Temperature has to be taken into account too. I don't plan on using my car in the cold weather because its range will be greatly reduced. Do lead acid batteries really degrade immediately? I thought after an initial break-in period (and with regular use) they would have a period of time where their capacity would be essentially the same and only tail off at the end of their life.

[banger]

Initially they start out a little low on capacity, then increase in the first 20 cycles as the batteries in the pack balance out. Then they seem to do well for 50-100 cycles. At that point you will start to notice the range dropping. The cold can drop the range pretty quick as well. I would put some battery heaters in, so that you can still drive it when it is cold.

Do lead acid batteries really degrade immediately? I thought after an initial break-in period (and with regular use) they would have a period of time where their capacity would be essentially the same and only tail off at the end of their life.