Re: Who Has 100 mile+ cars?

[William Korthof <wkorthof@earthlink.net>]

>EV1 gen2 NMHi drivers
>See the EV1 list.
>Good Luck on getting one.

Not only NiMH EV1 drivers, but also others... 

My parents leased a Honda EV+ for three years (1997-2000) 
which we shared and drove extensively (~70,000 miles), 
with great satisfaction until Honda pulled our car back. 
On my long distance road trips with the EV+, I recorded 
average range-per-[full] values as high as 120 miles, 
but less on a winter trip to Oregon/Lake Tahoe (95 mi). 
The car really excelled in city driving, where I could 
routinely get over 100 miles/charge. For fun (and with 
patience), I drove two round-trip loops of 138 and 143 
miles total. But my record distance was a trip that 
started in Big Bear valley (ski resort area) and ended 
at my parents' house in Seal Beach after driving 165 
miles...

I've rented a Toyota RAV4 EV on several different 
occassions. My favorite trip was when I drove the RAV4 
to Las Vegas (the 280 mile LA/Vegas trip is a big 
bug-a-boo for EV detractors here in California...so 
naturally it's my favorite EV destination). In the RAV4, 
I averaged 130 miles per full charge on the way to 
Vegas, and close to 100 on the return trip (with four 
people, luggage, strong head winds and a bit of 70-75 
mph craziness). While the RAV4 has a very good EPA 
range rating (126 miles combined), you can be sure 
that it doesn't go that far driven flat out at 80 mph! 

I love the NiMH EV1...if only I had the time and money 
to afford the mileage penalties I think might sneek 
off with my mom's (leaving her my Ranger EV) and become 
a full-time EV junkie, taking cross-country road trips 
every couple weeks... Needless to say, having 120-160 
miles of highway range makes for a much better EV 
experience. 

To be fair, the PbA EV1s also offer good range too. 
All the PbA packs were upgraded to higher-capacity 
Panasonic versions which are a tremendous 
improvement over the original Delphi PbA's the EV1 
carried. Some users have reported being able to 
cover 110-120 miles on the highway. It's a real 
shame GM has been so hostile to its EV program...

 

William Korthof