Affordable, Powerful Electric Scooters Coming Soon
VentureBeat reports that PowerGenix has developed a nickel zinc (NiZn) battery that has 35 percent higher power and energy density than a nickel metal hydride (NiMH) battery (used in hybrid vehicles), but is half the cost of a lithium-ion battery.
This is great news for scooter fanatics, who right now are forced to choose between cheap scooters with lead-acid batteries and expensive scooters with powerful lithium-ion batteries.
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A bike or scooter using the PowerGenix’ NiZn battery has enough energy to run errands or commute to work— but comes with a cheaper price tag than the lithium-ion powered Zero.
PowerGenix recently inked a deal with Veloteq to produce scooters using their NiZn battery. Look for the scooters to be marketed initially in Europe and the US next year.
Photo credit: VentureBeat
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We need something in between this Scooter and an electric car. Here in the west the Scooter is not an option but we have to fav it to move in the right direction, we just can’t use them.
http://thealternativeenergyinvestor.blogspot.com
They aren’t really cheaper than li-ion if you have to replace them every year. They only have a cycle life of about 200. Even lead can do 500 cycles.
Affordable, Powerful Electric Scooters Coming Soon | nerdd.net…
\r\nPowerGenix has developed a nickel zinc (NiZn) battery that has 35 percent higher power and energ…
Hmm, I think I would entertain the thought of an electric scooter before I would consider an electric car.
Samp
http://www.privacy.mx.tc
I could actually see myself using one those. The battery, that is. On my iphone. To give it more than 2 hours of life…
jk. the bike looks cool
There never is any information on how much electricity it will take to charge on of these things. No one needs to be shocked to find out that it is going to cost you over $100 a month to charge it. This is a hidden problem that only ‘feelie goodie’ inviro-fools will have to reckon with after the fact.
So…how much?
How much to recharge?
Well, the link to the ZeroX says about $0.01 per mile. With a range of 40 miles, that would be 40 cents. The lithium battery capacity is 2 kW-h, with charging inefficiencies and electricity around where I live at about 12 cents per kW-h, that sounds about right.
Quick comparison, a Prius at 50 mpg with gas at $4 a gallon will cost 8 cents per mile for fuel.
Lead acid batteries are very efficient in terms of how much energy you get out versus what you put in. I think the figure is over 90% efficient. My electric bike uses them and it takes about .5 kwh to recharge a 36V, 12ah battery which translates to about 14 miles of travel depending on how fast I push it, which costs me 9 cents at $.18 a kwh.
How about using pedals to charge it up….. oh wait…
A big part of the problem is also esp in the uk, to license to ride, tax, yearly mot safety test for all motorised machines that can exceed 15mph.. might as well have a proper moped as the extra price of these batteries is never recouped by the savings on fuel