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.
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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September 3rd, 2008 at 8:35 am
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
September 3rd, 2008 at 9:37 am
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.
September 3rd, 2008 at 11:12 am
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…
September 3rd, 2008 at 2:37 pm
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
September 3rd, 2008 at 3:40 pm
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
September 3rd, 2008 at 4:18 pm
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.
September 3rd, 2008 at 4:29 pm
So…how much?
September 3rd, 2008 at 5:03 pm
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.
September 3rd, 2008 at 6:08 pm
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.
September 3rd, 2008 at 6:13 pm
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
September 3rd, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Lithium Titanate batteries would be the best solution for this, along with electric cars. Charges in minutes, lasts ages, with huge amount of cycle life.
September 3rd, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Zschamm has a 36v 12 ah battery which equates to 432 watts of energy which he says takes a half a Kw to charge which is probably close. Zschamm how did you measure it?
I have a 48v 20 ah battery (960 watts) which takes 1.6 KW to charge (yes I measured it with a meter). Loss of energy due to charger and heat generated. At 15 cents a KW that is 24 cents to charge and I get just over 30 miles. That makes it $0.008 per mile or less than one cent per mile.
I guess some should read and weep.
September 4th, 2008 at 1:05 am
@ Ray The Money Man ”
“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.”
Agreed…….
The electric bike is better suited for Asia and some parts of Europe.
September 4th, 2008 at 5:23 am
It’s always the same.
Price, Range, Availability.
Pick any two.
September 4th, 2008 at 6:09 am
Wm asked about the cost…
I actually ride an RMartin electric scooter. Its 60volts, SLA, and will do about 50mph. As for the costs to charge it, I use a meter that tells me how many kwh used. I ride my scooter to work and back which is 30 miles a day. I charge when I get to work and I charge when I get home. The total cost to charge at my local utility rate of 10.5 cents/kwh is 25 cents a day. Multiply that by five and the cost of commuting 150 miles per week is $1.25!! You can’t even buy a coffee for that! It’s actually cheaper than riding a bicycle to work because you have to eat more food when you ride the bike. Add on $2.00 a day for apples and bananas to ride the bicycle and you can see that an electric scooter is THE cheapest form of transportation aside from walking!
September 4th, 2008 at 6:44 am
very good news
September 4th, 2008 at 8:52 am
This sounds like a great step forward but what about the production and transportation of the energy used to charge the battery? I still think that stored energy in batteries is more realistic than the better compressed air economy tho…
How about sticking some of these batteries in the Tilting three-wheeler that they’re trying to build at: http://www.flytheroad.com
…I love the look of these things!
September 4th, 2008 at 10:31 am
The NiZn batteries that PowerGenix is producing will recharge from 600 to 800 times – the gap is due to how people maintain their battery. In some of the earlier posts, I think people were looking at the history of NiZn batteries and not what PG has done. I believe it will be great to switch from lead-acid. This will be good for the environment and offer people an alternative form of transportation. I hope to see more people enjoying the ride of electric bikes. They are fun!
September 4th, 2008 at 10:43 am
1) NiZn batteries are only good for 200 cycles. INCORRECT. The PowerGenix batteries are rated at 600 cycles, more with proper maintenance.
2) Lead acid batteries are 90% efficient. INCORRECT. SLA batteries are only 50% efficient.
3. Recharging batteries will cost $100 a month. INCORRECT. 400 miles of use in a given month will cost about $10, depending on rates charged by the provider. NiZn batteries are much more efficient. They will reduce the charge time by approx. 75%, also considerably reduce the cost of the electricity required to recharge.
4. Lithium Manganese and Lithium Cobalt are not suitable for deep discharge applications due to the inherent danger of thermal runaway. The much discussed Lithium Phosphate, which reduces the danger of thermal runaway, is not yet commercially available at an affordable price. The only firmly scheduled construction of a manufacturing facility to produce LiFePO4 batteries is a joint venture between Johnson Controls and a French partner scheduled to 2009. It will be built in France with an estimated first year output of batteries suitable to electric cars of only 5,000 units.
September 4th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
its not a scooter if you use pedals its a moped then
September 4th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Jock, this was measured using a kill-a-watt meter plugged into the outlet so thats accounting for loss in AC-DC conversion (AC to DC adapters are notorious for being lossy) as well as loss just from the battery itself so not too bad at all all things considered.
September 11th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
I could use one of these
September 12th, 2008 at 12:02 am
I’ve got an Oxygen Lepton-e electric scooter, and I love it. Insurance is $450 a year for ridiculously complete coverage and it costs me about $10 a month to charge. I drive it everywhere I go. Love it.
September 22nd, 2008 at 10:44 am
The bikes are very cheap to charge and quick to charge. I take it to work and back (20 km trip) and is only use a little over 1/4 of my battery life. These bikes do not require a license in Canada. Because it has the actual pedals it is considered a power-assisted bike. Not a scooter. In Canada the law is anything over 35CC must have a license. Please check with you city what the laws are because they do vary.