JRP3 wrote:Common? Try and order a Zilla 1K controller, it's a 6 month wait because the guy hand assembles them. Electric traction motors and controllers are not made on anywhere near the scale of automotive components, not even close.
Of course they are. If you want the brand new fancy crap you may have to wait, but with a little ingenuity it's easy to find suitable motors/controllers, and even used batteries
on the cheap. There is no point in comparing used conversions to new vehicles, if we're talking about comparing a new BEV city car to a new air powered city car, it's a total strawman.
MDI says it'll be less than $6,000 for a five seat city car. Show me a similar sized new BEV for a similar price, if you want to compare the two.
JRP3 wrote:Yes the used glider has depreciated, but all additional EV components are purchased at retail in small quantities. So for the sake of argument increase the cost of the glider and decrease the costs of all EV parts through direct volume purchasing and it balances out.
Could be, show me. Where's the cost of the components compared to the cost of the assembled electric drivetrain?
JRP3 wrote:Here's an example of markup. At work we get our batteries from a distributer, they get the battery from the manufacturer. We sell a battery for $75.00, we paid $40.00, the distributer probably paid $20.00. A mass manufacturer of EV's could bypass the middlemen and really cut costs on all components.
Could be. Show me there is that much markup in the deepcycle battery market and I'll be convinced.
JRP3 wrote:An 08 Aveo retails for $10,000. What do you think the glider version of that actually costs to make? Probably half that, and it's still a larger and nicer vehicle than the Aircar. GM could easily build an EV version for $10k but the limited range would be a hard sell for most of the public.
No way no how 50% of the Aveo's cost is in the drivetrain. Maybe a few grand at most, but considering Tata is set to sell the nano with a CVT and .624L engine for $2,500, stating that GM pays $5,000 for the Aveo's drivetrain doesn't pass muster. If you have proof, show me.