Green wheels: New electric car for West Seattle 80-year-old

| Environment | Transportation | West Seattle news

These photos and mini-report were sent by a WSB’er who wants to be anonymous (but isn’t a salesperson, we verified – just wanted to share the news about this acquisition):

West Seattle resident Floy C. recently leaped into the future with the purchase of a Miles Electric Vehicle, becoming at age 80 an early adopter of the new wave of road-legal electric cars. Her new Miles, courtesy of MC Electric Vehicles (on Dearborn, down by Goodwill) has a range of 40 miles, a top speed of 35 mph, and plenty of cargo space – as demonstrated by her adventures transporting groceries, lumber for a new stairwell, and various household supplies.

The car is pure electric, not a hybrid, so burns no fuel – instead of fueling off a gas pump, it fuels off a standard power outlet – with a “full tank” costing about two dollars – a REALLY green car perfect for local errands and commuting, or for anyone who doesn’t need freeway speeds.

List price is about $19K, according to this page on the Miles website. Here’s what Floy’s new car looks like inside:

clark5080 March 27, 2009 (10:43 pm)

Very cool I was seriously looking into doing an electric conversion of a gas car before the cost of gas plummeted.

charlabob March 27, 2009 (10:57 pm)

This is, indeed, so cool! Who said boomers and up aren’t hip and aware?

Clark, the cost of gas (at least in N. Admiral) is definitely UNplummeting. Admiral Safeway price went up 6 cents in < 24 hours. I can only (suspect) hope it was a misprint.

WSB, need help documenting the gas price fluctuations again? Spring is here, and along with the bird, it may be price gouging time again. The c/b’s volunteer for comp pricing.

c & b

Bonnie March 27, 2009 (11:11 pm)

Cool! charlabob, I noticed the Safeway price increase too.

WSB March 27, 2009 (11:19 pm)

Yeah, we need to get back to that on Sunday night. I think things have stabilized enough from factors of the last several weeks to enable that … it’s usually a good bonding experience for me and Junior Member to go out for that Sunday night drive … TR

hmmm March 28, 2009 (8:31 am)

The idea of electric cars is good for some. However, charging time is extensive (hours, not minutes). I’d also dispute this as “green” since the batteries used are considered toxic waste when disposed of and electricity (at least around here) is mainly produced by hydroelectric dams which have devastated the local ecosystem and displaced natives from their homes. Everything has it’s trade off.

Krystal March 28, 2009 (8:50 am)

Just curious, are regular gas-powered car batteries toxic waste too? Have they developed a recycling system for car batteries? I am asking because of the post by “hmmmm” but also because I have to get a new battery in my (gas-powered) car next week.
hmmmm, I also think drilling for oil is worse than than using hydroelectricity, but that’s just me. Definitely not advocating new dams, though. I grew up on the Columbia, and our river, fish runs, and farmers cannot handle ANOTHER dam!

Jim March 28, 2009 (9:06 am)

This weeks Top Gear (this week on BBC America, last Christmas on BBC) They test drove a Honda Clarity. That is a very cool car. It should replace the stop gap green cars we have now and be a truly green car. It has a hydrogen cell for its on board generator. And its byproduct out the tailpipe is water.

http://www.topgear.com/us/videos/more/james-tests-honda-clarity

WSB March 28, 2009 (9:20 am)

I just did some searching on the battery question. Electric car batteries are less toxic than the lead-acid batteries in regular cars, is what I’m coming up with so far. And this story gets into the specifics of what’s done to recycle the metals in an electric-car battery:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/03/tesla-electric-car-batteries-non-toxic-recycled.php
.
While that story discusses Tesla batteries, the Miles vehicles’ batteries are the same type – lithium ion.

Eddie March 28, 2009 (9:48 am)

Looks like all four wheels are still attached to that vehicle. Maybe it’s because of that leash that it’s tethered to?

chas redmond March 28, 2009 (10:18 am)

by the way, the lead-acid batteries in cars, though toxic (lead and hydrogen gas) are 100 percent recyclable making them the most green of all batteries.

Sam March 28, 2009 (2:23 pm)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_vehicle_battery

Battery life of electric vehicles is said to typically be 100k miles. Replacing these batteries is not like running to Costco and getting a $100 Optima Redtop. It’s thousands of dollars. Same goes for the hybrids like the Prius (once read an article that mentioned it was $6k to replace the battery pack in a Prius, however that was also when they first came out).

lazy March 28, 2009 (3:06 pm)

Am i doing the math right? At a range of 40 miles and $2 to “fill up” that really translates to about $20.00 to “fill up” if you compare it to say a typical 4 cylinder gas powered that gets 350-400 mile range right?

Richard March 28, 2009 (6:22 pm)

Car batteries are recycled, not disposed of. Miles uses deep cycle lead acid batteries. They are essentially the same but have thicker walls to withstand the abuse of repeated draining of the batteries. Lithium batteries are not toxic but can be recycled as well.

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