Homebuilt "Evette" electric car gets 200 miles per charge

It may not be as badass-looking or quite as fast as the Wrightspeed X1, but Tom and Yvette Sines' "Evette" electric car does have the edge in at least one area: it's street-legal. And it ain't too shabby in terms of performance either, with a range of 200 miles and a top speed of 60 miles per hour. Like the Wrightspeed, however, a big chunk of the car is nothing but batteries, with twenty-four 12-volt batteries packed into that fiberglass body, which can supposedly be recharged at a cost of just $2 (although they'll have to be replaced every three to five years). While it's a one of a kind wonder for now, the husband and wife duo are currently seeking investors to help them mass produce the car, which they say could go for as little as $25,000 once production ramps up -- although we're guessing they'd probably have to change the name, or face some expenses of another sort.

[Via Autoblog Green]

[Rob @ Aug 11th 2006 8:22PM]

$2 for 200 miles? Yeah, they should go for mass production! Then the oil companies can buy the company and then destroy it all... Okay, I'm a pesimist when it comes to things that sound great...

BTW, first post???

[Rudy @ Aug 11th 2006 8:38PM]

GM had it right. "Who Killed The Electric Car"

[KC @ Aug 11th 2006 9:10PM]

That thing is awfull

It appears to be based on a Vector frame which has been hideiouslt disfigured

[Silver R. Wolfe @ Aug 11th 2006 9:23PM]

I for one embrace our battery powered car overlords.

[Arochone @ Aug 11th 2006 9:30PM]

Who cares about the Wrightspeed??? What about the Tesla Roadster???
These guys need to learn a bit about design from Tesla....seriously...this thing looks like crap.

[Catdogburger @ Aug 11th 2006 9:51PM]

Nice...can't wait till I can buy one. Electric Cars are the future, not flying cars, thats just idiotic!

Who would want a flying car?

[Alex @ Aug 11th 2006 10:06PM]

Hmmm until they can get that top speed up to like 90 (or at least 75), I'm going to pass. No one wants to be the guy in the lame new electric car that looks awesome but can only hit 60 when the batteries are new.

And Catdogburger, you're nuts! If the moeller flying car was completed, I'd sure as hell want one.

[Ben @ Aug 11th 2006 10:10PM]

The first car I buy will be an electric car, and if anyone has seen "Who Killed The Electric Car" then you know its only a matter of time until everyone is driving them.
My Bike and the BART have been all i've ever needed to get anywhere in the SF Bay Area, all i am waiting for is an Electric car that can go from SF to LA in 1 charge and cost under 30K.

Check Tesla's electric car website:
http://www.teslamotors.com/index.php?js_enabled=1

Vive Hugo Chavez!

[Mark @ Aug 11th 2006 10:41PM]

If there was an electric car for around 30,000 that could get up to 75mph, I would definently buy one.

[Perrey Z. @ Aug 11th 2006 10:59PM]

Wasn't this a design from Hot Wheels?

[Chris @ Aug 12th 2006 1:41AM]

This sounds very interesting...although I wonder how long it actually takes to charge up from a basically dead battery.

And for those of you talking about how it looks like crap...It's a home-built car...How spectacular do you expect it to look? If they got someone to invest in it...I'm sure they would have some pro designers make a few tweaks here and there to make it more marketable while keeping its same performance. And I would also expect that if they were to bring it to market, they would most likely figure out a way to bump up the top speed a bit to make it comepletely highway legal and everything, also bumping up its marketability.

[Beth Cox @ Aug 12th 2006 2:14AM]

Sounds great, but with all the SUVs and Minivans out on the market, that thing would be crushed around here (Chicago area). That's why I won't even purchase a motorcycle - too potentially life-changing (ending, vegetable, you get the picture...).

[Wedding Singer @ Aug 12th 2006 2:34AM]

I bet it could get 300 miles on a charge if they didn't put those knobby, monster-truck, muddin' tires on it.

[mogatu @ Aug 12th 2006 3:31AM]

I've got to second (or perhaps third) the posts about the Tesla roadster. According to Wired, it has a 250 mi range, top speed around 130 mph, and goes from 0 to 60 in 4 seconds. Plus, it looks like a real sportscar, not a paper-mache lamborghini knock-off.

Take a read:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.08/tesla.html

Or take a look:
http://www.wired.com/wired/images.html?issue=14.08&topic=tesla&img=3

[mr.frigglz @ Aug 12th 2006 6:53AM]

Beth, that is not too small a car...take your oil propaganda somewhere else.

[defmech @ Aug 12th 2006 10:30AM]

"It may not be as badass-looking or quite as fast as the Wrightspeed X1, but Tom and Yvette Sines' "Evette" electric car does have the edge in at least one area: it's street-legal."

Why wouldn't the Wrightspeed be street-legal? It's just an engine swapped Atom, which is pefectly legal to register and drive in the US.

[n2 @ Aug 12th 2006 11:23AM]

Gas prices are just ridiculous. I sincerely hope someone invents something that does not require gas, and it totally changes the industry.

[Jaymez @ Aug 12th 2006 12:26PM]

Electric will never catch on until:
1)You can get the same range as a gas or diesel engine.
2)You can recharge as fast as you can fill up.
3)You can run the car equally as long without costly repairs/maitanance every 3 years.

I've got a '71 Nova still running strong and never needed more than $500 worth of work at any given time. Gas, tires, oil, brakes, and the occassional muffler is all that car ever needs.

They'd never be able to produce this thing as is without consent from Lamborghini. That's a modified Countach body kit on that car.

[SuperQ @ Aug 12th 2006 1:06PM]

Ok.. WTF, this is a slashdot quality summary.

"Has an edge in one area, it's street-legal"

The Wrightspeed is street legal.. he uses it as his daily driver. The mass produced version will also be street legal.

"Like the Wrightspeed, however, a big chunk of the car is nothing but batteries"

Uhh, no, the wrightspeed's batteries are barely bigger than the gas tank it replaced.

"(although they'll have to be replaced every three to five years)"

The Wrightspeed uses Li-Ion type cells, the production version's pack will be good for over 10 years, 100,000 miles.

Now.. the price is where you get stuck.. the wrightspeed is 4x as much..

I'm watching to see how tesla and wrightspeed do.. this thing is crap.

[Richard @ Aug 12th 2006 3:34PM]

Well, quite frankly, I want a flying car, and to be honest, I know just where to get one, so ha! They are a little expensive though...

Just click on my name.

[Major Malfunction @ Aug 12th 2006 4:20PM]

It won't cost $2 for 200 miles when there are thousands or millions of electric cars on the road. Something has to power generators of electricity... nuke or otherwise, and we all know that no one wants a nuke plant in their back yard, but they sure what to complain when there are rolling blackouts.

[Tom @ Aug 12th 2006 5:05PM]

Hi everyone,

I`m the guy who made the Evette, and I`m here to answer some of your questions. First of all the body is an after thought. I only did it to get your attention. This car is all about more batteries, more power and much more maneuverability. I`ve been working on this car for decades and it's a patented design. There is not a four wheel car on the road that can even come close to the maneuverability it has. Not only can it turn on a dime, it can turn before the dime, and if I`m feeling frisky I can make it spin like a top. As for power, this car has two motors, I was being conservative when I said it would go 60mph, I`m sure it would easily go over a 100mph. As for batteries we have been converting gas cars to electric for years, and there is no way you can get as many batteries in a conversion as I can in this car.

[e @ Aug 12th 2006 6:18PM]

well tom, good luck is what I say.

[DonaldJ Engel @ Aug 12th 2006 9:32PM]

The only reason you aren't driving your own floating/flying cars today, is because every time I started a project, to fund the lab, to build liquid electricity plazma jets in, some crooked big businessman or politician would rip out the rug, and run with the booty...

I've had the data to build these engines since 1978...
The world's whole scientific community can't even begin to fathom how it works...

[polster @ Aug 13th 2006 1:34AM]

Why not put a bunch of solar cells on the roof to recharge while your driving in daylight. Also as fast as battery technology is advancing in the past couple years this might be posssiblibyt for mass market. Nano batteried being developed by mPhase Technologies and Lucent supposedy will hold a charge for a long time and recharging will be very quick as well.

[fwy @ Aug 13th 2006 1:55PM]

Who cares about electric cars when the electricity you use to charge it comes from coal burning power plants. Let's not pretend like pollution doesn't happen as long as it's out of sight.

[kaybee @ Aug 14th 2006 8:29AM]

fwy: You are pretty much right for the now. However, the point is, the electricity could come from renewable sources (and partially already does) and an electric car would have 0 carbon output. With gas buring cars, you'll never have that possibility.

[aws910 @ Aug 14th 2006 1:52PM]

Wow, an engadget comment section that hasn't turned into a flamewar? This looks AWESOME and I can't wait to get an electric - my car gets 10mpg.

Jaymez's and kaybee's comments are very insightful.... and I gotta say this is the first time I've ever seen a lamborghini(replica) with swampers.

[aws910 @ Aug 14th 2006 1:54PM]

oh, also wanted to point you to an even more creative electric conversion:

http://www.austinev.org/evalbum/104

Now can you imagine how nice it would be to drive home on that thing?

[DonaldJ @ Aug 30th 2006 6:50PM]

Quote: "Who cares about electric cars when the electricity you use to charge it comes from coal burning power plants. Let's not pretend like pollution doesn't happen as long as it's out of sight."
___________


The whole point about "flying cars" is that they don't pollute anything.. and you don't charge them with anything... They make their own electricity...

This 14 inch long by 4 inch diameter liquid electricity jet makes its own electricity... Simple! It burns light, by cracking light particles... Damaged particles selfheal with the nearest molecule, creating "antimatters" (electric acids), which are used to power industry... Fragmented light particles instantly decay into liquid electricity, which evaporates violently, thereby causing tremendous thrust... One such engine could power a car for free, forever, till the car fell apart.. or till the engine core shattered... This engine obsoletes fire, and would make using fire illegal in some places, except for licensed hobbiests...

With the petroleum, we would grow synthetic replacement organs, to boost life expectancy to near 300...

Years ago I dropped everything, in Ontario, to get myself to British Columbia, to study prospecting and geology... In two years I found BC's first three radioactive mineral deposits.. but the Dennets informed me that there was no way they were going to issue me with claim tags for radioactive mineralization in BC.. and they made it illegal for the public to own such properties... That project was for to finance a lab, in which to build these engines... You would be piloting your own flying cars today, if it hadn't been for greedy politicians... They informed me that should I pursue the claims tags issue, I'd see a bullet.. so I exodused from BC... We don't have democracies!.. what we got is money-sucking parasites holding us in this crazy evolved democracy slavery system... And the weird part is that we like it this way... That's MINDLESS at best... and we are all scared to say anything about it, for fear of reprisals from the assholes in government, dragging our lives through the mud, so they can enjoy the luxuries they rob from us on a continual basis, parallel to how blood sucking leaches drain blood from your skin...

[hollins @ Dec 22nd 2006 4:30AM]

you whining yanks deserve a kick up your ass, I live in zimbabwe where our fearless leader, mugabe the murderer has made petrol and diesel impossible to find. I, and thousands like me would die to get our hands on an electric car(thats if bob the basher hasn't killed us yet). COUNT YOURSELVES LUCKY that you have forward looking citizens are trying their best to develop alternative systems of transport.Encourage, dont discourage innovative ideas

[harry moore @ Jul 3rd 2007 11:39AM]

Hi buddy,
im glad to see the picture of electric car of ur's, consuming $2 electricity for 200 miles.Wow thats a great M/c of 21ST century, try 2 do something 2 improve the technology, ie-: the car shld be charge with the electricity only for the first time, and when it is on move,the baterries should be charged automatically with the help of alternator/generator etc.
this i came 2 knw as i want 2 buy a car for my family & so i was looking/finding for it on net. this is really a great thing u hve developed & u shld be thankfull 2 science & technology.
finally,the question of investment for ur product & in return making dollars seems 2 be sounds no good in States, but this could be helpfull 2 u in asian countries like China,India etc. As these countries are densely populated & also thereis always agood demand of new cars & machines.

[Jarod @ Aug 26th 2007 5:50PM]

Yak Yak Yak.
Great design especially for a home build. This guy talking about the lithium ion batteries needs to know that the big disadvantage to them is cost. Sure, they are smaller. Sure they last 10 years. But they'll cost many times more than sealed lead acid to replace them. Generally 7 to 10 times more. That is part of the reason behind that six figure price tag. Now if they get those batteries into cheaper volume production, then we'll see some progress. Of course the government is still helping oil companies and big auto companies squash this sort of thing.
That's why every EV, every design needs the people to support, support, support. It's our only hope to get something better for the future.