Wattnot
Enlightened
I test drove a Vextrix electric scooter yesterday. I was impressed by its' performance and was even okay with the almost $9k price tag (even though I hear gasoline equivalent scooters cost around $5k). It has a top speed of 62 mph, has very good acceleration and the range and charge time is quite acceptable too. It even looks nice . . . you have to almost do a double take to see it's not a real motorcycle (but I'm sure you'll still get beat up at biker bars if you show up on one of these!).
However, the huge deal-breaker for me was when the dealership said the battery replacement cost was around $5000. They said the battery should last around 15000 miles with full performance.
So I emailed the company and first asked them what the battery replacement costs because I was sure the dealer had it wrong. I was correct . . . the dealer had it wrong. The company said battery replacement is $6000 to $7500 !!! What's that . . . 90 percent the cost of the whole machine? I doubt the Prius battery costs that much to replace!
I thought NIMH's were simple and cheap? They begged me to call them so they could "explain" but I told them they lost me when I thought it was $5k. They said the battery should last 10 years or 50k miles . . . sure, if you don't mind a top speed of 20 mph after 15000 miles. Rechargeables, especially ones put under that kind of heavy strain, have a performance curve that mimicks alkalines in a flashlight.
I know a fair amount about rechargeables but a big NIMH, perhaps something the size of one or two lead acid car batteries . . . should that cost that much? And if that were true, how come this machine isn't $15000? It's my suspicion they're just planning on people not doing this type of homework and then socking it to them later when they need a battery in 3 years. It's too bad because this thing is going to be HUGE and we (we as in all of us) could really use something like this.
However, the huge deal-breaker for me was when the dealership said the battery replacement cost was around $5000. They said the battery should last around 15000 miles with full performance.
So I emailed the company and first asked them what the battery replacement costs because I was sure the dealer had it wrong. I was correct . . . the dealer had it wrong. The company said battery replacement is $6000 to $7500 !!! What's that . . . 90 percent the cost of the whole machine? I doubt the Prius battery costs that much to replace!
I thought NIMH's were simple and cheap? They begged me to call them so they could "explain" but I told them they lost me when I thought it was $5k. They said the battery should last 10 years or 50k miles . . . sure, if you don't mind a top speed of 20 mph after 15000 miles. Rechargeables, especially ones put under that kind of heavy strain, have a performance curve that mimicks alkalines in a flashlight.
I know a fair amount about rechargeables but a big NIMH, perhaps something the size of one or two lead acid car batteries . . . should that cost that much? And if that were true, how come this machine isn't $15000? It's my suspicion they're just planning on people not doing this type of homework and then socking it to them later when they need a battery in 3 years. It's too bad because this thing is going to be HUGE and we (we as in all of us) could really use something like this.
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