Raptor: An Electric Car Nearly Anyone Would Want to Drive

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Photo credit: NBC Bay Area

I love my Prius, it's true. But sometimes, I look at the Dodge Charger (I'm watching Burn Notice this summer) and think, "What a cool car." And when we think of cool cars, it's hard to keep the image of a muscle car or a sports car from popping up. But when you think of environmentally friendly, those types of cars don't even come to mind. Perhaps the latest creation from a software engineer will changes the stereotypes.

In order to build the Raptor, Raul Atkinson ordered a Dayton car kit and then built the necessary equipment into it. Gas 2.0 reports on the effort put into creating the Electric Raptor:

"The project took 2 years and an estimated 2000 hours to complete, but the results are pretty impressive. Using a 3-phase AC induction motor and 290 nickel-hydride batteries, Atkinson's "Raptor" reaches 0-60 mph in 8 seconds, with a top speed of 100 mph. Maximum range is about 80 miles, with a full recharge taking just 3 hours. That is much less time spent recharging than most other production electric cars can boast."

Of course, this is a kit car, and it doesn't have the same rigorous crash test standards and other cars have. But, even at $85,000, the Electric Raptor still costs less than current incarnations of similar cars that are all-electric. But what if it were mass-produced? If car companies could figure out how to build the kinds of all-electric cars that people would want to drive, for a price that they could afford, we'd be much further down the road to independence from fossil fuels.

Assuming we could switch our grid to rely more on renewables, of course. No matter how cool the car is, if you have to charge it using coal or oil generated electricity, it's still not as earth-friendly as it could be.

© 2009 PhysOrg.com

   

• PPihkala - Jul 09, 2009
  • Rank: 5 / 5 (6)
  An electric car using any commercially made electricity, even coal based, is more green than ICU equipped vehicles. That is because ICU's have such a low efficiency. Want a proof? Look at www.teslamotors.com for facts.
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• nkalanaga - Jul 09, 2009
  • Rank: 5 / 5 (5)
  And, it's easier to put pollution control equipment on a power plant than on a car! There's also the costs, monetary and environmental, of the refineries to produce gasoline and diesel. At least coal doesn't have to be refined before it's burned, so there's a little more efficiency.
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• ormondotvos - Jul 09, 2009
  • Rank: 2.4 / 5 (8)
  Same old pandering to consumerist adrenaline style-lovin' crap. Grow up. You're on the internet. Act like it. Advocate for slow lanes on the freeway; force the SUVs to give way to the new more efficient and less energy-hogging future. Yes, my vehicle gets 80 mpg, and will soon get 300. Electrified Honda Helix scooter. Grow up! Get used to the idea of sharing and using wisely. Break the speed and style addiction. There are other, better ways to get high than slinging your body around with vast waste of energy. And skip the nanny comments.
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• nkalanaga - Jul 09, 2009
  • Rank: 5 / 5 (8)
  In other words, pander to YOUR interests and world view? Personally, I like small cars, and wish I had ny '94 Geo Metro back. It got 50 to 60 mpg, seated four, and was comfortable for two people and luggage on a cross country trip. But if people want to pay for performance, why not design the most efficient cars possible that will still give them what they want? Telling people they HAVE to be super-efficient is as bad as telling them they CAN'T be. Both are "nanny comments".
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• VOR - Jul 10, 2009
  • Rank: 1.3 / 5 (3)
  Most people cant assign objective truth to things that usually deserve it. So we are left disfunctionally calling it 'a matter of opinion'. But the truth is that having way too much power and tire width (and lately, wheel diameter)is just plain juvenile. It's wasteful. You can argue about how people should have the choice to waste, but why? It's just a mild form of anti-social behavior. Much of the 'appeal' is in that aspect. However you try to justify or argue it, it's literally a fetish and argument based on doing the wrong thing. Whatever the insecurity, immaturity, ignorance other psychological basis for choosing such rides is, none of them are actually 'cool' and do nothing but mildly harm society in the form of waste and emmisions. Yet some people will always argue seemingly on principle alone that we must always retain such choices, that we would somehow be harmed by thier absence. Its seems to be in vague alignment with general conservative mental patterns.
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• defunctdiety - Jul 10, 2009
  • Rank: 2.5 / 5 (2)

  At least coal doesn't have to be refined before it's burned, so there's a little more efficiency.

  
  
  Actually, various "clean coals" (chemically treated to remove sulur, etc.) have been in use since the 80s, and it could in the very near future become industry standard regulation to process all coal to remove heavy metals (mercury) prior to combustion.
  
  

  some people will always argue seemingly on principle alone

  
  
  I am very much on your side of the argument, VOR, in that I would like nothing more to see such willful waste gone, however this particular principle (individual freedom) is more important to me, and should be to you. Next comes telling people you can't eat fast food or smoke or own a gun, people have the fundamental right to do these things, they just need to be paid for and taxed accordingly. And I do not equate taxation with larger government, as I think we should just have a consumption tax and leave it at that.
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• jerryd - Jul 19, 2009
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  This EV is a very light, eff car so what if it's great looking and fast. I'd bet it gets better than 150mpg equivalent.
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