Dear tnut-ga;
Since you are agreeable to what I have found as an answer I will post
more related information and close your question.
In answer to your question about the fuel supply of the Ranger EV, it
is indeed a fully electric vehicle. It uses nickel metal hydride
batteries that give it a range about twice that of lead acid type
batteries. Ranger EV drivers get 65 miles out of a single charge if
the speed is kept at 65 mph. In an effort to conserve energy an
electrical sensor on the onboard computer governs the top speed and
limits it to a maximum of 75 mph.
In 1999 Ford considered the Ranger EV project a ?demonstration? which
might account for why the vehicles were not manufactured on as large a
scale as mainstream vehicles:
"Our objective with this demonstration fleet is to assess both
customer satisfaction and vehicle performance with fast charging,"
said John Wallace, director of Ford's Environmental Vehicles. "We also
hope to drive the installation of EV infrastructure by introducing
more customers and communities to fast charging."
FORD TRUCK NEWS
http://www.ford-trucks.com/news/news17.html
As your additional question about the number of vehicles out there,
here is what little I could find on the subject:
According to this source, as of March 14, 2004 there are 1812 Ranger
EV?s on the road (including 500 U.S.Postal Service special models)
ON-ROAD ELECTRIC VEHICLE INVENTORY
http://www.econogics.com/ev/evwhere.htm
The term ?EV? has apparently become widespread as a description of all
electric vehicles and this may well be part of the confusion. It does
seem that GM?s ?EV1? was in fact recalled some time ago and this may
be what you are wondering about:
?The EV1 is no longer available for lease and GM as informed everyone
on their waiting list that they will not be getting a vehicle.?
2-WHEEL ARCHIVE
http://www.evfinder.com/2wheel_archive.htm
Why is that you might ask? These sources may explain it:
?General Motors EV1 clean cars. In a panic, the Automobile
Manufacturer's Alliance, including General Motors, apparently decided
that the idea of driving Electric Vehicles and charging them with
Solar Rooftop Systems was too dangerous to allow.
If people really did not want the EV1, the AMA would have let them
gently die out -- like the Edsel.
Instead, GM went out of its way to secrete these cars, spiriting them
away to a desert facility in Mesa, AZ, trucking them in at great
expense.
GM is paying for stripping the batteries and electronics out of the
EV1. If market forces were important, they would let EV drivers
pick-a-part, for a fee, these irreplaceable batteries, motors and
drive trains.
Only fear would cause GM to spend this much money to kill the EV1.?
EV1 DRIVERS
http://www.ev1.org/
?With General Motors' recent decision to recall all of its first
generation electric vehicles (EV1), the end game of Detroit's thirty
year flirtation with battery electric vehicles has begun.?
?General Motors has in effect retreated into its traditional mode of
product management: the problem was deemed too expensive to fix, so
the company simply decided to recall the leased vehicles?
?GM issued the recall for the first generation EV1s and its commercial
counterpart, the electric S-10 pickup, claiming that parts of the
charging system could overheat and catch fire. Although the S-10s can
be retrofitted and returned to their owners, the EV1s, according to GM
spokesmen, cannot be fixed.?
EV1 Recall: GM Fails to Learn from Its Own Success and Pulls the Plug
on Drivers of the Future
http://www.evworld.com/archives/oped/kirsch.html
While the EV1 project appears to be a multimillion dollar failure, the
actual number of vehicles involved was relatively low:
?GM announced a recall of 450 first-generation 1996 GM EV1 electric
cars and 450 1997 - 1998 Chevrolet Electric S-10 pickup trucks on
March 2, 2000. At the time of the recall, GM announced that the S-10
pick-up trucks could be repaired, but that there was no known repair
for the EV1 vehicles.?
EV1 Fix Found, But Repairs To Take Months
http://www.evworld.com/archives/newsarchives/ev1recall_fix.html
Ford?s EV?s appear to have been discontinued now but it appears to
have been GM that actually recalled their EV1 and perhaps even
destroyed some of them.
Below you will find that I have carefully defined my search strategy
for you in the event that you need to search for more information. By
following the same type of searches that I did you may be able to
enhance the research I have provided even further. I hope you find
that my research exceeds your expectations. If you have any questions
about my research please post a clarification request prior to rating
the answer. Otherwise, I welcome your rating and your final comments
and I look forward to working with you again in the near future. Thank
you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad ? Google Answers Researcher
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION SOURCES
RANGER EV DRIVER?S PAGE
http://www.geocities.com/ranger_ev/
FORD MOTOR COMPANY
http://www.ford.com/en/default.htm
search: Ranger EV
http://www.ford.com/en/support/Search_Results?referrer=home&search=ranger+ev&searchend=end&x=17&y=11
WHY IS GM CRUSHING THEIR EV1?S?
http://www.electrifyingtimes.com/ev1crush.html
SEARCH STRATEGY
SEARCH ENGINES USED:
Google ://www.google.com
SEARCH TERMS USED:
RANGER EV
GM EV1
RECALL |
