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The idea of owning an electric car is great until you realize that you'll need to plug it in every day. And who has a plug in their garage or their driveway? Are you going to need to snake an extension cord out your window in order to drive your car every day?
Not with the MIRA HAV, an electric car that's smart enough to allow you to remove the batteries and charge them up in your house. You know, where the outlets are. Of course, having to lug three big battery packs in your house every day when you get home from work is pretty annoying as well, so they clearly have some more kinks to work out in this whole electric car thing before it really goes mainstream.
AutoBlogGreen, via Engadget
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By HybridPlugs.com at 12:36 PM ON 04/25/08
I just use the plug in my garage to charge my 100mpg Plug-in car. Now I am working on making it also an Emergency Portable Power Generator to help my family and my community if needed.
By Maksimir at 2:07 PM ON 04/25/08
Adam - seriously? I know its Friday afternoon but... "And who has a plug in their garage or their driveway?" - Who doesn't have a plug in their garage? The Flintstones?
By Gregski at 2:31 PM ON 04/25/08
I have yet to see a garage without an electric outlet. Comments like that make your articles less credible.
By NOGAS at 2:37 PM ON 04/25/08
Ever had a morning when you were running a little late for work, jumped into your car only to realize that you were out of gas? Then you have to drive out of your way to a gas station, wait in line to get to the pump, spend an arm and a leg for gasoline, and wind up even later to work.
So, why is that considered so much more convenient than spending 10 seconds to plug in your car at night when you get home? And saving huge amount so of money doing so?
By charged up at 12:52 AM ON 04/28/08
Yes, let's stop all this electric nonsense and go back to gasoline. We can tell our grand kids why planet earth is a black lung... it was too much of a hassle to call up an electrician.
By Harold Waldock at 4:52 PM ON 04/28/08
Those who live in Canada, Alaska, and Northern tier states Nebraska, N. Dakota etc plug in their block heaters diesels in the winter or they will never start and in Northern Canada even gasoline engines must be plugged in in places like Edmonton and places north. Plugging in has been going on since the beginning of the auto age in those places else their vehicles could not start. Yes even the malls, bars and truckshops have to this day places to plug in since the time vehicles first came to these areas. Plugin hybrids and electric cars will not be inconvenienced by the plug in requirement and does not constitute a major lifestyle change by any measure.
By DMCunningham at 12:41 PM ON 04/30/08
Well, people that live in apartments don't always have the luxury (in the States) of having an outlet handy to plug their car into - of course lugging batteries around isn't fun either, but it does allow for apartment dwellers an EV option
By murray at 5:21 PM ON 04/30/08
Did you write this article from the Bizarro dimension, Adam? "Who has a plug in their garage or their driveway?" Well first, that would be almost everyone with a garage. And second, anyone who buys a plug in car and doesn't have somewhere to plug it in is probably smart enough to get an electrician to install an outdoor outlet.
As for the product/idea itself, this must also come from Bizarro world. Who the hell wants to lug these incredibly heavy batteries into their house every night? That's about a million times less convenient than running a power cord out the window.
I can see where this product could have applications, but those instances will be rare. However, I do think it's a good idea for batteries to be easily removed for any reason.
By EV Owner Already at 11:13 AM ON 05/01/08
This is close, but no cigar. In the early 1970s, a French car maker made removeable batteries too, but did it right.
In their car, the lead acid battery pack ran down the center of the car, slung underneath. You opened a small hatch in the back, hit a release, and the battery pack came out on rollers onto a dolly.
It would then easily be pushed to a garage plug, despite the heavy weight of the lead acid batteries.
The second battery pack that was charging as the car was driven was installed the same way the first pack was removed.
Lead-acid is still the most cost effective power source for an EV until market forces drive costs for alternatives down. And it was the only car design that addressed power-pack exchange in a functional manner using existing (and still existing) technologies.