Table of Contents

Less Global-Warming Gases Emissions: 5

Less Pocket-Book Dollars Emissions: 6

ZAP Xebra Sedan

· Speed: Up to 40 mph (65 km/ph)

· Range: Up to 40 miles (65 km) (about 20 miles at top speed)

· Charger: Onboard 110 Volts AC

· Motor: DC brushed

· Seating: Up to 4 (Maximum cargo 500 lbs.)

· Climate control: heater, optional fan for cooling

· Batteries: 6 12-Volts lead-acid traction batteries, 3 between front seats and 3 under rear seat. 1 12-Volts accessories battery. See below.

· Classification: 3 wheel motorcycle (Zero Emission Vehicle)

· Dimensions: 10’ length, 5’ width, 5’ 1” height, 1800 lbs weight

· Body: fiberglass

· Frame: steel

· Brakes: disc on all 3 wheels

· Running light: front center

· AM/FM cassette deck with input jack in rear

· Options: Upgraded radio/CD, color, leather seats, Xebra car cover

· Typical Vehicle Label:

· Colors: Ocean Blue, Zebra Flash, Kiwi Green, and Lipstick Red:

· Price: About $10,000

· Manual

· Troubleshooting Manual

· Return policy

· Movie

ZAP Xebra PK

· Specs: Same as for Xebra Sedan, except:

· Seating: Up to 2 (Maximum cargo 500 lbs)

· Batteries: Underneath the truck bed for easy access, along with charger, controller and accessories battery

· Dimensions: 10’ 9” length, 4’ 6” width, 5’ 1” height, 1820 lbs weight

· Body: steel, rubber mat to protect the bed.

· Colors: White, Blue, custom colors

ZAPXebraPKWood ZAPXebraPKWhite

· Price: About $12,000

· Gear ratio: 4.5:1

· Motor: 5 kW = 6.7 hp; 20 mm 6-spline output shaft

· Details

· Review of ZAP Xebra PK (Has a link for many pictures.)

· Many pictures of details

· Xebra PK Xero

Lithium-Ion-Iron-Phosphate batteries installed in a PK

Lithium batteries is a ZAP Xebra PK

ZAP Xebra PK Pickup Truck of L. David Roper

ZAP Xebra Xero

· Specs: Same as for Xebra Sedan, except:

· Weight: 1820 lbs

· Solar Panel: 150 Watts (It would take 47 hours to charge the 7.1 kWh batteries with this solar panel. 10 hours of full sunlight would charge the batteries about 21%.)

· Price: About $12,000

The solar panel can be put on the ZAP Xebra PK, also, by extending it over the hood or by using it as a covering for the bed.

ZAP Xebra Safari

http://www.watchmojo.com/cars/blog/?cat=17

Removable canvas top convertible.

Some of the following are taken from http://www.xebraworld.com .

Batteries

· The 110-Volts outlet plug on the right-rear side of the Xebra needs to be rated at a minimum of 20 amperes and a minimum extension cord of 12AWG gauge is necessary. If the cord is longer than 24 feet, use a 10AWG gauge extension cord. Comes with a 10-feet cord.

· The six batteries are of two choices: Discover EV31A-A (http://www.discover-energy.com/files/EV31A-A.pdf) (about 25 miles per charge) and the more powerful Discover EV12A-A (http://www.discover-energy.com/files/EV12A-A.pdf) (about 35 miles per charge). The latter do not fit in the SD sedan.

· A full charge takes 8 hours with the 110-volts charger. That is, . So, at maximum current of 20 Amperes it would take about 3.5 hours to charge the batteries. Half maximum current would take nearly 6.5 hours. Apparently the charger runs at slightly less than half maximum current. The latest version of the Xebra uses the QuiQ charger (http://www.delta-q.com/documents/QuiQ-data-sheet.pdf).

· The duration of an average charge at a speed of 30 mph will yield approximately 25 miles of travel.

· Factors such as prolonged high speed, excessive stop and go traffic, inclined or uneven roads and weight will play a role in decreasing the distance that you can drive. The Xebra was built for short routes on flat terrain. It can easily handle a 5% incline with the standard controller. Using the Xebra on hills will decrease distance per charge.

· Conditioning batteries properly is required to get the most out of your vehicle, typically 15 or more charging cycles. Optimal range will happen after this break in period.

· With normal use, the no maintenance, deep-cycle batteries should last up to three years.

· Battery break-in and maintenance: http://www.xebraworld.com/Battery%20Maintenance.htm .

· In a cold climate the car needs to be kept as warm as possible in a garage. At 32 degrees F the battery energy capacity is reduced to about 80%, at 0 degrees F it is reduced to about 60%.

· Battery Essentials: http://www.ev-america.com (link for e-mail to request the paper in the middle of the web page)

· Electric Vehicles Safety: http://www.austinev.org/evinfo/build/eva-safetyfirst.html

· PowerCheq battery voltage equalizer

· Brain Drain: A useful system monitoring device

· Lithium Ion Iron Phosphate batteries installed in a PK

Motor:

· Zibo Boshan Super Motor Co., Ltd. Mod 192ZC52, 5 kiloWatts (6.7 hp), 72 Volts, 82 Amperes; RPM 2800-3600, temperature ≤ 40ºC, with cooling fan. (http://www.xebraworld.com/PK%20MOTOR%20PICS/Xebra%20101%20PK%20Motor%20Page.htm)

· Alltrax controller AXE-7235: maximum 300 Amperes, 200 Amperes 5-minutes rating, 125 Amperes 1-hour rating. Later Xebra models use a Curtis controller (http://www.curtisinst.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=cProducts.dspMotorControllers).

Dealers:

· http://www.midwestev.com (Leavenworth KS)

· http://www.gpev.us (Grants Pass OR)

· http://www.electricwheelsinc.com (Salem OR)

· http://www.carolinaev.com (Cayce SC)

· http://www.e-symptom.com/alamedaev (O'Connell EV, Alameda CA)

· http://www.electracitymotors.com (Escondido CA)

Miscellaneous:

There is an audio jack in the front of the stereo into which one can hook a CD player. There is a spare tire and a car jack.

Reviews and news articles about the ZAP Xebra:

UPS uses ZAP vehicles: pictures

Troubleshooting Manual

Company in China that makes the ZAP

ZAP planting trees in China and the United States.

Less Global-Warming Gases Emissions:

Two reasons that electric vehicles can produce less Global-Warming-gases emissions than do gasoline cars:

· Electric motors use energy more efficiently (about 90%) than do gasoline engines (about 25%) or diesel engines (about 40%).

1. So, even with coal electric power plants at about 40% efficiency, electric vehicles times coal efficiency yields about 36% efficiency, which is better than gasoline vehicles and about the same as diesel vehicles. However, energy efficiency is not the same as carbon-dioxide emissions. A gallon of gasoline contains about 36.6 kWh of energy and produces about 19.4 lbs of carbon dioxide; so, per kWh the relevant number is about 0.53 lbs/kWh for burning gasoline at 100% efficiency. The actual efficiency of about 25% for gasoline engines changes the number for gasoline engines to 2.12 lbs/kWh. Compare this to the coal-fired-power number of 2.25 lbs/kWh. However, the U.S. mix of electric power plants (see below) yields about 1.78 lbs/kWh or lower, which is considerably lower than the 2.12 figure for gasoline engines.

2. Using natural gas for an electric power plant improves the efficiency to about 60%, yielding a combined efficiency for electric vehicles of about 54%, considerably better than diesel vehicles.

3. Wind or photovoltaic electric power plants at 100% efficiency in terms of not requiring fuel yields a combined efficiency of about 90% for electric vehicles, much better than gasoline or diesel vehicles.

4. The sources of electrical energy in the U.S. are Coal 50% Nuclear 20% Natural Gas 18% Hydro 7% Other 5%. Assuming that nuclear electric power generation is as inefficient as coal for producing electricity, when all factors are considered, the average efficiency of U.S. electric power generation is about . Then the average yield for electric vehicles in the U.S. is about 46%.

5. In almost all circumstances electric vehicles are much better than gasoline vehicles and usually better than diesel vehicles. As more and more renewable sources of energy are used to produce electricity, electric vehicles will be much better than fossil-fueled vehicles in not emitting Global-Warming gases.

· It is easier to sequester the Global-Warming gases at a power plant than from the tail pipes of millions of vehicles.

· See http://electric-cars-are-for-girls.com/electric-powered-cars.html .

Less Pocket-Book Dollars Emissions:

A gallon of gasoline contains about 36.6 kWh of energy and a gallon of diesel contains about 40.6 kWh of energy. (http://www.bpa.gov/Corporate/KR/ed/energyaudit/chapter1/chap1.htm)

If you pay $0.08 per kWh for electricity:

· The equivalent price of the energy content of gasoline would be $2.93 per gallon.

· The equivalent price of the energy content of diesel would be $3.25 per gallon.

However, electric motors are about 90% efficient, gasoline engines are about 25% efficient and diesel engines are about 40% efficient. Allowing for those efficiencies:

· The equivalent price of gasoline would be $0.81 per gallon.

· The equivalent price of diesel would be $1.44 per gallon.

To calculate the approximate equivalent price per gallon for a gasoline vehicle and a diesel vehicle for a price P per kWh of electricity to charge the batteries of an electric vehicle:

Of course, one has to also include the costs of replacing the batteries, possibly every three years. If one drives 10,000 miles per

year and the 6 batteries cost $120 each, the cost per mile for the batteries is about $0.024 per mile. Round it off to $0.03 per mile. The Xebra travels about 5 miles per kWh. At $0.08 per kWh, that is about $0.015 per mile. So the total cost is about $0.04 per mile. By the way, the batteries are recyclable. The batteries’ lifetime can be maximized by proper care (http://xebraworld.com/Battery%20Maintenance.htm) and a voltage-equalizer add on (http://www.evsource.com/tls_powercheq.php).

Compiled by L. David Roper, http://www.roperld.com/personal/roperldavid.htm

This is web page http://www.roperld.com/science/ZAPElectricCars.htm