Envia says its plug-in Ford F-150 can go 38 miles on battery power alone
A Ford F-150 that gets 48 miles per gallon? Sounds pretty sweet, and it's apparently quite ready if the promises of Envia Motors and their PHEV conversion are to be believed. Envia, based in British Columbia and also known as Rapid Electric Vehicles (REV), makes a lot of claims on its website, and EVWorld is pretty credulous about the whole deal. EVWorld's article says that the plug-in F-150 can go 38 miles on electric-only power and that the conversion costs between "$15,000 to $25,000 depending on range."
According to Envia's technology page, its vehicles can be converted with either a lithium iron phosphate or military grade lead acid battery pack. It takes just two-and-a-half hours to get a full charge off a 220V outlet and REV says that its batteries can get "Up to 5000 full charging cycles to 100%. Up to 5000 more at 80-90%." Which
battery type they're talking about here is unspecified.
Considering this is a company we don't know much about, I clicked on the "About Envia" page. Finding an obvious typo - "Teh net result is akin to replacing the $200 a month on fuel with a $20 increase in hydro." - isn't exactly comforting. All this makes me want to ask a lot of questions. Where did Envira the 48 MPGe number come from? Who did the tests? How many conversions have been done so far? Are we dealing with another bit of Trinity hype here or is there something sweet cooking north of the border? Count us as wanting to learn more.
[Source: Envia Motors]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
EVan 4:10PM (9/23/2008)
Sebastian...
You might want to check your own typos before writing a post that hightlights someone elses.
Unless you were in some way being ironic.
...check the title of the post ;)
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Chris 4:41PM (9/23/2008)
You found their typo but you didn't catch the one in your headline...
"Envia says is plug-in Ford F-150 can go 38 miles on battery power alone"
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vLane.com 5:10PM (9/23/2008)
The idea of a plug-in hybrid conversion is really intriguing! The cost seems high to me but recognizable for most industrial fleets... five years was the quoted time range. I agree that this conversion is best suited for older cars as opposed to new models off the the lot.
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Thorprime 5:08PM (9/23/2008)
Anyone know why they are using the marathon game logo on their website?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathon_(computer_game)
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polar 11:43AM (9/24/2008)
I was wondering the same.
Rick 4:03PM (9/24/2008)
As you've proved (and others have pointed out) a typo on website does not mean anything more than the last person who typed or saw the page fail to catch the mistake as it was posted online. I fail to see any connection between the IT or web desiner/developer and the guys doing the machincal battery conversion in the garages.
Unless those mechanical engineers mispelled something on the spec sheets.
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donald 5:06AM (9/26/2008)
Didn't Hybrid Electrical Vehicle Technologies come out with the same vehicle a few months ago ?
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