ng odds, short runs
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Both Derrick Clarke, National Carriers group director of sales and marketing, and E. M. Estes, president of General Motors, ag ee that the economics of eletric vehicles are long-term.
he 35cwt Talbot Silent Karrie s that are giving National Ca riers great satisfaction cost about £14,000 — twice as much as an equivalent dieselengined van — but they are expetted to show big savings over a ten-year period. They have a range of 45 to 55 miles a day and a maximum speed of about 4 mph, and can accelerate frcjm rest to 30mph in 19 seconds.
General Motors, which has announced a spectacular development in zinc-nickel-oxide batteries, expects to do rather better than that. In 5 or 6 years it aims to market an electric car or town delivery van with a maximum speed of about 50mph and a range of 100 miles. The new batteries, which can store up to two and a half times as much energy as conventional lead-acid batteries, pound for pound, have an estimated life of 30,000 miles.
At 'present an electric costs more to operate in America than, say, a GM Chevette petrol vehicle, but the president hopes that by the mid-1980s electric and liquid-fuelled vehicles will be competitive both in price and operating costs.