Electrics - Cost is not as bad as it appears

[Atwood, Mark]

I'm all for the electrics, but lets not forget the cost due to rapid obsolesence.  Electrics are changing soooo fast that it's RARE to be able to amortize the cost of your investment over the expected life of the product.  In most cases, batteries are replaced with newer, lighter, longer lasting packs long before they've reached that 1000-3000 cycle lifespan, which greatly increases the cost per flight.

Granted...engines suffer some of the same fate...but the resale value on last year's engine (say a YS 140L or even FZ) is far higher, and far easier to sell then an old technology/used battery pack.

I have more than my share of batteries and charges that are collecting dust solely because they've been replaced with newer/better/lighter/stronger/faster...etc.

-Mark


-----Original Message-----
From:	Amir  Neshati [mailto:amirneshati at earthlink.net]
Sent:	Sat 8/16/2003 3:30 PM
To:	discussion at nsrca.org
Cc:	
Subject:	Re: Electrics - Cost is not as bad as it appears


One has to also deduct the cost of a starter, glow driver, glow plugs, fuel
pump and
battery, bearings, etc, also. The lower cost of vibration has been touched
here too...

And it takes much more room to store 10~15 cases of fuel...Troy! ;-)

I just can't figure out how to choke and prime an electric....

Amir


> i would agree,.. although, the flight time with the lipo's can be
> considerably longer than a flight with glow fuel, so you could adjust the
> electric cost "per flight" to about 2/3 of what you have, since an actual
> flight will only consume 1/2 to 2/3 of a pack , giving more of an
advantage
> to the e-power,..however, there's another side of the coin also,..charger
> expense. you're not going to find a charger that will charge a 10-cell
lipo
> pack quickly for $200 ,.. it's closer to $400 for a schulze ISL6-636 which
> will do up to 13 cells at 8 amps. Yes, the little 330 could do it (I think
> it'll go to 10 cells, and it's $200), but it only does 5 amps, so charge
> times are longer. Of course I'm very pro-electric :) ,.. but there is
> reality to consider,.. and when factoring in everything (probably want a
> couple chargers), the initial cost is quite high compared to glow. It's
made
> up over time, and is eventually very much in favor of electric,..but that
> initial expense is pretty high.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: discussion-request at nsrca.org
> [mailto:discussion-request at nsrca.org]On Behalf Of Lee Davis
> Sent: Monday, August 11, 2003 11:09 AM
> To: discussion at nsrca.org
> Subject: Electrics - Cost is not as bad as it appears
>
>
> I did a little quick and dirty math and while Jason's 3 batteries, at a
> total cost of approximately $2000, seem prohibitively expensive, when you
> compare them to glow fuel expense, they're competitive.
>
> While the electricity used to charge the batteries isn't exactly free,
it's
> such a miniscule expense I'm calling it free.
>
> The 3 batteries are good for 500-1000 charge/discharge cycles giving a
total
> of 1500-3000 flights, so the cost/flight is $.66-$1.33/flight.  Compare to
> glow fuel for a 2 stroke @ $10-$15/gal costs around $1.50-$2+/flight.
>
> The C50 motor plus with gear reduction plus speed controller sells for
> around $600.  'Pretty much the same that we're paying for a 2 stroke plus
> exhaust system.
>
> The only thing extra is a charger.  Say, $200 for a nice one.  Not that
bad
> though, because I've seen some that charge everything, including RX/TX, so
> it's more like replacing one charger with another.
>
> Lee Davis
> Piedmont Models
> http://www.piedmontmodels.com/
>
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