Optima Yellow Top Batteries

by Brian
(Massachusetts)

Electric car battery question: If I'm using a Netgain Impulse 9 and I want to get about 4 hours of use out of a charge, how many Optima Yellow Top batteries would I need?

Hi, Brian -
To further confuse the issue(!), Optima Yellow-tops are sold in different amp-hour capacities (AH), and the ones with the highest AH rating are the heaviest and also most expensive.

Now, you can do a LOT of different kinds of driving in an hour's time. Freeway driving drains a battery pack a lot faster than hypermiling around the neighborhood. Will those batteries really last four hours? Depends.

I think it makes more sense to think of electric car batteries in terms of fuel, as in "lead equals fuel", than in terms of hours.

As for number of batteries?

If you're putting together an electric car for commuting, with the motor you've chosen, figure on 120-144 volts. Your batteries are 12v, so that's 10-12 batteries.

If you're going 50 miles an hour, can you drive 4 hours on your yellow tops? No. Not even if you get the 200AH kind. To be fair, I think you'd be hard pressed to get 200 miles out of the equivalent lithium pack, too.

Regards,
Lynne