How many conventional car batteries could be used to power a scooter to go up to say 40 miles per hour?

I think when it comes to electric powered vehicles, we have the wrong idea: that we need them as big and powerful as a Chevy Suburban. Nonsense, we need safe, light efficient vehicles that can get us from place to place at the least cost. Electric cars we need now would be little more than glorified golf carts---heck, I'd drive one instead of paying the current 25-cents/mile via internal cumbustion. So does anyone make a scooter that could be used in lieu of a second family car for light errands? Forget fancy schmancy batteries. I want one now and would be willing to use batteries we have now.

There are a few options if you don't want to build one yourself but here is the skinny if you do:

Most 40+mph scooters use 5-6hp motors and 100v+ battery packs. If you tried to use conventional lead acid batteries (the kind in most gas cars) you would need about 370lbs of batteries to match the Vectrix 3.7kWh Nickel Metal Hydride pack. That pack gives the Vectrix a 35-55 mile range.

If you only install 100lbs of lead acid batteries you would cut your range to 10-15 miles, more than likely less since lead acid batteries can fail quickly if discharged too far. Gel cell 12v batteries would get you the voltage you need but as with all electric vehicles, range is killed by speed.

I've read about people who have done it with lead acid car batteries but it might be worth it to look at newer battery technologies.

Mythbusters used a lithium-ion battery pack to make a racing kart as fast as a gas powered one.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/home_jou...

Those batteries would be awesome for an electric scooter project, just remember Mythbusters have a pretty big budget!

The batteries we have now are very heavy and would add a lot of extra weight to the vehicle besides the rider. To make it capable of 40 miles an hour, it would need gearing and a several horsepower motor (more weight). Those batteries would probably be flat within minutes. If you made it back home, you'd need a large expensive battery charger to recharge them all at the same time. 5-10 miles an hour is more likely.
Sorry, I couldn't tell you how many. A lot.

the problem with batteries is they are too heavy, they add too much weight to a vehicle to have enough power capacity to be efficient ( you need more and more power to haul the weight of the batteries around )
the new battery technology is simply not here yet

20, 6-cell NiMH packs made for RC cars