Who killed the electric car?

[Chris]

I just watched the documentary, Who Killed the Electric Car?

I recommend it to everyone.

Who Killed the Electric Car? - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[CrusaderFrank]

It can't possibly be that it sucked and no one wanted to own one except as a vanity item, right?

 

[Chris]

It can't possibly be that it sucked and no one wanted to own one except as a vanity item, right?

Actually no.

The battery technology was there to increase range to 300 miles per day, but the auto and oil companies used their money and influence to kill it.

But it's making a comeback big time.

 

[westwall]

Nope,

It couldn't possibly be that after paying 30 or 40 thousand you had a car that could go about 100 miles and then required eight to ten hours to use again. Nope, it couldn't be that.

It couldn't possibly be that after using the car for about eight to ten years that you would have to replace the batteries at a cost of 30 thousand bucks again...nope, not that either.

Maybe it was the fact that after you take into account the amount of energy that is lost in transmission lines and the fact that...well face it you have to generate the electricity in the first place (thereby using fossil fuels of course) it turned out to be less efficient than a car that gets 4 miles per gallon, nope...it couldn't be that.

Nope it is all Bush and Cheney's fault

 

[nraforlife]

Why would anyone pay $30 - $40 or more for an electric when a similar gasoline auto can be had for $18 - $20K? Unless oil rises to $300/barrel there is no economic case.

BTW ya know what happens when lithium batteries get ruptured? It ain't pretty.

 

[Oddball]

It couldn't possibly be that after using the car for about eight to ten years that you would have to replace the batteries at a cost of 30 thousand bucks again....

You show me a battery that has that kind of longevity and I'll put them in my fishing boat for the trolling motors.

 

[westwall]

It can't possibly be that it sucked and no one wanted to own one except as a vanity item, right?

Actually no.

The battery technology was there to increase range to 300 miles per day, but the auto and oil companies used their money and influence to kill it.

But it's making a comeback big time.

No they didn't. The fact remains that the battery technology only now is getting to the point where you can get that kind of range. And it comes at a cost. That cost is the amount of money it takes to replace them, the fact that electric cars are much less survivable than standard cars in an accident. The fact that environmentally the batteries are extraordinarilly wasteful because of the transport costs from where the material is mined to where it is manufactured etc. etc. etc.

When an electric car is made that corrects at least some of these problems they will only be a niche vehicle. I would love to have an electric vehicle for doing errands around the house but the cost is prohibiive for such a limited capability vehicle.

If the car companies make them cheaper and more efficient the PEOPLE will want them. Until then you can be as conspiratorial as you like but if the PEOPLE don't want them I don't care how ridiculous your conspiracies get...no one will buy them except the very rich an the celebrities trying to look like they're doing their part for the "environment.

 

[Chris]

A lot of ignorance on display here as usual.

The Chinese are going to kick our ass on this.

BYD Auto,Build Your Dreams

 

[Oddball]

Chrissy likes to turn a blind eye to the environmental disaster that cadmium (a key component in batteries) mining in Canada has been....Speaking of willful ignorance.

 

[westwall]

It couldn't possibly be that after using the car for about eight to ten years that you would have to replace the batteries at a cost of 30 thousand bucks again....

You show me a battery that has that kind of longevity and I'll put them in my fishing boat for the trolling motors.

Hi Dude,

They actually have been able to generate that longevity, of course the battery pack alone weighs around 1800 pounds, so I don't see too much chance of it being used by your bass boat!

 

[Oddball]

Ummm...It's a pike/muskie boat, just for the record.

 

[boedicca]

If an electric car owner gets his electricity from coal powered plants, then his car is less ecologically sound than a standard petrol version.

The big reason, however, that people aren't buying electric cars is lack of access to recharge them. The challenge in converting to a new form of energy, be it electricity, fuel cells, etc., is that we have $Ts invested in the infrastructure for petrol processing and distribution. Any viable alternative is going to have to coexist while the infrastructure is methodically modified or replaced to handle said alternative.

 

[Mad Scientist]

It can't possibly be that it sucked and no one wanted to own one except as a vanity item, right?

My Dad and I tried to put together an electric R/C (remote control) car in the late seventies using the technology of the times.

The problem wasn't the motor or the controller, they worked just fine. The weak link was the battery.

All that was available were drycells that go into your flashlights and NiCads that had to be combined in massive numbers to get the required voltage and amperage so it ended up being really heavy. We even tried a big ole GelCell motor cycle battery but it was so heavy the car could barely get out of it's own way.

I think the best we could do at that time was about 15-20 seconds of decent acceleration before the battery was drained. Quick chargers weren't widely available so recharging was an overnight process.

Things are different nowadays.

Light weight, high capacity Lithium Polymer and Lithium Ion batteries (Think of them as large fuel tanks) are widely available and getting rediculously cheap. And that's the key to making modern electric cars a success.

I switched to all electric for my model airplanes about ten years ago because modern batteries and modern electronic are vastly superior to the fuel engines that we used to use. Powerful, Quiet and Clean.

What doesn't get talked about, and this is not discussed amongst the "Green Crowd", is that electricity still has to be generated for all these electric cars. They seem to think windmills and solar will fill the bill.

It won't.

We need Oil Exploration and drilling, on shore and off shore as well as Nuclear Power to keep up with the demands all these batteries will be placing on the Electric Power Grid.

 

[westwall]

A lot of ignorance on display here as usual.

The Chinese are going to kick our ass on this.

BYD Auto,Build Your Dreams

The only ignorance being displayed is your own chris. The Chinese are doing much better than we are because they steal our technology (with the Clinton's help) and they don't have any EPA oversight so they can pollute the crap out of their country so all of our corporations are sending our jobs over there.

If the technology is improved (and my money is on the Japanese doing it as their population lives in a much closer geographic area thus can use the technology better) the people will buy it until then you can fantasize all you want and call us all dumb but in the long run the market will determine the success or failure of the electric car...kind of like the steam powered cars of old.

 

[westwall]

Ummm...It's a pike/muskie boat, just for the record.

Please accept my most humble apologies....there is absolutely no comparison between bass and pike...pike are damn scary!!!

 

[boedicca]

What doesn't get talked about, and this is not discussed amongst the "Green Crowd", is that electricity still has to be generated for all these electric cars. They seem to think windmills and solar will fill the bill.

It won't.

We need Oil Exploration and drilling, on shore and off shore as well as Nuclear Power to keep up with the demands all these batteries will be placing on the Electric Power Grid.

Indeed. We also need to vastly expand transmission lines to distribute the electricity. These are woefully inadequate to handle the demand of a large portion of cars being electric.

 

[Chris]

What doesn't get talked about, and this is not discussed amongst the "Green Crowd", is that electricity still has to be generated for all these electric cars. They seem to think windmills and solar will fill the bill.

It won't.

We need Oil Exploration and drilling, on shore and off shore as well as Nuclear Power to keep up with the demands all these batteries will be placing on the Electric Power Grid.

Indeed. We also need to vastly expand transmission lines to distribute the electricity. These are woefully inadequate to handle the demand of a large portion of cars being electric.

Actually that's not true.

Cars would be charged at night when demand for electricity is the lowest.

Nice try, though.

Do you work for an oil company?

 

[boedicca]

No. I did some consulting work for a hydrogen company a few years ago. I'd love to see economically, environmentally sound alternatives to (largely foreign sourced) oil. But there aren't any right now. They will take decades to develop and phase in.

You have an incredibly naive view of both the energy industries and economics.

 

[manifold]

I've seen the documentary, it was very informative and more than enough to piss you off if you're not a partisan shill.

I like how some hacks are more than willing to believe that ACORN is powerful enough to rig elections but dismiss the possibility that big oil companies and auto makers might kill an emerging technology that threatens their status quo. Talk about brainwashed sheep.

 

[Baruch Menachem]

Back in the 70's my shop teacher built an electric car using a toyota chasis. There was no back seat, there was no trunk, and while the motor was small, there was no cargo capacity at all. The thing was all batteries.

10 hours for a charge, 40 mile range, top speed of 35.

Even with all the modern electronics and plastics and shaving the weight of the cars like crazy (and the cars themselves are pretty small) hybrids require a gasoline engine for long distance and high speed.

the car companies have no brief for the oil companies. I am sure the car companies would love to get away from oil too.

And oil based cars are getting very expensive as well, with all the pollution systems required these days.

And ever since CAFE came in in the late 70's, getting a large number of cars that would send their Auto Fuel economy through the roof has been the holy grail of auto engineering.

The fact remains that 200 lbs of fuel will send you 300 miles, will take less than ten minutes to fuel up, you can go high speeds on it, all that counts.

Weird jewish conspiracies are teh stoop1d.