Electric Cars Coming Soon

Beating the straw horse of electric cars not being as capable or versatile as gas guzzlers is wearing a bit thin. The Fisker KARMA develops over 400hp and over 900fp of torque. Your precious SUV doesn't do that. WAKE UP! The drivetrain of the KARMA is adaptable to the SUV style and will probably triple the mpg while delivering more power. The ONLY people who should be fighting the development of more EV and PHEV vehicles... is OPEC. THEY will suffer. (Ask me if I care about that...)

This whole deal is the probblem with the US, people who have never been out in the REAL WORLD. Get a grip, drill for oil, let AMERICANS drive what they want. OR let China, and such continue to take US dollars. Keep buying foreign. Thats a good solution. American cars are great. Unions are the probblem, eliminate them, starting with the teachers union. If they truly care they will not mind giving up a little. Thats what is wrong with the United States. I would love ot see a crash between a "Smart" car, and a say big old Tahoe. That would make the best advertisment. You saved gas, and a tree, now who will save your family?

Jim, You are right on the money with your statement. After seeing "Who Killed the Electric Car?", I read everything I could find about everything in that flick. Curious that Chevron bought Ovonics and then shelved it. The more you read the more dirt shows up on President Cheney and his puppet sidekick, W. Electric cars should be everywhere. I think under the new administration we will finally see some of the squashed technology come to fruition. I think the injustices of the Bush years should be exposed and they should serve time. Sorry, I know this is supposed to be about EVs, but Jim's note got me thinking about Ovonics, and I got sick thinking of Chevron. I feel most sad that Iris Ovshinsky passed away before hers and Stanley's work could become mainstream. The Ovshinsky's should be recognized as national heroes.

Jim, You are right on the money with your statement. After seeing "Who Killed the Electric Car?", I read everything I could find about everything in that flick. Curious that Chevron bought Ovonics and then shelved it. The more you read the more dirt shows up on President Cheney and his puppet sidekick, W. Electric cars should be everywhere. I think under the new administration we will finally see some of the squashed technology come to fruition. I think the injustices of the Bush years should be exposed and they should serve time. Sorry, I know this is supposed to be about EVs, but Jim's note got me thinking about Ovonics, and I got sick thinking of Chevron. I feel most sad that Iris Ovshinsky passed away before hers and Stanley's work could become mainstream. The Ovshinsky's should be recognized as national heroes.

The last study results I saw stated that overall efficiency of battery-type electric cars charged off the grid at home was around 97%. The metals in the batteries is recyclable. Why do you think Chevron bought Ovonics, the company that holds the patents on the NiMH batteries that gave the EV-1 a 100+ mile per charge range? Because they'd opened a can of worms that would ultimately get us off our oil addiction. They also won't allow anyone else to produce the NiMH batteries in larger than single cell (@ 1.5 volt) size. NiMH batteries could be produced for a fraction of the cost of Lithium batteries. These same oil companies also bought key sections of railway and proceded to shut them down, so we'd be more dependent on trucks, which use more fuel to haul freight than trains. The lawmakers should use the antitrust laws to take those battery patents away from Chevron, and make then public domain. Big oil is HUGE money, and it can't be trusted with the good of the public.

I wonder why the link in this article for the TH!INK car goes to a non-informational site that wants to charge to real the real article on the car? It would have been easy enough to have the link go to the official website at:

http://www.think.no/

I expect better from The Mother Earth News.

As for all-electric cars...with their inherent range limitations, all-electric cars will only become a realistic option for most Americans when the price is $15,000 or less, making them viable as a "second car" for short-range use. Most people, particularly in this new depression economy, simply cannot pony up $35,000 more for a vehicle that they can only use "for some things". That's why hybrids are more practical as a "primary car", but even then pricing is still too high for most people. Lower income people (the vast majority even in the U.S.) want to "go green" but simply can't afford the big buck packages being offered by the automakers and the solar energy industry. So-called green solution that catering only to the well-off aren't going to change the world.

Last I heard, the Senate told all the auto manufactures to take a hike. GM had it with the EV1. Yes a concept vehicle that worked very well in the CA and AZ areas it was leased and used. Think where we would be today with over 11-years of upgrades and refinements to that vehicle? I suspect we would have the 200-mile battery range with a small ICE/generator for longer range model available for quite a reasonable price.

Ford also had some good battery vehicles out as did Toyota (RAV4EV) and at least they did not crush them and many are still running well today and commanding a very high price for a used vehicle.

The people want this technology now even with low gas prices and from this article in Mother, it looks like, again, off-shore companies will be providing the technology while the US dinosaurs waddle in the tar pits of BIG OIL and GREED.

All are a little out of my price range now but in a couple more years, they technology will drop the prices to more reasonable areas and more and more will buy and more and more money will go off-shore that could have stayed home GM, Ford and Chrysler.

Sorry BIG-3, your poor management has caused your failures. I just feel sorry for the millions who will be hurt by your stupidity.

Perhaps it is time for a employee owned BIG-3 to make the decisions for what the people want.-

I drive an electric "car" every day. And soon it will be charged with solar electric. So please don't say it can't be done. If Zap can do it, any one of the majors could do it. Why don't they? They are firstly in bed with big oil. Electric motors are 80-90% efficient, whereas internal combustion is at best 20% efficient. Second, they do not make money on selling cars, rather on repairs/parts and financing. Electric cars require much less maintenance and don't break as often because there isn't an engine rattling everything around. Now they are having trouble selling and especially financing, so here they come with their hands out. Third, as men with big egos, they do not like being told what to do, which is what the zero emissions mandate from California tried to do. They won't listen to customers, either. So they deserve to go broke. Instead Congress will hand them over the lives of future generations to destroy. Lastly, no human likes change. Even though Obama was elected on that very slogan, the specifics indicate business as usual. So strap in, we are in for a bumpy ride as the dollar goes down in flames. Luckily, as the owner of a Xebra, I am already used to a bumpy ride. Salute!

Actually, while the comments about requiring quite a bit of energy to produce the power for an electric vehicle are true when it comes to coal or nuclear power, solar, wind or tidal power cost nothing to produce and only some power and pollution to create.
The problem with hydrogen is twofold: energy density and storage. Neither batteries nor hydrogen can store the same amount of energy in the same volume and the same mass as petroleum. Batteries have a higher energy density than hydrogen and don't have the same level of danger.
Electric is good in that it is multiple sourced. You can make it with petroleum (generator or fuel cell), solar, chemical reaction, wind, tidal or hydrogen.
Some of these cars look reasonable.
Give me an electric car that:
Average 200km range at 80km.hour
seats 4
lasts at least 5 years per set of batteries
uses standard bulbs/tires/etc except LEDs in markers, etc.
and costs about $20 000 and I'll be happy.

Those who want electric cars need to learn about physics. It takes more energy to create electricity than it takes to power something direct. Batteries are made from heavy metals (lithium, nickel-cadmium, etc) which are damaging to the ecology (what do you do with all those heavy metals when the batteries wear out??). Plus you have several hundred pounds of extra weight to carry around. Supplied with the correct propulsion system a car the size of a Prius (which gets only 50 mpg) could see 90-100 mgp. Look up "hydraulic hybrid" and see what that will get you. Of course, ideally, we could separate the atoms in a water molecule and get hydrogen to power the cars - but that also takes "energy" to break down the molecules. Once we can do this, then we can have a truly economical and environmentally friendly propulsion system.

Did you know there is another all-electric car on the market? Myers Motors has been producing its single-seat NmG (stands for "no more gas") for some time now. They have recently upgrading its battery packs, so the NmG can travel at freeway speeds, and can last up to 60 miles on a single charge.