<p>One of the myths that have been repeated to the point of being uncritically accepted by many is that the reason electric cars aren’t sold by major auto manufacturers is that there is no consumer interest in them. In fact, the only major auto manufacturer which ever actually sold an electric car to the public was Toyota, which sold a small number of battery powered RAV-4’s before they discontinued the program the day after California’s CARB discontinued it’s ZEV mandate. </p>
<p>Do you have any statistics/data on the overall efficiency of electric cars versus gasoline? While I can see that all-electric cars would have limited appeal due to their limited range, the concept of plug-in hybrids might make sense if the costs to charge the batteries is significantly less than the cost of the equivalent amount of gasoline. </p>
<p>Depending upon how that electricity was generated (coal versus nuclear), it may not do anything from a carbon footprint perspective, but it certainly could go a long way towards minimizing the need for imported oil.</p>
<p>It looks like price is still a factor when it comes to mainstream electric cars from major manufacturers. A lot of progress seems to be getting made though. Cost, reliability, and safety of batteries are still issues.</p>
<p>GM seems to be working feverishly to get the Checy Volt out.</p>
<p>We’ve given our old car to S who needs to commute to his work and now rely on Zipcar. Recently, Zipcar lowered the rate for the Prius because it uses less gas than conventional cars. I believe the rate is now $8 an hour instead of $9-10. My H is sold on the Prius. If we buy another car, it will be a Prius.</p>
<p>Every so often I read about a concept electric car that will get something actually useful like 150 miles on a charge, but when will these marvels actually be available to the public? I’d buy one.</p>
<p>Had we added a reasonable surcharge (of $1 or $2) on our gasoline costs when it was below $3.00 per gallon for the **exclusive **purpose of providing incentives to the USERS of less polluting and more efficient vehicles, we would have PLENTY of funds to hasten the commercial availability. The performance and cost of batteries or fuel cells are very dependent on the projected volume. </p>
<p>The beauty of an incentive fund PAID by all the users who prefer to stick to their SUV is that it would have totally neutral for the government --especially if the fund did not allow the clueless government NOT to receive a penny from the fund for their pork and development projects. Had the Prius come with a 50% discount paid by the fund, the demand would have increased as well as incentives for companies to offer competing product. </p>
<p>Currently, one who wants to purchase a hybrid car has to pay a premium. It should be the opposite. The owners of Suburban and other luxury gas-guzzlers should pay a LARGE premium at the pump. </p>
<p>However, we LOST the biggest opportunities years ago when the numbers could have worked better. Instead we laughed at the prices paid by Europeans while we built dumber and larger “trucks” to please an army of soccer moms.</p>
<p>I am not sure if the electric car is a great idea. First of all, they take too long to charge. Second, we would have to replace gas stations with “charging” stations, which is something that will be very costly and that we cannot do until we find a faster more practical way of charging the cars. Finally, the increased use of electricity will drive up prices for electricity–maybe even close to what gas prices are now–and could potentially produce the same net amount of polution.</p>
<p>I am dealing with an electric scooter for a handicapped family member right now, and it’s a pain in the rear. I tend to agree with Newjack. The complexity, and fragility of the scooter is such that I would not want anything like this.</p>
<p>When fuel gets too expensive, the market will ask for smaller cars. Its happening as we type.</p>
<p>There were always stories about super efficent cars that could get 50 mpg. Not enough people were willing to put up with what that mileage level meant in terms of performance and comfort.</p>
<p>newjack, your issue of the price of electricity is at the heart of my question regarding gas vs. electricity break-even rates. However, I’m not that concerned about recharging times and stations if the car is a plug-in hybrid versus a pure electric car. For my type of driving, I would probably go several months before I would ever have to put gas into such a car since the vast majority of my daily driving is under the 50-60 mile range of an battery. If this was augmented by a gas engine in case I did exceed the battery limit, I would be very content.</p>
<p>Do you think the current hybrids fit the bill or would you want more reliance on electricity? I think some gas engine in case one exceeded the battery limit or had some other emergency would be needed in any case.</p>
<p>It would be also interesting to find new ways to generate electricity without creating more pollution. I would prefer not to rely on coal (pollution) or biofuel (there’s a food crisis in many countries right now).</p>
Actually, the Volt is said to go about 40 miles per charge which would cover most people’s commute. It’ll recharge overnight from a 110v outlet and be ready again for the commute the next day. It’s planned to have an on-board engine that can recharge the batteries and give it a range of 640 miles.</p>
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Yes but doing so opens up the possibility of using alternative energy sources such as nuclear as well as hydro, etc. Even if the power station is fossil fuel driven I’m sure it’s much easier and less expensive to apply pollution controls at the central power station than in each automobile. There’s generally an economy of scale.</p>
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Not necessarily due to the economy of scale and possibly different energy sources (nuclear). However, before buying any plugin electric-only or hybrid vehicle I’d do the calculations so I’d know what it really costs per mile. From past articles I’ve read though, it compares very favorably.</p>
<p>The reasons electric cars weren’t sold is because there was no consumer interest.</p>
<p>That has obviously changed after the price of oil has quadrupled. GM is coming out with the Volt in 2010. One of the reasons I’m bullish for GM among the American automakers.</p>
<p>There are just too many factors going against electric cars at the moment. Including:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Range… most electric cars are seriously limited by the distance they can travel on a charge and that turns a lot of people off.</p></li>
<li><p>Environmental concerns… although an electric car looks clean on the user end it still requires all that electricity which, in our country, is unlikely to have been generated in an environmentally friendly way (most likely coal or gas) so there isn’t much of a reduction, if at all, in CO2 admissions. Also these cars require big batteries and batteries are generally quite bad when it comes to environmental issues both due to their production (the nasty materials they contain) and eventual disposal. The technology is getting better there, but there’s still light years to go.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I think we’re likely to see a lot of development in hybrid technologies, but I don’t see much a future in fully electric cars… at least for the next decade or so.</p>
<p>"Do you think the current hybrids fit the bill or would you want more reliance on electricity? I think some gas engine in case one exceeded the battery limit or had some other emergency would be needed in any case.</p>
<p>It would be also interesting to find new ways to generate electricity without creating more pollution. I would prefer not to rely on coal (pollution) or biofuel (there’s a food crisis in many countries right now)."</p>
<p>My feeling is that the current hybids offer only a marginal improvement in reduction of oil usage. I’m still concerned about their long-term maintenance costs. However, I am intrigued by the plug-in hybrids. If the cost per mile to run on electricity is competitve with gasoline, I would consider one. As I said above, my current driving pattern would allow me to go months between gas stops. The beauty of it is that there are a number of ways to generate electricity that would allow us to tell Hugo and Saudi Arabia to go pound sand. I think nuclear should be ramped up now in anticipation of such cars in the future.</p>