My federal taxes wouldn’t use all of the tax credits given for the electric car in one year so could I carry the unused portion over to the following year(s) until the total amount is used up,
So sad, too bad.
Nope, no carryover on the 8910. The new 8936 doesn’t mention carryovers and the instructions aren’t available yet, but I doubt there is a carryover.
Most credits are use or lose.
staright answers please, i do know about the EV1.
The one company that has been doing this for a while is Zap car.
http://www.zapworld.com/
If you want something on the come as opposed to something you can really drive, you can send some money to Tesla:
http://www.teslamotors.com/index.php?js_enabled=1
Say I had a business selling electric cars with in-garage chargers and outdoor protective extension leads (could be locked so they cannot be stolen), lets say the power for your home was done via Solar and Wind, and that it did not take long to charge your car, around 3 hours. Lets also say the car looked like a stunner, and was also very cheap and you gave it a test go, and it was really slick and relaxing with the maximum speed of 80mph and a mile range of 500.
Would you buy it?
yes, if I could afford it, however I wouldn’t really care how it looked, as long as it was presentable.
Do you think more people would buy electric cars if the manufacturers would stop trying to make them look like some kind of moon buggy? Why can’t they just make them look like normal cars??
Not all electric cars were strange looking. In the mid nineties, a company made the Tropica Roadster which was a sleek convertible sportscar. It had lead acid batteries and a range of 60 to 80 miles. Unfortunately, it’s the nature of the automobile industry that you need high volume to reduce your manufacturing costs or you need to have easy to manufacture cars which unfortunately are not very appealing.
is anyone still making electric cars? and who?
Unfortunately all manufacturers have stopped making totally electric cars that can travel on freeways
GM’s last Electric cars:
http://ev1-club.power.net/
Toyota’s last electric car
http://www.toyota.com/html/shop/vehicles/ravev/rav4ev_0_home/
Chrysler still markets the GEM. They are street legal I believe up to 35 MPH in most states
http://www.gemcar.com/
Other alternatives is to look at the Toyota Prius. There are scientist/engineers who have basically converted their Prius to plug into a wall outlet. They’ve added additional batteries and so many of the "converted" Prius vehicles can travel over a hundred miles on their extra batteries.
More Info can be found here:
http://www.calcars.org/photos.html
and
http://www.gizmag.co.uk/go/3945/
is anyone still making electric cars? and who?
Unfortunately all manufacturers have stopped making totally electric cars that can travel on freeways
GM’s last Electric cars:
http://ev1-club.power.net/
Toyota’s last electric car
http://www.toyota.com/html/shop/vehicles/ravev/rav4ev_0_home/
Chrysler still markets the GEM. They are street legal I believe up to 35 MPH in most states
http://www.gemcar.com/
Other alternatives is to look at the Toyota Prius. There are scientist/engineers who have basically converted their Prius to plug into a wall outlet. They’ve added additional batteries and so many of the "converted" Prius vehicles can travel over a hundred miles on their extra batteries.
More Info can be found here:
http://www.calcars.org/photos.html
and
http://www.gizmag.co.uk/go/3945/
I just read where the electric cars are coming back again. It appears the range is getting better 400-650 miles between chargings. I would love to have a car I can just plug in at night and use it for work. I’d keep my fosil fuel car for long trips etc.
any thoughts or ideas
I don’t know where your getting your numbers but there isn’t a Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) in production that gets more than 220 MPC (Tesla). Unless you’re confusing the Volt’s fuel extended range with it’s electric only range of 40 MPC.
Many production cars of the past got around 90 to 120 MPC. The generation 2 EV1 had an EPA certified 140 MPC. Most proposed 2010 releases (strange year) are also hovering around the 100-120 MPC mark. Don’t let these low numbers scare you, because you will leave the house every morning with a full load of "fuel". Your gas car doesn’t self fill at night like an EV does, unless you like stopping at the gas station every day.
If I had the money I’d by a 120 MPC electric car in a heart beat. Hydrogen is going to take to long and is going to be costly, as in equal to or even more than gas is today. All of the other alternatives emit at least some CO2 into the atmosphere. Yes I’m concerned about the 6 tons a year that my driving alone produces.
The current state of EV’s does dictate that each family have at least 1 fuel burner to fill in the gaps. But with careful planning that car will spend 28 out of 30 days a month waiting to be used. Or if available use a car sharing service and sell the fuel burner all together.
I’m not saying that you can’t keep your 6000 pound SUV, dress it up and drive it around as much as you like, providing you can afford the fuel. As for me I want quiet, cheap and nonpolluting for my daily driver.
In this part of the country there are not many of them. Have you owned one and how did you like it. How often did you plug in your car, everyday or after the 50 miles were used?
In this part of the country there are not many of them. Have you owned one and how did you like it. How often did you plug in your car, everyday or after the 50 miles were used? If you have owned one, would you purchase a second one or one to replace the one you already have. I am trying not to have this be a political discussion. I know the rumors. I just want someone who has owned one to tell me their experiences
You have to start by answering the question, "What do I need to get out of the vehicle?"
If your primary use is just to put around town like take the kids to school, run down to the grocery store, commute the 5 miles to work you can get way with a Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (NEV) or some times called Low speed Electric Vehicle (LEV). The cars are limited by law to 25 MPH (35 MPH in some states) but they recharge from any outlet you can plug your cell phone in.
If you need to take to the highway your options become severely limited. Currently the only highway speed EV available to the public is the Tesla Roadster at $120,000. Everybody else "is working on it and will be ready by 2010".
You don’t need a 300 MPC (miles per charge) electric car. When you get home after a hard days work, you plug in the car, eat dinner go to bed. In the morning you get up, get dressed, unplug the car and leave every day with a full load of "fuel". Two minor additions to the usual routine and you’ve made the world a little better. A gas car doesn’t self fill at night an since you don’t want to visit the gas station on a daily basis 300 miles is a light range requirement.
The length of the charge time at night is irrelevant. I’m asleep so what difference does it make if it takes 1 hour or 6. Think how many hours a day is your car actually being used out of 24? The rest of the time it is just sitting, waiting for you to use it.
As for plugging it in everyday, don’t you plug in your cell phone every day to charge it? An EV is the same deal, put the car in its parking place, hop out plug the cord in, go in and eat dinner. The rest is automatic and baring some kind of minor catastrophe your car is ready to go in the morning. You can also plug in wherever you stop, called opportunity charging, if your vehicle has a 110 volt charger. Since 80% of people put less than 40 miles on their car on a daily basis a 50 mile range isn’t an inconvenience.
Yea I’d like to know as well. What electric cars are available in Canada?
Gas prices are almost to $4.00 per gallon and I need a good, inexpensive car to get around town / commute. Where can I buy one and which company is the best?
Currently the best is the ZAP Xebra.
http://www.zapworld.com/electric-vehicles/electric-cars/xebra-sedan
http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/080418/0388122.html
But there will be several much better ones becoming available in the next year or two.
Available in California in October 2008, the Aptera typ-1e will cost about $27,000 with a top speed of 95 mph and range of 120 miles per charge.
http://www.aptera.com/details.php
Soon thereafter Aptera will introduce the typ-1h, a plug-in hybrid version of the typ-1e with a 40-60 mile range on purely electrical energy, and a range of over 600 miles total when in electric/gas hybrid mode, for around $30,000. On a 120 mile trip, the typ-1h will get 300 miles per gallon. The shorter the trip, the higher the efficiency.
http://www.aptera.com/details.php
Available in late 2009, the ZAP Alias will cost $30,000, have a top speed of 100 mph, and a range of 100 miles per charge.
http://zapworld.com/electric-vehicles/electric-cars/zap-alias
Soon thereafter the ZAP-X will be available at a cost of $60,000 with a top speed of 155 mph and a range of 350 miles per charge.
http://zapworld.com/electric-vehicles/electric-cars/zap-x
Available in 2009, the Miles Javlon will cost $30-35,000 with a top speed of 80 mph and a range of 120 miles per charge.
http://www.milesev.com/index.asp#hsv.swf
Phoenix Motorcars will start selling their SUT to individuals in late 2008 or early 2009. It will cost $45,000 and have a top speed of 100 mph with a range of 100+ miles per charge.
http://phoenixmotorcars.com/
Available in Fall 2009, the cityZenn will have a top speed of 80 mph and range of 250 miles per charge. No price has yet been established.
http://www.zenncars.com/
http://www.zenncars.com/media/documents/CleantechMAR08.pdf
EV finder is another useful site.
http://evfinder.com/