Electric cars and hybrid cars are need by us, but can they compete today’s cars like in Speed, Power, Comfort, Looks?

That’s the whole point of hybrids and electrics. It’s easy to make an electric vehicles fast and powerful, just difficult for it to have range. The first cars to reach 60mph were electric cars. You could easily put in a thousand horsepower electric motor into a car but the batteries would be depleted very quickly. We’ve been able to make gas cars with 50mpg plus back in 1982 which is still better than what the modern hybrids get but they lacked speed and power, the addition of an electric motor making the efficient cars hybrids is what gives the power and performance that the consumer wants.

We really don’t need hybrids and electric cars. We don’t even need so many cars. If we were willing to accept the lackluster performance of the 1982 econoboxes then why enhance the performance with an electric motor? If we want the flexibility to change the fuel source from fossil to something clean like solar by using electric vehicles then why don’t we just synthesize gasoline from CO2 and H2O with solar power? Synthesized fuels could even be carbon negative whilst an electric vehicle with solar generated electricity is at best carbon neutral

Ultimately, Hybrid and electric will be seen for what they are, marketing to create an additional market niche for new cars just like model years, tail fins, station wagons, minivans, SUV’s and Flex Fuel cars. Measures that would actually make a difference such as changing how we make the gasoline just doesn’t make the auto manufacturers any money.

They seemed like they were really pushing and fighting to get some electric cars going in california back in 2001 or so. What happened? Did the federal govt stop it or something? why?
yeah I am sure they were not perfect back then, but imagine what advancements could have been made in 7 years of building more and more of them? Who killed this idea?
why was the electric car killed? by whom? why? details please.

Electric cars were part of the goals for a certain percentage of Zero Emission Vehicles or Ultra Low Emission Vehicles….I’m never sure which category they belong to. The state had a fixed goal of a certain percentage of each. Technology did not seem to be keeping up, and the broad appeal of Hybrids meant the state was substantially meeting its goals of reducing greenhouse gases from vehicles.

btw calling electric vehicles ZEV’s is a bit of a misnomer since we simply move the emissions from the tailpipe to the smokestack of the electric generating plant.

I’ve always wanted to buy a hybrid car. But now I want to compare let’s say the Toyota Prius to a full electric car. If I can find a good full electric car that’s at a good price, I’d get it. Does anyone know any cars or good websites that have sedan plug-in electric cars that cost pretty close to a gasoline car. I know that there is the Tesla Roadster and Chevy Volt, which are pretty cool. They’re pretty expensive though. Thanks.

theres a new company from China that is starting to sell cars in the US this year. They are signing up dealers. The first car will only go 30 mph and he charge doesnt hold for long. They have one due out next year that will go 60 mph and last alot longer/ They will be about $30k. Then there is the Gem which i think is sold by Chevy

I know that Electric Cars would be ultimately more cost-efficient and economically beneficial than the cars that run on gasoline now, but these car batteries would use up great amounts of Lithium-ion, wouldn’t they?

And isn’t Lithium a non-renewable resource?

Where would we import this Lithium from? Is there enough to go around?

You only need a relatively small amount of lithium to make a battery, then it lasts for ~10 years. You’re constantly burning more and more gasoline in a gas car. And you can recycle the lithium once the battery is dead.

Further, lithium isn’t even a rare metal. It’s more common than lead in the Earth’s crust. There is enough lithium available to make trillions of EV batteries. And much lithium is available in the USA in places like Nevada.
http://gas2.org/2008/10/13/lithium-counterpoint-no-shortage-for-electric-cars/

Not only that, but who knows how long EV batteries will use lithium? Over the past decade we’ve already gone from lead acid to nickel metal hydride to lithium. Some companies are working on ultracapacitors to replace chemical batteries altogether. In a decade or two lithium battery technology may be old news.

I’ve done some reading on electric cars. My reading has led me to the conclusion that electric cars are:
a) Much cheaper to run than petrol/diesel cars.
b) Emit less CO2/KM even if charged by a fossil fuel generated source.
c) In some cases able to meet or even beat the performance of £100,000 supercars.

So if they’re so much better in every respect which mainstream manufacturer will make the jump first and when?

If Electric cars were as good as gas powered cars they would be the norm. They , however; are not.

I’m just curious, why do we even attempt to make electric cars like the Chevy Volt. Almost all of our power grid is ran by gasoline powered turbines i don’t really see the plus to even inventing them we’re just using gas indirectly. And don’t tell me solar and wind power can solve our problems, because it can’t.

Here’s the thing: an internal combustion engine burning gasoline is 20% efficient, but a gasoline power plant is 60% efficient and an electric car can use that electricity with about 70% efficiency. 60% times 70% is about 40%. That means that an electric car is twice efficient (40%) as a gasoline powered car, meaning a powerstation would burn half as much gas to power all of the cars in America.

This is mostly because large powerplants which burn gas are 3 times as efficient as the gas burning engines in your car. Car engines operate at a variety of speeds, overheat, and in general have poor performance compared with large, stationary, efficient generators. Power stations can also transmit that energy with little to no loss through powerlines into your car battery (if only a cars transmission was that efficient).

It’s not as simple as you like to put it: studies have been conducted that show that even if an electric car receives its electricity from a coal powerplant, it produces less pollution than an internal combustion engine running off gasoline.

That’s why we bother.

I’m just curious, why do we even attempt to make electric cars like the Chevy Volt. Almost all of our power grid is ran by gasoline powered turbines i don’t really see the plus to even inventing them we’re just using gas indirectly. And don’t tell me solar and wind power can solve our problems, because it can’t.

Here’s the thing: an internal combustion engine burning gasoline is 20% efficient, but a gasoline power plant is 60% efficient and an electric car can use that electricity with about 70% efficiency. 60% times 70% is about 40%. That means that an electric car is twice efficient (40%) as a gasoline powered car, meaning a powerstation would burn half as much gas to power all of the cars in America.

This is mostly because large powerplants which burn gas are 3 times as efficient as the gas burning engines in your car. Car engines operate at a variety of speeds, overheat, and in general have poor performance compared with large, stationary, efficient generators. Power stations can also transmit that energy with little to no loss through powerlines into your car battery (if only a cars transmission was that efficient).

It’s not as simple as you like to put it: studies have been conducted that show that even if an electric car receives its electricity from a coal powerplant, it produces less pollution than an internal combustion engine running off gasoline.

That’s why we bother.

I’m planning on doing a video debunking any myths or downfalls of Electric Cars.

I’ve got speed and range, knowing that EV’s now can get 200 miles per charge and go up to 135 mph.

and I got pollution/efficiency. they get 90% efficiency as opposed to 25%

are there any others though? and how could they be disputed?

Well, range isn’t a myth, there’s only one EV that advertises UP TO a 200 mile range per charge, and the cost for this car last time I checked was $109,000. Most of the EV’s are in the 100 to 150 mile range.

Now take that car and put in ND in the winter and see what happens to that range I’ve seen it colder then -40. You might get a 1/3 of that, also unless you live in a city 200 miles isn’t that far, on any given day I’ve driven as much as 400 miles or more just going to see my doctor. In fact I’ll be driving almost 300 miles one way just to take a test in about two weeks.

I could buy lets say a Mini Cooper D (hopefully in the states sometime soon) and I only get the city number of 50 MPG. And let’s say diesel goes to $10 a gallon. A Mini Cooper D costs about $30,000 US. That gives me about $80,000 dollars for fuel or 8,000 gallons at $10 per gallon. 8,000 gallons would mean that I could drive 400,000 miles before the EV even has a chance to break if you get your electricity for free, and my “recharge” time is measured in minuets not hours.

An electric car does not use gasoline. So how can those who drive hybrids and other electric vehicles be charged for using the road. do they get a free pass? Or will be all be tagged with GPS monitors and the government will know where we are and what we are doing 100% of the time?

They use tolls on the highways and bridges already. Also, they would just place a energy tax on power plants, thus forcing the power companies to pass that cost onto us, raising the price of a Kwh.

Big brother is already tracking us, they can locate you through the On-Star Navigation system, many criminals have been caught using it, if you miss a payment on your car they just call On Star tell them to not let your car start. The EZ-Pass and such can track your travels when you pay tolls with it. Almost all phones use a GPS nowadays, thats another means of tracking people. They have given criminals the new "smart phones" saying they won a sweepstakes and track them through the GPS on the phone. If your phone doesn’t have a GPS they can track you by your signal and what cell towers you connect to, which you can’t control.

Shaddog:
its called an electric meter…the meter man comes to your house and takes a reading, the company then charges you base on use. Thats how you get your electric bill.

An electric car does not use gasoline. So how can those who drive hybrids and other electric vehicles be charged for using the road. do they get a free pass? Or will be all be tagged with GPS monitors and the government will know where we are and what we are doing 100% of the time?

They use tolls on the highways and bridges already. Also, they would just place a energy tax on power plants, thus forcing the power companies to pass that cost onto us, raising the price of a Kwh.

Big brother is already tracking us, they can locate you through the On-Star Navigation system, many criminals have been caught using it, if you miss a payment on your car they just call On Star tell them to not let your car start. The EZ-Pass and such can track your travels when you pay tolls with it. Almost all phones use a GPS nowadays, thats another means of tracking people. They have given criminals the new "smart phones" saying they won a sweepstakes and track them through the GPS on the phone. If your phone doesn’t have a GPS they can track you by your signal and what cell towers you connect to, which you can’t control.

Shaddog:
its called an electric meter…the meter man comes to your house and takes a reading, the company then charges you base on use. Thats how you get your electric bill.