Only (if) people can afford it...and be competitively priced with something like the Toyota Corolla > getting 40 mpg hwy and no need to look for a socket to 'plug it in'.sphss
I've heard that the manufacturing and disposal of batteries creates more pollution than burning oil. Also don't electric rates fluctuate more than oil prices? Aside from the initial cost of the vehicle.
The concept of electric motor driven is attractive though, no transmission, engine life, but the power source isn't there yet.
Boats? No word on a market for that yet but lot's of people out there playing around with ideas. Like removing the power head from a small out board and mating a DC motor right to the shaft. A couple batteries and a Home Depot generator. Poor mans Prius.
Check this.
I've heard that the manufacturing and disposal of batteries creates more pollution than burning oil. Also don't electric rates fluctuate more than oil prices?
Yea, that's right, but if it is green, it feels good! bulb Also some people have the misconception of were electricity comes from. Most from coal, NG, and nuke. It doesn't come out of thin air, and how much energy is lost in transfer? I think a NG powered car may be a good thing. BTW we have no hydro electric plants or wind farms here.
Hey neighbor!
-yea?
Why is there a extension cord coming from my house to to your car?
-Oh yea......THAT.....uh.......
Id buy one and carry a 100ft cord with me everywhere I go! Theres power outlets everywhere.....plug that baby in while your shopping, at the gym, at the market, visiting inlaws...........
Problem with these hybrids are the shortfall of range on batteries only. If someone lives around the downtown core and works close by , why would want an electric car that has a short range on electricity alone ? Public transport is great for city dwellers . For some geeks there're some ugly vehicles out there that has good performance and range for urban transport . This local company was featured on the Discovery channel and have a contract with an Alberta firm to build . It's a modern version of the Messerschmidt Cabinenroller with advanced technology.hand . Most of us drive to work alone on the daily base ,so a second seat only required for grocery shopping .
I'll stick with my 2 seater 10 cyl beast to help warming the globe though
"The eVaro used in testing runs with a 75 kw electric motor, lithium manganese prismatic cell batteries supplied by EIG North America, and an on-board gasoline-powered generator. In periods of high demand, the motor will draw power from both the batteries and generator, helping the eVaro reach 0-60 in a claimed five seconds. This is not surprising given that the system runs on 400 volts and 600 amps. Top speed is said to be 135 mph, with an estimated cruising range of 90 miles on a charge before the generator kicks on, and then as far as 325 miles while using fuel from the generator's two-gallons tank."
Problem with these hybrids are the shortfall of range on batteries only. If someone lives around the downtown core and works close by , why would want an electric car that has a short range on electricity alone ? Public transport is great for city dwellers . For some geeks there're some ugly vehicles out there that has good performance and range for urban transport . This local company was featured on the Discovery channel and have a contract with an Alberta firm to build . It's a modern version of the Messerschmidt Cabinenroller with advanced technology.hand . Most of us drive to work alone on the daily base ,so a second seat only required for grocery shopping .
I'll stick with my 2 seater 10 cyl beast to help warming the globe though
"The eVaro used in testing runs with a 75 kw electric motor, lithium manganese prismatic cell batteries supplied by EIG North America, and an on-board gasoline-powered generator. In periods of high demand, the motor will draw power from both the batteries and generator, helping the eVaro reach 0-60 in a claimed five seconds. This is not surprising given that the system runs on 400 volts and 600 amps. Top speed is said to be 135 mph, with an estimated cruising range of 90 miles on a charge before the generator kicks on, and then as far as 325 miles while using fuel from the generator's two-gallons tank."
During the night these cars will charge using alternative energy supplies like wind. California has 1700 MWs of wind power which normall peaks 9pm-4am am which should pretty cheap once a new rate structure gets into place. Charge your car from Hydro, Wind, Natural gas and Nuclear during the off peak times. Times are changing!
I see the future of having a electric car for city driving and gasoline car for traveling long distance.
You guys realize the point of the Volt is to solve these problems right? It can go up to 50 miles on the battery from charging, and then it can operate on gas to have unlimited range. The gas powers a generator which runs the electric motor. The Volt is a pure electric around town for 90% of the time, and then can be a cross country commuter on the weekend the other 10% of the time.
During the night these cars will charge using alternative energy supplies like wind. California has 1700 MWs of wind power which normall peaks 9pm-4am am which should pretty cheap once a new rate structure gets into place. Charge your car from Hydro, Wind, Natural gas and Nuclear during the off peak times. Times are changing!
I see the future of having a electric car for city driving and gasoline car for traveling long distance.
I work in Renewable energy "wind" and while it sounds great to be able to utlize alternative energy the demand from utilities is down substantially over recent years. Natural gas is the main competitor of the group as it is much cheaper per kw compared to the others.
Most of the developers that we work with have quite extensive porfolios (wind, hydro, natural gas, solar etc...) And will invest depending on the market. The next several years are going to be rough for everyone in the industry as the demand from the utilities are down by 50 percent.
In this day in age if you don't have a signed power purchase agreement with the utility banks won't even look at you.
Motor trend and CD tested the Volt and got something over 100mpg equivalent...I'm not sure what that means, but the Volt was compared to the Prius and came out on top. Definitely an early version of a future fully succesful hybrid....The batteries are the biggest drawback....the energy supply is a problem that's easily solved...Nuclear.
The energy is the easy part. Most of our power plants reduce load at night to about 10% of total capacity. There is plenty of capacity today to charge 1Million cars during the off peak hours.
I'm looking forward to seeing more of these Volts out on the market. I think that it's going to be a really popular car. I worked at a Chevy dealership for a few months and learned quite a bit of "inside info" that made this car seem more and more impressive. I believe it only takes a couple dollars to charge the Volt over night and with having that onboard generator you can literally drive that car across country with out stopping.
That is the economy on pure charge sustaining mode, ie you never plug it in. If you buy the Volt and use it like that......well you haven't really thought it through (I'm saying you'd be a moron for using it like that!). The Volt is more dependent on how you use it then any car ever on mileage.
If you use it to go 35 (up to 50) miles each day after plugging in, using MPGe you get 95 miles per gallon, but really burn no fuel. Any mix of plug to gas after that will reduce it, to finally never plugging it in giving the figures that site gave. So, they are giving an extremely skewed number.
There are way over 25 people using Volt's at my work, and nobody is getting 35/40.
The actual load in California was 51,000Mws at the peak in 2007 and now the load in August of this past year was 47,000Mws. This has held the last couple of years and seems to hanging there with the economy. The mild summer weather had something to do with it but the economy and new energy standards on equipment is also helping reduce the overall load. The last couple of days California has been around 30,000Mws and the green energy was around 10% of the overall generation during the 24 period. Today we do have a large spinning reserve which would help with the electric cars in off peak hours. This is the first time in History that the overall load has dropped year on year.
Hey neighbor!
-yea?
Why is there a extension cord coming from my house to to your car?
-Oh yea......THAT.....uh.......
Id buy one and carry a 100ft cord with me everywhere I go! Theres power outlets everywhere.....plug that baby in while your shopping, at the gym, at the market, visiting inlaws...........
Here is actual mix of generation from yesterday in California. In the summer the gas plants continue to pick up the load with a capacity of 52,000Mws. Hydro will taper off as the snow melt is used in early summer.
Im actually planning to roll out my electric car design next year. Its called the SHOCKER. It seats two comfortably in its pink bucket seats, with room for one large adult or two smaller ones in the rear. It only likes to be plugged in on the weekend, after a couple glasses of wine, or a round of patron. It is aimed at the female market, although it has been reported that strong male interest has been reported in the central california coast market areas. Not many incentives are offered, it will be more of a love it or hate it decision for most prospective buyers. It typically travels 5-7 days before wanting to be plugged...although 2 months between plug in sessions has been observed when its upset, stressed, irritated or tired. Expected to hit showrooms just in time for valentines day, where spouses everywhere will rush to get liquored up and take it for a test spin after dinner. It will borrow its advertising campaign from the current Chevrolet ads......SHOCKER RUNS DEEP. And yes...you can use it in the carpool lane, but its not recommended.
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