GM: First VOLT, NOW Spark..

Actually, it was not noisy. It was great. I had one and could get in the car on a cold morning and in less then a minute have heat. The only noise inside was the blower, just like any heater. Mine always worked properly but I heard they occsassionally messed up and blew the hood off. I also heard that Chevy bought the design from Chrysler who had used in many years earlier in one of their cars.

The only thing that doesn't make "sense" is that they cost too much right now because of the battery. If and when they finally solve the battery issues (capacity and cost) they will sell like hotcake's.

Thanks for the info. Sounds like a neat system. Heating and cooling seems like a bit of a problem for electric cars.

That's the way it is with crabby old guys and new technology. These guys want everything to stand still because they can't handle change.

It's always the same old thing. Cars with radial tires, front-wheel drive, air bags, fuel injection, electronic ignition, computer control systems, keyless start/entry, etc, etc, won't work and nobody will want such technology. They've been around since day one saying horseless carriages will never catch on.

The reality is that technology will continue to move in whatever direction it chooses, and things will change whether we like it or not. That's the breaks.

No, what we hate is crappy new technology that is all flash with little or no substance. Until the battery problem is solved, electric cars will continue to be rubbish.

Sounds like you're saying that there's a problem with the current state of battery technology. Do you think that you're the only person that knows about this? We already know about the battery problem. Everybody knows about the battery problem - it's a big problem. We've known about it from the start.

Most new technologies don't arrive fully formed or developed. In the early days of cars, there wasn't even a national interstate highway system or even proper roads. This would probably be a major problem. I got an idea, lets just ditch all new technologies. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

P.S. About the matter of the batteries - yeah, we know there's a problem with the batteries. It's a big hoot how people go on about this like it's too big a problem to solve. What a short-sighted and unimaginative view!

Yeah, a "big hoot." I've been watching you "imaginative," "far-sighted," "visionary" types working on this problem for over 40 years. In that time I have seen electric cars go from totally impractical to almost totally impractical. Quite an accomplishment!

Yep, it's a "big hoot" all right. While you visionary types spend another few decades getting your shit together the rest of us that actually need usable vehicles will be sticking with internal combustion.

You must be having a lot of fun living in the 1980's. :-)

What's impractical about them?

Strange, I have read about people from the Model T era saying just that about the horse.

Mind you, there is still a lot to be said in favor of the horse. For one thing, they can navigate.

--scott

Can you can hop into an electric car and drive 300 to 400 miles on a freeway trip at 70 mph with lights and air conditioning on, then recharge in 5 minutes to continue for another 300 to 400 miles? (Repeating as needed.) Will the batteries last the life of the car (potentially decades), or be easily and inexpensively replaceable?

At their current state of development, electric vehicles are almost entirely impractical for all but a small subset of tasks and the cost of batteries (and having to replace them after several years) makes them economically non-viable as well. I certainly do not see one in my future.

Over 3/4 of all daily commutes are 40 miles or less. EV's are great for that purpose. A buddy of mine has a Nissan Leaf. His commute to work is 30 miles a day and he charges at home overnight. He says his electric bill is about $50 a month more than it was before he got it.If he wants to travel he just takes the wife's minivan. Other EV'ers I know will rent a car on the rare occasions when they travel more than 50 miles. EV's are not the answer yet. There is still a ton of resistance from folks who complain of limited range, even though they rarely drive beyond the EV's range. I foresee a very bright future for EV's and hybrids once the range improves a bit and Joe Sixpack gets used to the idea. Ben

Back to the Future: DeLorean Motor Company unveils electric model.

There is an article in my snail mail November 2011 Popular Science magazine about BMW will produce a new electric car, scheduled to arrive in 2013.BMW claims 80 to 100 miles on a charge, 170 horsepower, 155 miles per hour.Estimated cost: $160,000

For poor old me, that is wayyyy too much money for the amount of bread. cuhulin

Gee, maybe there's a warehouse of DeLorean bodies/frames in storage. Sticking a large mass on the end of car is an unwise thing to do - not that they have much choice in the matter I guess. It's a nutty idea so I hope they're able to pull this off. :-)

We rarely drive more than about 20 mi at a time so an EV would probably work great for us. I'd love to have one but they're still way too pricey for me. I toyed with the idea of converting my Ford Ranger pickup to electric power a few years ago. I even looked at a Ford Escort EV that a local guy had for sale. With the incentives the state was offering it might have been affordable but then they dropped the incentives due to massive fraud in the program and it was all just too pricey. Still tempting sometimes, tho...

YEA, And i remember the 60's popular science with the articles that we would be driving flying and atomic powered cars by the year 2000.

Electric cars have been with us since the early 1900's.

Technology has moved, but it does not mean its always practical.

Like the Chrysler's turbine car. neat. fast. totally impractical.

bob

free road apples. what a concept...

;)

bob

nah, GM crushed all the Mr fusion devices along with the 100MPG carburetors...

bob

Flying cars and gas turbine are pretty silly ideas, even I know that! The plastic Jo-Han model kit of the Chystler turbine however, was probably the most well executed car model ever made.