Re: Electric cars head toward another dead end

Existential Angst · 2013-02-07T06:11:23+00:00

Nothing like stating the blindingly obvious and then representing it as if it's some sort of revelation. ================================================== The Q is: are fuel cells a (develop-able) answer? Dunno. Keep in mind, the new Prius "c" (sposedly for "city") gets 68 mpg (according to lightfooted drivers). Which means Moi would proly get 80 mpg.... helium-foot. lol The "c" is the smallest in the prius line. That's VERY significant, for high-mileage drivers. Low price, as well -- $18K, for the base, not that much more various trim levels. Don't know how battery cost/lifetime factors in, tho. Electrics have indeed been disappointing, tho -- not much better than the Ranger EV's, from way back, which had 30-40 electric-only mile ranges, using lead-acid banks. Part of the "failure", I think, is the refusal to limit hp, and the incomprehensible *weight* to these effing cars. Whazzup wit dat? . VW beetles did fine with between 36 and 54 hp, under 2,000 lbs -- 54 being the hot-rod bug -- in 1974!!! Also their minivan/bus. Also, part of the "failure" is of our own making, ie urban sprawl, where commutes are 30-100 miles, one way. The Leaf, et al, could reliably handle 50 mile commutes (one way), but you'd need charging stations at the yob. The Tesla, tho, seems to have surmounted much of these limitations -- if it's not all hype. And then, who can afford them? Urban planners, in general, condemn urban sprawl. PBS had an inneresting documentary on this, focusing on PA, and featuring Bri'ish "solutions to space". Manhattan, and the 5 boroughs, has a large-scale solution ito public trans, but now you gotta be a multi-millionaire to partake -- unless, of course, you are a drug dealer, living with his mom on Sectoin 8.. No good (city planning) deed goes unpunished, eh? As an inneresting tangent to this, energy-wise, altho subways have "regenerative brakes", that regenerated electricity is NOT fet back to the grid, but goes up the proverbial...

Feb 07, 2013 Last reply: 13 years ago 44 Replies

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JR 13 years ago

If electric cars become prevalent every where, they would need DC fast chargers every where. I was reading about a London taxicab outfit that went kaput.And something about electric taxicabs.

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Michael A. Terrell 13 years ago

And Venus Equinox with their Martian tubes that took energy directly from the Sun and turned it into electricity. Interesting Science Fiction for when it was written. :)

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