60 Min.TV - Chinese Elec. Cars

Status
Not open for further replies.
Originally Posted by expat
What a turn around! A few years ago I was roasted on BITOG for suggesting that China could make anything of good quality.
18.gif


Same goes a few years back over Fram filter,,,it was insane...
 
Statistics such as 90% or 97% are relatively meaningless.

Electric cars have clear advantages. Range and capability are not among them. I remain unconvinced they cost less over the vehicles lifetime.

I drive my pickup 3 miles to the grocery store. So what? Should I ride my bicycle there instead? Any vehicle can do those trips. Quite simply those trips are NOT what we purchase a vehicle for. They don't count.
 
Originally Posted by Cujet
Statistics such as 90% or 97% are relatively meaningless.

Electric cars have clear advantages. Range and capability are not among them. I remain unconvinced they cost less over the vehicles lifetime.

I drive my pickup 3 miles to the grocery store. So what? Should I ride my bicycle there instead? Any vehicle can do those trips. Quite simply those trips are NOT what we purchase a vehicle for. They don't count.




Yes, Owners use their vehicles for different reasons, I know people that only use their car for commuting to work and getting groceries. They have very little need for a car for longer trips, and if they do, they rent.
Often a household will have more than one car. An EV couldfill the roll for many trips.

I also have friends that live off the grid, electricity is generated from a small water turbine that can't be turned off at night. So the power charges their car and heats their hot tub. The EV meets their needs just fine.

Habits change. Most of us here grew up in a Car Culture, but that seems to be changing as a younger generation think of the car as just an appliance, and perhaps a costly, non essential one at that.
 
Originally Posted by Cujet
Statistics such as 90% or 97% are relatively meaningless.

Electric cars have clear advantages. Range and capability are not among them. I remain unconvinced they cost less over the vehicles lifetime.

I drive my pickup 3 miles to the grocery store. So what? Should I ride my bicycle there instead? Any vehicle can do those trips. Quite simply those trips are NOT what we purchase a vehicle for. They don't count.


no one has suggested you should ride your bike to the store (although it might improve your health). But to simply discount the everyday 3 mile trips....what's the point of that. As far as economics...I agree. But the world is not static. At some point the electric car may be cheaper. Economics was not the point of my post....it was a response to the typical post of "they don't have the range". They do, for about 97% of trips.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by expat


Habits change. Most of us here grew up in a Car Culture, but that seems to be changing as a younger generation think of the car as just an appliance, and perhaps a costly, non essential one at that.



Agreed, we did grow up in a car culture. There is no question some segment of society shuns cars. City dwellers find public transportation adequate, for example. But city dwellers and their culture remains unchanged from ancient Roman times.

I'm not so sure the reported "habits" here in the USA are changing. The interstates are very often at capacity, chock a block full of vehicles of every type, with one notable exception.

I don't have the answer to EV viability. Swapping batteries every 150 highway miles seems impractical. I do believe a minimum of 600 real world miles will make family travel possible.
 
Originally Posted by Cujet
Originally Posted by expat


Habits change. Most of us here grew up in a Car Culture, but that seems to be changing as a younger generation think of the car as just an appliance, and perhaps a costly, non essential one at that.



Agreed, we did grow up in a car culture. There is no question some segment of society shuns cars. City dwellers find public transportation adequate, for example. But city dwellers and their culture remains unchanged from ancient Roman times.

I'm not so sure the reported "habits" here in the USA are changing. The interstates are very often at capacity, chock a block full of vehicles of every type, with one notable exception.

I don't have the answer to EV viability. Swapping batteries every 150 highway miles seems impractical. I do believe a minimum of 600 real world miles will make family travel possible.


600 miles....the last time I drove 600 miles in one sitting was 1987....again, EV's don't have to be all things to all people. They just need to cover for the daily driver. And 99.999% of "daily driver" trips fall well with their range.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top