Would you buy an electric car?

[Shannow]

I don't see an electric car in my future.

A retrofitted Moke/Kombi/VW Wagon etc. would suit my commute(s), which maxes at 25km, but would be useless for any of the stuff that we do as a family.

As an employee of the power industry, there is no hope at all that there will be enough electricity supply to run all those vehicles, when there's only about enough capacity to supply the peaks.

Remember, a gallon of gas "holds" 36.6KWhrs...nearly 3 times my household's daily consumption.

Keep seeing posts about EVs being used to stabilise the grid. Remember, peak is 7AM to around 10PM...you'll be leaving for work having used some of your overnight charge to make everyone's toast in the morning, and sitting in the car park all through the expensive peak daytime, and heading home on much less than a full charge...if used for grid stabilisation, halve your range basically.

 

[Scienceman]

One word.
NO.

 

[Mr Nice]

No. Too expensive and it will be only a short distance car.
How many miles can I get at 80 miles per hour ?

I would rather buy a gas sipping Corolla or Civic.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Absolutely YES (as a lease). A Pure electric like the Leaf. I would use it as my commuter car and use the wifes gasoline car for longer trips. I drive about 50 miles a day round trip. No engine maintenance, no oil changes, no transmission, no starting(booting?), no warmups, they are very quick and quiet. Up North here though, they would need a LNG or propane or alcohol heater to be practical in the Winter and not drain the cells heating the car in sub freezing temps. You know, like the old VW 411/412 wagons and some Campers has in the 70's - its been done. Look at some of the youtube videos on the leaf esp the european ones ... cool!

 

[whip]

If I could get one for a decent price, I would. I drive about 30 miles round trip for work, and usually a few short trips on the weekend. I'd still have my wife's car if we needed to travel beyond the EV's range.

 

[spasm3]

Someone else asked if electric cars could be considered coal fired cars!!!

 

[rpn453]

An electric car would be a fossil-fuel powered car where I live. Most of our electrical power comes from coal.

I'll buy one when it's a better vehicle for me - in terms of practicality, fun, and cost - than any gasoline or diesel vehicle. I expect it will be a while.

 

[Steve S]

Most of the tree huggers don't have a clue where electricity comes from and electric cars use lots of eletricity to charge them. I would wait several years just to make sure I do not pay to do the final testing of the vehicle . They seem to have their purpose.

 

[tonycarguy]

I live in a mild climate and don't drive far, so yes I would buy one if the price was right and if it met my standards for what an automobile should be (performance, safety, reliability etc).

But if I lived in a cold climate or in a place with unreliable electricity, I wouldn't get an all-electric vehicle

 

[fdcg27]

If the Leaf, or any other pure electric, could take me the 60-70 miles I do each day on my commuter, why not?
By this, I mean an electric that could supply adequate heat on our coldest mornings, as well as one that could run the AC during the heat of summer, and still have enough range to get me through my daily use.
If the Leaf, or any other pure electric, could do this, it would be on my shopping list.
It's not as though we wouldn't have other cars around for trips.

 

[CivicFan]

The Germans have some very interesting ideas. When Audi or BMW start selling them in the US, I will probably get one.

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: Shannow
Remember, a gallon of gas "holds" 36.6KWhrs...nearly 3 times my household's daily consumption.


But you do have to remember as well that a gas engine is maybe 15% efficient turning the gas energy into go. An electric motor for a car would be around 90% efficient. So a trip in a gas car that requires a gallon of gas, only takes 5 to 6 KWhrs of electricity.

 

[Eddie]

All Electric-NO, Hybred-yes, if the car suited my driving.

 

[meep]

i like the volt. electric propulsion. fueled charge for extended range. make the volt's genset a diesel (why they didn't astounds me). all of the sudden it doubles in usefulness, not range-limited.

it sickens me, in this economy, in this world stage, to see how much american money gets given away for foreign oil.

M

 

[edhackett]

Indylan, you have to look at the whole picture. Comparing efficiencies of the motor and engine tell you nothing. That electricity didn't magically appear. It took energy to generate.

If you consider the efficiency of the generating plant, transmission loss, efficiency of the battery charger, efficiency of the battery both charge and discharge, and the motor it comes out pretty much a wash for efficiency per BTU fossil fuel used (in the U.S., electricity means fossil fuel for all practical purposes).

Would I buy an electric? Yes, if the stated range was the range under any conditions and the electricity was produced by truly "green" sources, such as solar or wave action.

Ed

 

[IndyIan]

Good points, in Ontario we do about 2/3 of production from nuclear or wind or hydro, but there are still lots of inefficiencies.
Once a good home electrical storage system is figured out, I think home solar panels and plugin hybrid car will be a no brainer for many people.
I like flywheels as charging and discharging efficiencies should be way better than batteries, plus they should be rebuildable with out using rare metals.

 

[unDummy]

The reason why the Prius sells so well is that the owners want to wear that eco-badge. I don't. And, the Accord, Altima, Camry, Escape, SUV/truck, ... hybrids are not in the class of vehicle that I'm looking for, or didn't perform as well as advertised. The Volt isn't either and still grossly overpriced even with all my tax dollars wasted on sponsoring it.

I would not buy an electric car, especially since there aren't enough power-plants, and many coal plants are being shut down by enviro-weenies. No one remember rolling blackouts? hurricanes? tornadoes? I enjoy taking long road trips and won't buy a fleet of vehicles for the driveway for every possible scenario.

Have you seen the strip mining for the materials needed to make batteries? And guess what, the manufacturing and recycling of batteries produces a ton of waste that no-one wants to talk about(just do it in China or Mexico). Hypocrite eco-weenies seem to be happy with the not-in-my-backyard attitude.

I would consider a hybrid if it used 'compressed air' as a storage medium. A couple carbon fiber scuba-type tanks can assist a small gas or diesel engine plenty. I hear most patents are 'tied up' and buried. No-one ever played with air powered toys? You could always top-off the air tanks prior to your commute too.

And, concerning wind turbines for power, just look at the 1000's of dead and abandoned wind turbines in California and Hawaii. Large solar also wastes land. I would say that the issue is that any e-power that overly centralized is questionable.

Batteries or their cells, die frequently enough in hybrids. Electronics are an issues. And, electric motors don't last forever. I don't see it as maintenance or trouble free. I do see another rash of disposable vehicles.

Bring back steam-powered vehicles and use electric hybrid assist for those that don't want to wait for the steam buildup.

 

[NateDN10]

unDummy, I agree that the battery issue is sort of the EV "dark secret."

There are other hybrid technologies that are less mature, but more "eco-friendly." For instance, flywheel based "KERS" (kinetic energy recovery systems) are being developed for racing use. UPS has some vehicles that use pressurized hydraulic fluid as an energy storage system. Ultracapacitors can also be used, though they have nowhere near the capacity of a battery.

 

[4ever4d]

NO NOT A CHANCE!!!!!!!!

 

[Spazdog]

Originally Posted By: meep
i like the volt. electric propulsion. fueled charge for extended range. make the volt's genset a diesel (why they didn't astounds me). all of the sudden it doubles in usefulness, not range-limited.

I don't think that they could get away with using stationary diesel engine emission standards even though it technically would be a stationary diesel.

But it will absolutely work. They've been using diesel-electric locomotives since something like the 1920s.