| Would you drive an electric car or truck?
Posted: 7/2/2008 8:58:52 PM | It is somewhat puzzling to me why any electric car would cost more than what we have now. The industry could use slightly modified current models.
The storage of fuel cells may require some re-designing of the car shape, nothing auto manufactures are not already doing.
The electric motor is relatively simple when compared to our modern gas or diesel engines and it would possibly cheaper to build and take less space, break systems, lights, steering climate control etc would need little adjustments and interior designs could remain the same. Just MHO. | |
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dook
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Joined: 12/8/2005
Msg: 27 | |
| Would you drive an electric car or truck?
Posted: 7/3/2008 2:26:29 AM | I have an 85 KM round trip commute daily. I drive a Firefly, and it gets about 50mpg.
It is costing me about $45 to fill now, and I drive over 100 km usually per day.
I just bought a Sun Tadpole recumbent trike. It has a 500w electric motor, and will do 50kph on the flat using just the motor.
I am gearing it up for the commute on sunny days, and will be sharing the road with rigs doing double my speed on #10.
Saving money? Not yet. I have almost $2500 invested. It's more about avoiding paying this unreasonable money for tax. All the money I pay for electricity goes into transporting me. My company will pay to charge my batteries on the way home.
It shouldn't be long before it becomes a money saver. Especially with this rising cost of fuel, and the taxes on it.
...unless I get flattened before then. ;o( | |
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| Would you drive an electric car or truck?
Posted: 7/3/2008 8:35:56 AM | | Until the reality of owning a descent electric car is in hand I plan to buy one of them electric bikes I have seen. There are some good ones out there that don't cost really all that much when you consider the savings after a few weeks of not driving....... hmm this is starting to sound like the kind of talk the gov. is pushing us into with the high price of fuel. | |
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| Would you drive an electric car or truck?
Posted: 7/3/2008 10:15:46 AM | ^^^ now why would you think the government is pushing us???
If they had any serious interests in the environmental issues they would certainly have legislated auto manufactures to produce "clean" vehicles and not drain the public with more taxes. | |
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| Would you drive an electric car or truck?
Posted: 7/3/2008 6:39:59 PM | See a movie called Who Killed The Electric Car.
It is a stark reminder of why government is limited in its power over auto industry. Just as the tobacco industry is being slowly punished with higher taxes driving the prices up and public opinion is changing to show the negative effects of the tobacco industry we can se the same thing happening in the oil industry. Taxation is driving prices up and OPEC seems to be unregulated and it's own power that answers to no nation or higher authority. Public opinion is also showing that our reliance on fossil fuels is harmful to environment so in order for the government to appear its doing its part is to hit the public directly with initiatives directed at transportation yet leaves the largest polluters in the industrial industry alone for now.
The Gov. is more than happy to tax fuel and line its pockets while offering no real solution to weening ourselves from dependancy from it just as they have done with tobacco, they tax the hell out of it but refuse to eliminate it "Don't kill your cash cow".
So when they hear us talk about going green it shows public they are "doing their part" which is what they want to hear.
The technology is there and we all know it but manufacturers are stalling for as long as they can to keep us reliant on fuel. Even if fuel was half the cost it would still be benificial to drive electric. World speed records will fall soon enough to electric power trust me on that. | |
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| Would you drive an electric car or truck?
Posted: 3/8/2009 12:05:12 AM |
See a movie called Who Killed The Electric Car.
It is a stark reminder of why government is limited in its power over auto industry.
More to the point...it's the oil industry who controls the purse strings.
CARB and GM (inventor of the EV1) caved to the oil industries demands.
Who owns the patents to the batteries in the EV1? GM.
Who is now looking for a bailout? GM
As far as I'm concerned, GM doesn't deserve one penny UNLESS they put the EV1 into full production AND they are for sale...a lease is optional.
Of course, the only way that will happen is by a miracle that breaks the backs of the oil industry, whose tentacles reach into every segment of society. | |
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| Would you drive an electric car or truck?
Posted: 3/8/2009 5:19:02 AM | | I would use it for my daily commuting etc for the environment, but being a car fan I love the power of a gas car and would drive that one for pleasure. | |
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| Would you drive an electric car or truck?
Posted: 3/8/2009 9:04:49 AM | ^^^
Top speed is electronically governed to 80 mph, ostensibly for safety reasons. However, the EV1 is capable of much more. A test car without the governor has done 183 mph. It's QUICK! 0-30 in 3 seconds, 0-60 in 8 seconds.
http://www.ev1.pair.com/charge_across_america/charge_html/faqs.html#anchor2843536
That's pretty powerful... | |
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| Would you drive an electric car or truck?
Posted: 3/9/2009 5:00:07 PM | Of course I would drive a car that would be fuel efficient and cleaner to operate than conventional fuel.
The key would be that it has the 'omph' to get me and the kids an all our gear to and fro in a timely fashion. That it could get up the hills on the North Shore at a good clip and would do 100km on the highway.
It would have to have the horsepower to get us an all our camping and fishing gear and bikes up the Coq to the Okanagan a few times a year and down Interstate 5 during rush hour and not fall apart.
I don't care what it looks like...it just has to have the power. | |
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| Would you drive an electric car or truck?
Posted: 3/9/2009 5:42:06 PM | If everyone that now drives a vehicle driven by gasoline or diesel started driving a electric vehicle, the demand on electricity would soar through the roof.
The demand for electricity will far exceed the supply, and will drive up the prices for electricity. The BC government already urges us to unplug chargers and power adaptors such as cell phone battery chargers. when they aren't in use.
Run-of-river hydro projects get huge opposition from the public, so where will the extra power come from? Nuclear reactors? Import it from other regions?
The increased demand for electricity will drive up the price to heat our homes, wash our laundry, and even the cost to run your computers that you use to search for love on POF.
I'm not suggesting that switching from carbon fuel powered vehicles to electric vehicles is wrong, but think it is also important to drive less, no matter what kind of fuel or power your vehicle uses. | |
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| Would you drive an electric car or truck?
Posted: 3/10/2009 4:14:18 PM | | You can hybrid your current set of wheels if you like. Just add a hydrogen generator to your current system. Current models go for around 250 bucks and you usually make that back really really fast! No electricity charge, no nothing. runs off of water. Benefits include, greater power, greater fuel economy, engine runs cooler, less wear and tear, meaning less oil changes. After about the third oil change its virtually not needed for about 5000 k at least! And the best part is there are no pollutants!! Works amazing and so easy!!! | |
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| Would you drive an electric car or truck?
Posted: 3/14/2009 12:07:28 AM |
... so where will the extra power come from?
Solar Power would be a start...there's a reason they call it the "Sunshine Coast".
Wind and wave power technology would leapfrog ahead if governments would fund it, but their coffers are filled with oil money who want nothing of the sort.
I've driven many miles in the southern US...it wouldn't be that hard to install solar panels in between the vast array of 4 lane divided highways...add in the "right of way" on either side....the potential is realistic...but the car and oil companies keep buying up the patents and technologies in order to fuel (pun intended) their own self interests.
It would be a job creater...the short term may be tough...but the long term benefits will far outway the consequences of doing the same old...same old.
It's our moral responsibility to leave this place a better one for those that continue.
Showing people how profitable it is by driving less is one step in the right direction. | |
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| Would you drive an electric car or truck?
Posted: 3/22/2009 1:19:32 PM | I would drive an electric car/truck.
Initial cost I think scares many away.
Stations offering an electric charge, again how much, how often you needed it would also be a factor for the 50 to 100 dollars a month variance.
satisfied?
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| Would you drive an electric car or truck?
Posted: 3/22/2009 1:46:44 PM | Yes i would. but it would need a decent range, be able to charge from a standard wall socket, so that if you ran out of power u could hypothically charge it with a roll up solar panel.
For you dirtbike and streetbike folks.
http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/
a $1500 premium for electric. decent range, and easy to charge. Street version coming soon. | |
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| Would you drive an electric car or truck?
Posted: 4/6/2009 6:39:09 PM | Sorry if this is a repost.
Teslas are now legal in Canada - or at least BC - as of February '09. Tesla is now taking orders for the Model S, which is just another beautiful car from Tesla. It's a luxury sedan, not a sports car like the Roadster, and it costs roughly $50,000. That's a bit pricey, but still, not out of the question. More importantly, Tesla is going to be coming out with a car dubbed "Blue Wave" in 2012 (or was it Blue Sonic? Blue something, anyway) running around $25,000. Guess what I'm buying then?
Teslas are incredibly beautiful, high performance cars. There's not a car company out there that can match them in many respects. Tesla is truly making the cars of the future.
Zenn Motors is pretty cool, too, albeit not nearly as flashy as Tesla. | |
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| Would you drive an electric car or truck?
Posted: 4/6/2009 6:47:47 PM | | There is plenty of research out there - and more importantly, plenty of current and future production based on research - that shows that's what you say is simply not true. Electric vehicles and batteries are simply not that inefficient, not as much electricity would be consistently consumed (when compared to gasoline), and cars wouldn't being charged at peak grid times. | |
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Xavery
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Joined: 4/22/2007
Msg: 45 | |
| Would you drive an electric car or truck?
Posted: 4/6/2009 6:55:50 PM | I just saw the Mayor of Vancouver on the News driving an electric car. The say that they are coming sooner than we think. The Olympic Village is apparently be built with some stations to charge them.
The e-cars are small and I am used to driving something bigger. I think I might feel vulnerable in an electric car; however, I could get used to it. I wonder how much they cost. | |
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| Would you drive an electric car or truck?
Posted: 4/6/2009 6:56:40 PM | | The problem with electric cars is that for most of Canada (BC is one of the exceptions) the electricity used to power them is generated using fossil fuels (namely coal). Hydro, wind, and solar power farms are a must before we can actually make electricity a clean source of fuel for our vehicles. I think the right ideas and directions are out there, but those that make our decisions for us aren't ready to jump off the fossil fuel gravy train until all of it's profits are depleted. | |
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| Would you drive an electric car or truck?
Posted: 4/6/2009 8:12:34 PM | | I like my gas powerd stuff! They sound cool! vrrrrooom vrrrroooom! Want to save the earth?? Eat more animals and save the green leafy vegetation so we don't run out of oxygen!!! | |
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| Would you drive an electric car or truck?
Posted: 4/6/2009 8:53:30 PM | Good idea of an electric car or truck for the "future" , YES, however, NOPE, switiching to electric is not an option right now. If anything, I would probably switch to diesel from gas, but not to electric.
SHOULD, one day, however, they can make electric, built cars and trucks, that can produce, similar amounts of power and torque as gas or diesel, then, maaaaaaaaaaybe, I will re-consider.
But, that probably won't happen in our life-time, I bet.
Otherwise, gas has a good amount of power, and torque, but when it comes to diesel, for power and torque and pulling capacity, nothing can touch it, not even electric, or even gas.
Unless ya want to put two of those huge, diesel generator powered electric motors in eachof your rear wheels that they use in the mining trucks.
Otherwise, it is either gas or diesel, for now.
Fuel would not be a consideration, it is the amont of power and torque, that would be one of the deciding factor, for that extra giddy-up go, and more so, since we live out here in the mountains, that need extra power and torque that will help to climb them steep mountains, example would be going up the "CUT", in North Van.
Try that in an electric car or truck, I don't think ya would get very far, very quickly. | |
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| Would you drive an electric car or truck?
Posted: 4/6/2009 8:56:41 PM | | Actually..... electric motors produce way more torque and power then a gas motor... It just takes power... so a small gas engine producing electricity for electric drive motors would be the way to go.... But all i can say is for you die hards with some know how, check out water4gas.com! Sooo easy and simple and wow! What a difference! | |
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| Would you drive an electric car or truck?
Posted: 4/6/2009 9:46:47 PM | I would definitely drive an electric vehicle! Unfortunately, the technology has yet to be tried and true.. which is the only reason why I bought myself a gas-powered car. However, I figure that when I'm ready to purchase my next vehicle, Green technology would have been in the market for enough time for me to confidently make a decision.
Even if gas and electric cost the same, I'd still go for the electric. It's our own little way of reducing our carbon footprint.. given that we can efficiently recycle electric cars :-) | |
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