| Does anyone remember hearing anything about an electric car ... EV1?
Posted: 6/27/2009 9:06:38 PM | I don't ever remember hearing anything about any advertising on it. I was watching a film tonight with my sister ... "Who Killed the Electric Car?" ... and I was just totally blown away by it ... by the fact that we had such an energy-saving vehicle already being made which would have put GM well ahead of Toyota and Honda on the Hybrid cars and they not only quit making them, but took all of them and crushed them/shredded them ... and instead decided it would be more profitable to make Hummer.
SAY WHAT????
So they had the future in their hot little hand ... fuel efficient and "green" ... and they dumped it, shredded all the already made vehicles and decided to make that gawd-awful horrible Hummer instead?
Now we are bailing them out?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Killed_the_Electric_Car%3F
Who Killed the Electric Car
... is a 2006 documentary film that explores the creation, limited commercialization, and subsequent destruction of the battery electric vehicle in the United States, specifically the General Motors EV1 of the 1990s. The film explores the roles of automobile manufacturers, the oil industry, the US government, the Californian government, batteries, hydrogen vehicles, and consumers in limiting the development and adoption of this technology.
From what I could see on the film ... it appears to have been (among others) ... a "political assassination" and it appears as if the "Shrub" and the "C0ck" were behind it. Then they turned around and wanted to drill for more oil in Alaska? | |
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| Does anyone remember hearing anything about an electric car ... EV1?
Posted: 6/28/2009 1:53:35 AM | Cotter
From what I could see on the film ... it appears to have been (among others) ... a "political assassination" and it appears as if the "Shrub" and the "C0ck" were behind it. Then they turned around and wanted to drill for more oil in Alaska?
Not really. O'bunghole has the same problems in that the power saved from petrol has to be gained in electricity. Coupled with charging time which can last hours, makes it inviable in normal useage for those doing anything over fifty miles at a time. While this may be the way of the future, O'bunghole and Bumdon will have to develop an entire change to the electric grid in order to produce the energy required to ch arge so many vehicles. As well, O'buma will not realize green savings as the coal required to produce the electricity to charge or, in some cases, overcharge vehicles in off peak hours may negate savings. All told however, it all comes down to a subtle shifting of needs which President O'butcheeks will need to examine prior to starting production of the '10 Barakmobile. | |
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| Does anyone remember hearing anything about an electric car ... EV1?
Posted: 6/28/2009 5:24:38 AM | Yes..even though I live in Canada I remember all the fuss over it at the time.
California, trying to deal with the smog problems in it's major cities, took the auto makers to task to produce a non-emissions vehicle or be banned from selling cars in that state until they did.
Both Ford and GM promptly produced electric cars for a pilot test, leasing them to a selected group, whilst they examined the feasibilities of the project..mainly to buy enough time to bring lobby groups on line to pressure the Californian state body to drop the ban.
Once California relented and dropped the ban on sales of gas engine vehicles provided they cleaned them up some more..the electric car was dead..and they destroyed them all as a result
Basically there were several reasons for their decision...
a) Battery technology at the time meant a limited range of use, and they felt the demand from the public would not be there, even if they were offered as an alternative choice.
b) the cost per vehicle to manufacture would have been high, ergo the price to the user would have been uncompetitive..I think they quoted 3x the price of a conventional car at the time
c) charging times would be an issue with customers used to the in and out in a gas station, against an hour or more
d) it would put a strain on the already high demands on the grid being experienced by many cities at that time if hundreds, maybe thousands, plugged in over night.
e) Gas was cheap then..who would want higher electric bills to power their vehicle?
Reasonable arguments at the time, and apart from the protests of those who owned one, and realized the benefits, very few others were even mildly interested.
Things that weren't raised at the time, but were also reasons for the killing of the car were
a) They didn't use gasoline at all..ergo the oil companies could see a massive drop in profits if everyone did decide to go electric only...no prizes for guessing who was amongst the main lobbyists for the change of the Californian laws.
b) The after market repairs were virtually nil..no anti freeze, oil filters, oil changes,belts, additives needed....think of all the small businesses, service stations etc that would be out of jobs...all the electric car needed replacing motor wise were the brushes once in a while.
Obviously they joined the lobby groups protesting their loss of income.
c) Global warming hadn't been 'invented' yet..the only concern at that point was air quality in cities in the form of smogs, so it was easier and quicker..and to some degree cheaper, for the auto companies...although not for buyers, as we found out later, to literally choke the gas motor into burning MORE fuel to overcome the anti-pollution additions that they added to meet the lowered emissions standards.
When the public began to become more aware of problems..and took up the 'Global warming religion'..they brought out the hybrids...a band aid solution that didn't have the oil companies lobbying, as they still use gasoline, nor the after market squawking about loss of business as they could see even more repairs due to the complications of the newer means of transport..
Eventually we might see the hydrogen fuel cells on the road..once the oil companies work out how to gain a monopoly on the manufacture and distribution of the hydrogen infra-structure needed, but I wonder what
a) the vehicle will cost?
b) what the fuel will cost?
c)what the repairs will costs, considering the complications of the electronics on board, and replacement costs of the units involved?
Goodbye the the era of cheap transportation for the Masses..get used to the idea..Good Lord Mr Ford..we're about to be dollared to death!
And it won't make an atom of difference in Global warming..the climate is changing for many more reasons than our influence..but we won't find THAT out until we have been conned into yet another expensive means of transport
I wonder if people will eventually be carbon taxed for producing excessive CO2 emissions from jogging, walking, or exerting themselves physically? It all contributes to global warming you know!
LOL!
poshrat
PS..when you look into how much OXYGEN is being consumed by cars, etc, rather than the CO2 output..maybe we should be more concerned that we are using up a valuable resource we need to LIVE on this planet.? | |
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| Does anyone remember hearing anything about an electric car ... EV1?
Posted: 6/28/2009 7:20:01 AM | | The lack of consumer interest killed the electric car, nothing else... Apathy by consumers, which still exists, towards these tiny, lightweight, impractical cars. At the time the booming market for SUV's led the manufacturers to invest in profitable projects, not cater to the granola crowd on the west coast (which is a limited market at best). The EV1 cost GM about 120K each to produce, yet they leased them for $400/month if memory serves me correctly. It was a losing proposition for the carmakers from the start and a very expensive one at that... | |
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| Does anyone remember hearing anything about an electric car ... EV1?
Posted: 6/28/2009 8:39:33 PM | This is what is wrong with GM. The Bottom line lack of investment and push to keep stock price up. Keep Wall street happy. Lay off stock goes up...
Sell your battery technology to the completion and your stock price goes up...
Friday October 07, 2005
http://www.post1.net/lowem/entry/gm_sells_assets_to_toyota
GM sells assets to Toyota...
General Motors Corp. agreed to sell its holdings in Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. to Toyota for about $740 million, or less than half their value on GM's books, as it struggles with rising losses. The Fuji stake had been valued at $1.5 billion, the automaker said. "It's surprising how fast GM is selling off the family silver," said Graeme Maxton, a director of the Economist Intelligence Unit in Hong Kong. "It rings alarm bells."
A stake in Fuji Heavy will give Toyota access to the company's technology for batteries which can be used in hybrid gasoline-electric cars. Hybrids such as Toyota's Prius and Honda's Civic are equipped with nickel hydride batteries made by Panasonic EV Energy Co. Fuji Heavy's Chief Executive Officer Kyoji Takenaka has said his company's manganese lithium-ion batteries last longer than Panasonic's nickel hydride batteries and handle temperature extremes better.
- Will the next-generation Prius be running on lithium-ion batteries? Now that would be interesting. As we all know, mobile phones have long ago switched from Ni-Mh to Li-Ion, perhaps hybrids will also be undergoing a similar transition in the future. The factors holding this back have been issues like cost and recharge cycles.
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