Still Want to Buy an Electric Car?

[oldirtyewok]

Just wanna chime in here... I do currently lease a 2012 Chevy Volt.

Love it.

Love the fact I don't have to buy gas often (smile everytime i pass a gas station, or when gas in MTL is above 1.30/L, or not freezing

my ass off at the gas station).

I love the fact that it's uber silent.

I love the fact that I don't have a second car as there is no need if I have to drive to say Toronto (which I've done twice in the volt already).

I love the instant torque

I love how cheap it is to recharge (~80c per night) to drive to and from work about 60km both ways.

I love that I can't get stranded anywhere even if the battery is drained.

And the list goes on....

What I don't like is that its kind of small, there are only 2 seats in the back. With the little one, the stroller takes up a good portion of the trunk. I don't like obviously the high initial price of electrics in general, but with any new tech the first adopters help pave the way for the masses.

Any questions?? Ask away!

[BMWFan]

but with any new tech the first adopters help pave the way for the masses.

Ding ding ding, ODW is the winner.

People complain that the cost of the electirc car is more expensive than a comparable ICE vehicle. That is true now, but will change as adoption goes up and prices come down. It happened with computers and televisions and is happening again with electric vehicles. People paid $7500 for the 1st 50 inch plasma TVs that you can get well under $1000 now with many more features. My 1st computer was a $3500 build it yourself 386sx because it was cheaper to build than to purchase prebuilt ($1000 cheaper).

Same thing with HD DVD/BLU Ray, IPOD, Laptops, and most other tech. The early adopters pay more so companies can recoup their R&D costs and continue to provide us great products. Costs will come down due to economie of scale, and then everyone can afford them.

Folks also say it'is a rich mans cars, I can get an Accord for $30K. The purchasers of the Model S, for the most part, are turning in their BMW, BENZ, Lexus, Porche, etc.

For the $30K crowd Tesla is working on the GEN III car which will cost $30-$40K. It is about 3-4 years away. In the meantime all the people buying the Model S are setting things up for the GEN III purchasers, just like the Roadster purchasers did the same for the Model S buyers.

[Orion21]

Folks also say it'is a rich mans cars, I can get an Accord for $30K. The purchasers of the Model S, for the most part, are turning in their BMW, BENZ, Lexus, Porche, etc.

Or cashing in their stock options, like so many Facebookers I know

[BMWFan]

Or cashing in their stock options, like so many Facebookers I know

True that. I had a chance to work for Microsoft before they blew up. I chose to stay with my company whose stock went nowhere for 20 yrs. Still kicking myself for that one.

[1LegLance]

I live in super sunny phoenix and have often thought how great it would be to put solar panels on all the covered parking spaces and charge your vehicle while at work.

Also my commute is 5.5 miles each way 3-4 days a week so an electric really would make sense.

Oh and the Telsa is super nice looking...either the original or the S

[BMWFan]

Yes, companies should do that. Imagine them covering the roof of their corporate office building with Solar Panels and offering free charging as a perk.

[CanuckSARTech]

Its not just a price thing you know. It also has something to do with our planet and saving it and all that...although since the US burns coal for most of it's electricity, I would assume that an electric car would be more benificial in Eastern Canada as opposed to the US.

When everything is factored in and said and done (manufacturing costs [financial and environmental], operating costs, down-the-road value, CO2 emissions, longevity of vehicle/parts, etc.), my 2005 V6 gas Toyota Tacoma costs less (financially and environmentally) to run in the long-term versus a 2005 Toyota Prius hybrid.

Hybrids and electric cars are the future....but not quite yet. They're a "green consumerism" fad right now, and they need to improve to get to the point that we need them to be at.

I think, though, that the long term outlook will not be gasoline-driven, or electric, or hybrid. I think once they get the hydrogen fuel cell thing sorted out, that'll be more viable.

Mind you, I'd still go for that sexy Audi concept, or the Tesla, or the....

[CanuckSARTech]

I always liked the look of the Fiskers. Unfortunately, it seems they are all but done.......

Funnily enough, at last year's Toronto MegaHerf II, my wife Erin and I were coming back from the pre-herf at Art's. We were going to the hotel to change and get freshened up for the main herf at the locale. When we got to the hotel, there was one of the brand new, lovely looking, silver-sleek Fiskars sitting down there in the valet parking turn-around area. Everyone was gawking and taking pictures and whatnot. About 45 mins later, Erin and I come down to catch a cab ride to the herf venue, and voila!!!! The Fiskar was still there - but minus half of it's front bumper basically. One of the valets, apparently, in trying to move around a car and look out for all the people standing around, in moving a big SUV or truck, backed right into the Fiskar and messed up it's front end pretty bad.

So much for the priority parking! Such a shame. That's a damn beautiful car.

[CanuckSARTech]

Once batteries catch up and they would have by now if oil had not been so cheap for so long, electric motors in cars make so much more sense.

It's a much older and more proven technology and it's far far simpler.

Think of an engine with no oil, no carburettor, no fuel injection, no transmission, no spark plugs, fuel pump, muffler etc, etc.

Plus all of us already have all the power it needs delivered to our houses.

The problem is, is that all these batteries are horrible for the environment. Nickel cadmium, lithium, niMH, etc., etc. Horrible materials that need vast amounts of processing, vast amounts of CO2 emitted for shipping (ore materials from one country, then over to another country for refining, then to another country for manufacture, then another country for putting them in vehicles, etc., etc), then recycling and long-term environmental costs, etc. It's a nightmare.

Great in principle. Kinda piss poor in practice.

Like I said earlier, I think the hybrid idea of hydrogen fuel cell will work best in the long run. Not gas-electric hybrid, but its the hybrid idea of combustion-and-fuel/battery-cell that will pan out best, likely.

Fingers crossed, for my eventual/hopeful grandkids' sakes.

[CanuckSARTech]

I would love to know how you came up with the bold line in your statement?

Math that was sorted out long ago. There was a webpage that I used that helped calculate it (and it wasn't an overly-skewed-one-way-or-another-spectrum one either, to the best of my recollection), but it's been a while, and I haven't found it (figured that would be doubted, so I've been looking for it).

Everything was factored in:

• production financial costs of both vehicles
  
• production CO2 costs of both vehicles
  
• fuel economy of both
  
• estimated longevity of both, based on known variables (engine components, battery life, etc.)
  
• amount of actual work both do (lbs of capacity/weight moved, that each vehicle is capable of doing, per ton of CO2 or so)
  

The biggest crux is these batteries right now. Expensive technology, expensive to produce, lots of CO2 and related toxins produced in the manufacture and large-scale transport of these batteries in the production process, and relatively short lifespan for the amount of work done.

If they can sort out the "charging pads" thing they're working on, that will help by using smaller and less expensive batteries, but having more lifetime for the vehicle. The charging pads thing is similar to that with the charging mat technology with the Blackberry's and other smart devices. I think last spring or summer they announced they were going to start testing it with some city buses somewhere (I want to say Ottawa or Montreal, actually). Basically, so that when the vehicles are at bus stops (or red light lines, for normal vehicles down the road), there's a charging that's happening, wirelessly, with the bus'/vehicle's batteries. Could be a very cool development.

[oldirtyewok]

I know there are cars out there that charge the battery when the breaks are tapped. The heat lost from the pad/tire friction is collected as energy for the battery.

I still think this has far more to do with how the electricity is produced as the rest of the car seems very negligible in the differences to me.

That is correct Shlomo. Most if not all hybrids/electrics have some sort of regenerative breaking. Where just by applying a small amount of pressure on the breaks puts energy back into the battery, and ultimately gives you a longer range. However, its never 1:1 (and foolish to expect that type of recapturing as well).

I've had to "relearn" to drive so to speak when I got the volt (for the better). I keep a longer distance between me and the car in front party for safety reasons, and partly for regenerative reasons.

When driving an electric, many including myself find it very satisfying and entertaining at the same time to see how far we can go just on battery power. There are a lot of factors that dictate how much distance can be traveled just on battery. These 3 principles also apply to internal combustion cars as well but to a lesser extent. The 3 T's as we like to call it. Temperature, Terrain and Technique.

ANyhow I don't want to bore you guys to death with the details. If you have specific questions, i'll be glad to answer.

[El Presidente]

I am all in for an Electric 4x4 that can be recharged from a generator and has a soft top/hard top removeable roof....do 0-60 in 4.5.

[BMWFan]

I am all in for an Electric 4x4 that can be recharged from a generator and has a soft top/hard top removeable roof....do 0-60 in 4.5.

Tesla's next vehicle is a 4x4 SUV with gull wing doors. It was supposed to be begin shipping late this year but I believe they pushed it back a year to focus on selling as many Model S as they can for now.

Here is a link with info and cool pics.

http://www.teslamotors.com/modelx