electric cars

[JOHN B]

Many people do not realize just how long electric cars have been around....

http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aacarselectrica.htm

At the turn of the century (1900) 25 to 30 percent of cars on the nations roadway were electric. New York City had a FLEET of electric Taxi Cabs! So,......I do not see why there is such a problem with automakers today saying how DIFFICULT it is to make them. Yes, I understand that over time, with unuse, the tech know how has been forgotten, but the ability IS there. So, other than corporate greed for the advancement of Gasoline, there is no reason we cannot have an (as the Presidents have always said) an "alternative source of energy" for automobiles. Can you imagine if the electric car had been given an opportunity to evolve for the last 100 years?.........

 

[Jory]

One of the first Electric Cars

 

[trawler69]

The technology is there and has evolved, it's just that it is so much easier and cheaper for the car makers to continue with gasoline tecnology, to change would require investment. I think that as part of the govt bailout a condition should have been made that some of the money go to developing electric cars. When I was being dragged up it was perfectly normal for milk to be delivered using electric trucks. For urban dwellers, where most of the pollution problems and waste of fuel occurs, electric vehicle usage should be mandatory. At least the traffic jams would be silent with no energy wastage and no suffocating exhaust fumes.

 

[Yooper]

The Fritchle Electric Car, produced in Denver, Colorado:

A 1912 all-electric. 100 miles on a single overnight charge. Batteries generally lasted 10,000 miles before needing replacement.

A 1917 Hybrid Electric-Gasoline, about a 300 mile range. The small gasoline engine recharged the batteries as you drove, plus braking served as a regeneration system too (sound familiar????)

 

[NineOfClubs]

I'm so sorry this technology wasn't developed over time.

To me, this has always seemed like the best way for most of us to get around.

 

[gmoney]

Most eagerly anticipated is the 2010 Chevrolet Volt, which General Motors is calling an “extended range electric vehicle.” According to Rob Peterson, manager of electric vehicle technology communications with General Motors in Detroit, the Volt features a nearly 400-pound T-shaped lithium-ion battery that’s aligned down the vehicle’s center spine beneath the passenger compartment.

But those who stay within that 40-mile round-trip to work each day wouldn’t need the generator and could ostensibly do 100% of their commuting on pure electricity.

Some observers believe cars that run on lithium-ion batteries, on which GM is banking heavily, are more likely to be profitable in the long-term than current hybrid technology. Because so-called two-mode hybrids feature two separate power trains — one gas and one electric — they are expensive to manufacture, and even economies of scale will not mitigate that cost. In addition, the nickel-hydride batteries used exclusively in today’s hybrids is also exceptionally costly, owing to the fact that nickel is an expensive metal that’s expected to become even more so over time.

The price to develop lithium-ion batteries is daunting now, those experts argue. But once developed, those batteries will power vehicles that will be more affordable to manufacture on a long-term basis than today’s hybrids.
According to Peterson, the Chevy Volt will go into production in November 2010, with first sales to the public expected before the end of that year.

 

[sexytxcowboy86]

Here are a few of the EVs coming out very soon!

EV and Fuel Cell Vehicles are so Amazing and Awesome!

2010 Chevrolet VOLT - Production Model

2010 Chrysler 200C EV Concept

2010 SMART EV

2010 Tesla Roadster EV

2010 Fisker Karma EV

-STC86

 

[JustAGuy08]

You should watch the documentary "Who Killed The Electric Car?"