Who Killed The Electric Car
Tonight we watched an interesting documentary on whatever happened to the electric car and who killed it.
Interesting at least.
The GM EV1 was set to be remarkable. Followed by Honda and Toyota, but big business got a hold of them.
It got me to thinking, just when did I quit hearing about electric cars?
It was all set to be a huge success and then bam, nothing.
The amount of brand new cars that were crushed was sad. They never sold them to the owners, only leased them. There is only one left now and it is dismantled and in a museum.
This had an interesteing perpective on what happened.
It was done by several celebrities that drove them and how they tried to stop the death of it.
It tried to cover all sides, I think??? But then I have to consider that this is done by Hollywood and that raises my doubt to some degree.
Mel Gibson was a element and he is not really known for his far leftist attitude, but then there is Charlie Sheen and that really raises my doubt.
I think there were several reasons it was shut down. They tried to blame some of it on the Bush Administration, but then again, during the 90's when it was hot and Clinton was in, he did nothing either to promote the car.
I think all were to blame.
I think big business will always control what happens in this country no matter how we want so badly to think different.
What say you?
Interesting at least.
The GM EV1 was set to be remarkable. Followed by Honda and Toyota, but big business got a hold of them.
It got me to thinking, just when did I quit hearing about electric cars?
It was all set to be a huge success and then bam, nothing.
The amount of brand new cars that were crushed was sad. They never sold them to the owners, only leased them. There is only one left now and it is dismantled and in a museum.
This had an interesteing perpective on what happened.
It was done by several celebrities that drove them and how they tried to stop the death of it.
It tried to cover all sides, I think??? But then I have to consider that this is done by Hollywood and that raises my doubt to some degree.
Mel Gibson was a element and he is not really known for his far leftist attitude, but then there is Charlie Sheen and that really raises my doubt.
I think there were several reasons it was shut down. They tried to blame some of it on the Bush Administration, but then again, during the 90's when it was hot and Clinton was in, he did nothing either to promote the car.
I think all were to blame.
I think big business will always control what happens in this country no matter how we want so badly to think different.
What say you?
posted by the golden horse at 2:24 AM
7 Comments:
I think they won't work in normal driving situations.
I'd buy an electric in a heartbeat if it was feasible. My drive to work is 35 miles, one way. Wouldn't it be wonderful if I could drive to work, plug the car in to a 110 volt outlet, recharge it during my workshift, then drive home?
Yeah!!
But batteries are the problem. Some cars would have the power to get me where I need to be, but that pre-supposes new batteries. We all know from our cell phones and other gadgets, batteries weaken as they age. I can see myself getting two miles from work when the batteries give out, then having to call someone to come get me and tow my car so I can recharge it, only to have the same scenario on the way home the next day!
And then there is cold weather. Most batteries have something like half their normal-rated power at 20 degrees fahrenheit. That would preclude me from even attempting to use an electric car during most winter days here in the Midwest, (and on some days even as far South as the Florida panhandle).
And that's before we even consider heating the interior of the car...
Am I supposed to wear a snowmobile suit when it's cold?
There was a reason GM released all those EV-1's in Los Angeles... it's a near perfect environment for them there. GH, you could also use one where you live, and there are kits available to build them yourself if Ken-Man is handy. But for those of us that live where we have to use salt on the roads now and then, Electric cars are a pipe dream, and will remain a dream for the foreseeable future.
Good points GB,
I guess what was frustrating was they set the whole thing up to be a failure from the get go. They hired a young woman right out of college and gave her the project and very young team and said go for it. And they surprised everyone and did it.
As for the batteries, they purposedly put in bad ones from the start. A scientist came up with a good battery that could do your normal commute trip as well as last for years. He was bought out and they weren't put into the cars.
Then there is the deal that if they had given the car a chance, they had been working on lithium batteries and the possibility of solar panels in the car to recharge as you go.
Then you could even go a little further and put a generator on the brakes to create electricity for recharging. On a windy day after arriving at your destination, they could have came up with a wind generator that could have be raised from a storage place up on the roof for recharging. There were endless things that could have been done.
They had the battery recharging stations and they had the ability to recharge with 110.
The oil companies and the government and the car companies didn't want success.
As for the cold, I am sure if they wanted they could have came up with a small heater for the inside.
Imagine if we put just the people from the southern half of the country into a electrice car. The amount of oil savings would be tremendous and we could become a self sufficent country.
The car companies really didn't want it to succeed since the cars didn't need parts or even oil. They were too easy to work on.
The government didn't want to loose that 40 cents on the gallon tax they gouge us with.
It is all about the mighty dollar.
It is too sad that the right things were not done.
The public wasn't given the chance to buy the cars after their leases expired, they took the cars and shredded them. Even though the people wanted them. the people begged to keep their cars.
They were offered one million dollars for the last 70 cars and wouldn't sell them.
They were sneaky as to where they hid the cars and took them for shredding.
You might want to research some of the things you have written. I think electric enthusiasts dream that "wishing" will make a practical car. It won't.
Go take a look here, GH. This is a car that will work today, although I don't know what they will do to heat the interior when it gets cold. It looks good, it's fast as hell, and will go a long way before needing a recharge. The problem, as always with electrics, is the batteries. The Tesla will cost in the vicinity of $190K, and most of that is specialized battery cost. (And they just notified anxious future-owners that delivery of their cars would be postponed for almost a year...
apparently to resolve some sort of glitch.)
It's really easy to point to all sorts of "boogeymen" when it comes to why there are no electrics being produced, but if the technology were actually here someone would fill that market niche. It's just not here yet.
Toyota and Honda are working on "plug-in" hybrids. Google and take a look at their programs. That will be the stepping-stone to true electrics. Don't get me wrong now... I expect we'll see a breakthrough in battery technology sometime soon that will make electrics practical in some climates, even if it is just for use as an in-town commuter.
And as an afterthought... you are aware that all todays hybrids use regenerative braking, right? (Applying the brakes turns a generator and recharges the onboard batteries.) The industry did learn a few things from the EV-1!
Wikipedia has a good article about the EV-1 here, including a blurb about the documentary you refer to. (Interesting to note in that article that each of the EV-1's cost GM approx. $80K to build... for an overgrown golf cart! That 80K would be enough to buy 26,666 gallons of gasoline at $3/per, which in a car getting 20 miles per gallon would take you over 533,000 miles! How badly do you want an EV-1?)
As you may have noted in the original blog, I had much skepticism and wonder if the whole story were told and correctness on both sides.
I was quoting from what was on the documentary and had doubts from act one.
I think it is a sad thing but was a good idea that just didn't pan out for several reasons.
Ha...
Just looked at the Tesla site more closely and found this in the "Frequently asked questions" section...
" Will the Tesla Roadster work on a cold day?
Yes, the Energy Storage System (ESS) has a heater that will keep the batteries warm in a cold climate."
Isn't that great?
You may be freezin' your ass off in your $190,000 car, but at least your batteries will be warm!
That is still an expensive way to heat the ole akole.
Maybe a car plug in hair dryer??
I think I will stick with the little Honda for awhile longer.
190,000, geesh.
Watched "Who Killed the Electric Car" recently (great documentary), then i heard that GM and Tesla are making another run at the electric car (yay for progress!) hopefully development of this technology can go on unhindered by the corporations that depend on oil consumption.
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