We are MORE than ready for electric cars and your statement isn't 100% correct.
Here in Tucson, for example, our electric company generates over 5% of their electricity from methane gas that's produce (free BTW) from the town's major landfill.

Anyway, coal is fine for now.




Fred

 

The problem with full electirc cars is limited range which right now isn't much more than 40 miles per charge and the cost of the batteries is a bit above what the general consumer can afford to make it a realistic mode of transportation but hopefully soon we'll get something.

These ideas really should have been intentlly explored starting 20 years ago but the '90s America got drunk on high horsepower cars (and there's alot today) and big trucks and just until the last 2 years the average american was being ignorant to the warning signs that $4/gallon and higher gas was coming.

 

That's rapidly changing with the two largest auto companies in the world (Toyota and GM) and others working hard on it.
How about, what you can buy right now (well it would be an '09 as they're sold out of all the '08's) a car that:

- That has a 256 mpg (GGE) EPA rating
- That is 100% totally electric
- Changes completely in ca 3.5 hours (plug in)
- Has a 220+ mile range (they're working on upping that to 300 mile range for next year or maybe the following year)
- Goes 0-60 in 3.9 seconds

It's available (currently) as only a roadster, but plans to introduce a sedan next year at about half the current price (it ain't cheap now, but it shows you what can be done) and the following year plans are to introduce a model at $30,000 or less.
















Yup, we didn't learn from the early (early 80's) gas crunch.
Anyway, "things are a changing"




Fred

 

i beg to differ. wat about that fully electric car that GM put out a few years back? that got something crazy like 100 or more miles to a charge, leased them out for about a year or so, then just suddenly took em all back and crushed every last one of them? we have the technology, but its all political. the halls of justice are painted green. money talks. if someone were to lose money, such as the government, on the taxes they put on gasoline, theyd be losing a lot of money. so lets say they make, eh... a billion dollars a year in gas taxes alone. i know its not realistic, but lets say it is. now if every other person were driving a fully electric car, that tax money to the gov't would be around $500 million. now lets say taxes stayed the same, and the next fiscal year every other person left that didnt buy an electric car last year bought one, and didnt have to use gas. that $500 million would drop down to $250 million, and so on. everyone that asks 'why dont we have electric cars?' ^^^^^^^^ thats the answer. please excuse it if the numbers are out of wack, im not a great mathematician.

 

Just think where we could've been if we'd just been on things 10 years ago since we still are at least 5 years away from an affordable (under $25k) real electric car that can haul families and go a few hundred miles on a charge. Even today's hybrids have limitations and are still carrying about a $5k premium over their gas counterparts.

 

sorry, I must have misunderstood



If its ok for YOU to get a financial benefit, from E85 then arent you putting YOUR needs in front of the many? It also makes you a hypocrite. Why exactly do you think E85 is a bad idea?

This would seem logical. I would like more info about what effect it would have on the market, farmers, ect. This would also be a good time to re-evaluate CRP.

 

Oh dont you worry about that. The government wil ALWAYS figure out a way to tax us, even if they figure out a way to run a car on water.

 

too true my friend.

 

Look people, there are no easy answers.
For the time being, energy is finite so anywhere you get it, will have an effect on something else. If we want cheaper fuels, were going to all have to sacrifice something. But nobody wants to do that. One guy could"nt even pass up the temptation to save $.60 a gallon while at the same time preaching about the ills of ethenol and blaming the "Administration".
So...if everyone started driving electric cars tommorow, the grid would have to be built from the ground up and prices would shoot thru the roof, and then you'd all be whining about the cost of electricity.
And the same goes for corn, soy, sugarbeets and so on and so-forth.
You "idealist" fall in love with a cause without looking at the bigger pic. You say things like,"if everyone did this, it would solve all our problems". I'm here to tell you to pull your head out of your arse and think things thru to the "cause and effect".
Here is a simple excersise; What would happen if everyone in the USA just stoped driving cars tommorow?

 

everyone would come after you with torches and pitchforks

 

I think they are already on their way.

 

anyone notice all the automakers claiming all their cars now make 30mpg on the highway? and this is supposed to be 'good' fuel economy? my first car was an 84 honda civic, it got 35mpg around town on a bad day, probably 45mpg on the highway. how in the world with fuel injected cars, effiecent motors and computer controlled everything can we honestly be way behind what we had 20 years ago? i guess we've been so brainwashed from gas guzzling SUV's bringing 10mpg that we think 30mpg is good! maybe someday we can even convince all the soccor mom of 2 kids she doesn't need a suburban to haul her yoga mat around. when i grew up my family had a station wagon, we needed the extra room because we were always camping. it didn't have 22" blingy rims, 4wd and a 300hp V8. the nav units and built in DVD players hadn't been invented yet either.

we're a product of 'i have it because i can' and its completely brainwashed everyone. society needs to pull their heads out of their asses and tell our government we aren't that stupid.

on second thought, i guess we are.

Al

 

Good post

 

propane..

 

Cars are weighed down by computers and so much safety stuff that they on average weigh more than a comprable sized car did 20 years ago and for some reason car manufacturers got all caught up in our hunger for big trucks/SUVs and wound up sporty cars and ignored the inevitible increase in fuel prices and if we acted on this agressively in the late '80s and developed more fuel efficient cars as the millenium approached we might be in a much different scenario but it seems we didn't get serious til the last 10 years or even less.

 

Hey, did you guys know that Ford's quality is now equal to Toyota?

 

Yup, in some of their vehicles vs some Toyota's.

Lotta good that'll do 'ya when Ford's gone the way of the Dodo Bird





Fred