What is Digg?193 Comments
- inactive, on 06/11/2009, -10/+90Meanwhile, the competition will be developing electricity-powered cars that will rival GM's gas powered cars, prompting GM to declare bankruptcy again.
- schnikies79, on 06/12/2009, -7/+52Think what you want, but he is right. There is no way that >50% of cars will powered by anything other than gasoline in just a decade.
I plan to be driving the same car I am now in a decade, barring any major problems. Same goes my parents and my siblings. - s0krat3z, on 06/12/2009, -0/+26It's gonna be interesting to see what the return to $4 to $6 per gallon gas in the next few years does to innovation.
- yerdaddy, on 06/12/2009, -1/+26No one will need more than 637 kb of memory.
- jgc7, on 06/12/2009, -3/+22The company went bankrupt. Your stocks is worthless. Better luck next time.
- merreborn, on 06/12/2009, -3/+22Damn straight.
10 years isn't that long, people. Sorry. Completely revamping your energy infrastructure takes time. We've been using gasoline automobiles for damn near a century now. That's not going to change overnight.
This is akin to an auto exec saying, in the '70s -- when "flying cars" were "just around the corner" -- that "In 10 years, most cars still won't fly". - rheaume, on 06/12/2009, -1/+19He just took the interim job as CEO
Wow do you ever look dumb. - CivicTV, on 08/14/2009, -5/+22Here is the documentary Who Killed The Electric Car? (english language with dutch subs)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1405611374 ...
GM Produced the EV1 starting in 1996 until 1999, the fuel types for these cars included Natural Gas, Parallel and Series Hybrids, Fuel Cells, and full Electric. The fuel economies were amazing on some of the vehicles from 60 to 100 MPG. Yet GM said there was no demand for these vehicles. - Justin6512, on 06/12/2009, -10/+27GM could have been so ahead in the auto industry, but instead greed got the best of them which is still apparent today with the Chevy Volt. They still aren't committed to trying to create a %100 electric car.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Killed_the_Electr ...
My money is on the Tesla Model S. - inchrnt, on 06/12/2009, -5/+20I'm ready for the next wave of car companies to come along and blow these dinosaurs away.
- trucanadian, on 06/12/2009, -5/+19Agreed. Too many people think this green movement is going to happen with the drop of a hat. It's going to take a while. This is guy is just being realistic.
- inactive, on 06/12/2009, -8/+21developing? yes. will the predominance of cars be alternative fuels in 10 years? no.
- Jucken, on 06/12/2009, -4/+14No it won't, because it already is.
Well, at least here in Brazil... - merreborn, on 06/12/2009, -2/+12The model S is cool and all, but $60k is still way out of most people's price ranges.
- kirbs2001, on 06/12/2009, -5/+15Sounds the GM of the last 20 years...
- lordmike, on 06/12/2009, -2/+10I know this is anathema to say this, but GM and Chrysler are (ironically enough) way ahead on electric technology than anyone else. Next year both Chrysler and GM will have plug in electrics for sale with gas extenders. Both will get about 40 miles before the gas kicks in and get about 100 miles to the gallon overall. Next year, Toyota will unveil their plug-in prius. It will go on electric for 10 miles, an only in the city, before the gas kicks in. Honda doesn't even have any plans for plug-ins in the near future.
GM just built a massive battery lab in Michigan and is partnering with U of M to develop battery engineers for the future... that's hardly "wussing out" on electric vehicles.
I'm getting tired of the anti-GM propaganda around here.. The headline obviously takes a phrase out of context to support an anti-GM bias... GM knows that the future is the Volt drivetrain... It's the one thing that differentiates itself form the competition... - mksmothers, on 06/12/2009, -1/+9Of course the majority of cars will run on gasoline, the cost of ownership/operation of a car is cheaper if you use fossil fuels.
- S1ngular1ty1, on 06/12/2009, -1/+9This has nothing to do with GM's ability to design electric cars. A car (even an electric one) isn't really that complicated.
The problem is infrastructure. There is no way the infrastructure will be in place in 10 years to support millions of electric cars. Our power grid can barely run people's houses during the summer without failing. - compulsive1, on 06/12/2009, -0/+7Yes, considering the average life of a car is well over 10 years, and there are NO electric cars and only a small number of hybrids on the road today, combine that with the fact that all brands are still producing gasoline propelled cars almost exclusively, it's simply logical to state that the transition to alternatives will not take place for another 10 years or more.
I just got a car, and will be paying for it for the next 5 years, then I would like to have a few years of payment free driving- so it's safe to assume that I won't be buying an electric car for 8 or more years. There are many people in similar position. - Suzilla, on 06/12/2009, -2/+9The rest of the industrialized world has been and will continue to be WAAAAAY ahead of the US when it comes to electrified transportation systems. The US is about the only industrialized nation the railroads of which continue to use diesel engines. Pretty much every other country with a railway system of any size uses electric engines -- either linear induction (i.e. third-rail) or overhead lines.
Americans slumber as the world passes them by and leaves them far, far behind. - DeadFox1, on 06/12/2009, -0/+7digg me down, but I actually look forward to this.
- rocketman42, on 06/12/2009, -0/+642?
- S1ngular1ty1, on 06/12/2009, -0/+6Yeah, seeing as he just barely took the job and had nothing to do with GM's collapse.
- robokafka, on 06/12/2009, -4/+10Wow what a shocker
- inventorbs, on 06/12/2009, -0/+6That wasn't Fritz...that was Wagoner (who Obama fired not too long ago).
- 2Bnor2B, on 06/12/2009, -1/+6What the video and learn..
1. The second generation NiMH batteries for the EV1 lasted longer that the life expectency of the car and were recyclable.
2. The original designer of the batteries is legally not permitted to speak about them.
3. The rights to these new batteries where brought from GM by Chevron and Texaco
( read number 3 again !!!)
Why would Chevron and Texaco want to buy the controlling rights to a car battery? Could it be that they could make up any astronomical price they wanted? Effectively Chevron-Texaco have a choking hold on the revolutionary technology that was behind the EV1 batteries. - davidwasman, on 06/12/2009, -0/+5Why Is Every First Letter Of Your Comment Capitalized?
- macdady843, on 06/12/2009, -2/+7unless there is some magical leap in battery tech in the next 10 years we'll all be driving internal combustion still.. or at least i will..
- Cyberdropping, on 06/12/2009, -2/+7Sadly, the CEO is probably correct, considering he is only looking ahead 10 years. However, this is quite commom for corporations, to think in ten year terms. Most big companies have ten year business plans they follow and update each year.
I am all for electric and I am very interested in the Volt and also the Ford Fusion. I even have an electric assist bike I converted to ride to work in good weather, which is a 14 mile round trip commute. Having said that, the battery technology is just now getting to the point with LifePO4 etc., that makes a car powered by electricity a viable alternative to the internal combustion engine. Expensive yes, but it is at least possible and now, the cells are also quite safe, especially the A123 Nano technology cells. I think these are in the Tesla and also may be in the upcoming Volt.
Sadly, even these cells pale in comparison to the energy stored in gasoline. Gas holds 150 times more energy than even these high tech Lithium cell chemistries. - amdahlj, on 06/12/2009, -2/+7Usually people don't take so much flak for stating the obvious.
- inventorbs, on 06/12/2009, -1/+5Read "The End of Oil" by Paul Roberts. One of the most important points in the book is that we will not change our primary source of energy until the current alternative sources cost less than oil. This takes a lot of time (i.e >10 years). It took decades to switch from wood to coal and again from coal to oil.
Also note that the Volt also will have an internal combustion engine...improving ICE efficiency is just as important, if not more, than innovation in alternative fuel sources. - rjey, on 06/12/2009, -0/+4Diesel fumes are anything but clean. Many studies have linked diesel fumes to cancer, far worse than gasoline cars. Just check into fire stations and exhaust fume removal systems for an inkling of how bad diesel can be.
- em11488, on 06/12/2009, -1/+5100% electric with what we have now is completely retarded. Google an image of the lithium plants around the world. They ***** ***** up. REAL BAD. I have a civic hybrid and I know the batteries are going to go to ***** in a few years. Good thing they put a 7 year protection on them, because I have a laptop, I know batteries eat dust. Since the tesla lotus has something like the equivalent of 6000 laptop batteries in the car, with no futuristic non deteriorating technology, I dont see how someone so "poignant" on "making the change to oil free" is actually considering the consequences. I think more people need to ride bikes. and get a grip. GO GM. and I hope to god that silver goes down in price. RIGHT APPLE?
- strictnein, on 06/12/2009, -1/+5The most overblown "controversy" ever. It's sad people are still complaining about it.
If I'm a shareholder, and the CEO of the company is getting paid millions, the idea of him wasting time going through security at an airport and dicking around in a terminal, instead of getting to meetings quickly, is absolutely inane. Couple that with the fact that with a group of 5 or 6 people, flying a private jet isn't that much more expensive, especially when you factor in how much business travel is booked last minute. - oldNgray, on 06/12/2009, -0/+4You nailed it. All these Digg users just love to pounce on a sound-bite headline and root for a GM failure (even though just about everyone in charge, including the board of directors, has been almost entirely replaced).
- enginerd17, on 06/12/2009, -0/+4Actually if people charge their cars at night and not during the day the grid can handle it.
- charlietuna, on 06/12/2009, -0/+4Bwahhh, I wanna electric car...
That gets 500 miles per charge... recharges in one hour...
that costs no more than as a gas burner...
that performs like an old fashioned Mustang, 'Vette or Maserati.
Yeah, and I also want nutritious tasty nonfat Macaroni and Cheese.
I mean it could happen, just not likely. - RooX, on 06/12/2009, -0/+4until diesel prices skyrocket due to demand. Remember you can only make roughly 9 gallons of diesel from a barrel of crude vs almost 20 gallons of motor petrol. There is a smaller supply of diesel and you have the entire trucking industry that demands it. It won't take a massive upswing in diesel vehicles to make the price of a gallon skyrocket.
- pinchduck, on 06/12/2009, -0/+3So you're going to unveil your car tomorrow? The one that runs on sunshine and smiles?
What do you think the majority cars will run on in 10 years, if not gasoline? The average life of a vehicle is over 10 years now, which means that every new car bought today will still be running. What will they have switched to? - Suzilla, on 06/12/2009, -0/+3All of Europe's, Russian (and former Soviet Republics) major railroads are electrified. That alone eclipses the size and volume of US rail traffic. Japan and France have had high-speed bullet trains for almost half a century now. These countries have come to depend far more on their rail systems that the US, particularly for passenger traffic, and have, therefore, the political will and economic priorities to maintain and improve those systems.
The US, it seems, prefers loud-farting cars built by now-bankrupt auto-makers.
And, before you go throwing stones, calling me "American-hating" or "anti-American", I'll have you know I am an American, and I am very, VERY sad to be witnessing what has happened to this country during my lifetime. I think the only way things will improve is to take a long, hard, honest look at how stupidly we have squandered -- and continue to squander -- our own wealth and the good-will of the rest of the world towards us. It's time we re-learn to talk civilly, think civicly, and work hard to make America great ... again. - S1ngular1ty1, on 06/12/2009, -1/+4You can not relate computer technology with infrastructure and automotive technology. Just because you get a 2x faster computer every 1 1/2 years doesn't mean cars work the same way. It is going to take way over 10 years to transition to an alternative fuel source and billions upon billions of dollars to do it. Our entire electrical grid would have to be beefed up tremendously which is a huge, HUGE, undertaking. Gas stations would need to be replaced with charging stations, and battery technology needs to mature so that batteries are reliable and can hold a sufficient charge for powering electric cars so they get similar range with gasoline fueled vehicles.
None of the major car companies are going to mass produce purely electric cars until the infrastructure can support them because most people just won't buy them. It will not be profitable. - Suzilla, on 06/12/2009, -0/+3As it turns out, no where near as "efficient" in terms of overall cost of operation over time. Those efficiency claims omit or ignore three key points. First, electric engines put energy back into the system when they're being run on downhill stretches. Two, diesel engines wear down faster than electric engines and thus need to be replaced more often. And the reason they wear down is also the reason they still pollute more than electric: they burn hydrocarbon-based fuels. Which brings us to number three: those fuel sources are not renewable, nor are they as stable as the oil industry would have us believe. (See below.)
At the beginning of the 20th century there was a rail line in America that ran from Chicago to Seattle. Two thirds of it -- the end portions -- were electrified using power generated from hydroelectric stations. This was basically "free" energy. Additionally, the electric engines channeled power back into the system as they made their down-hill runs (downhill in the Rockies, note.) So the energy costs of running the electrified portions were actually NEGATIVE; this part of the system more than paid for itself. The middle portion would have been electrified eventually had it not been for the greed of this company's competitors AND owners. However, during the 50 or so years that it operated, the cost of operating the electric segments -- over 600 miles' worth -- more than made up for the cost of having to operate with diesel engines for the span not (yet) electrified. The diesel engines had to be periodically replaced and/or upgraded. The electric engines never were.
That line -- the Milwaukee Road -- finally went out of business at the start of the 1970s. It's owners claimed that diesel trains were more "efficient" and would be able to transport the goods in a cost-effective manner. A few short years later, the US was hit with the first of several "oil shocks" as the Arab oil producing countries embargoed oil shipments to the US in retaliation for our support of Israel in the Yom Kippur war. The cost of fuel began to sky-rocket then, and the promised "efficiency" of the diesel systems never materialized.
It's time to stop listening to the petroleum interests that hold us in thrall. Oil is, at best, a short-lived, stop-gap solution to energy storage and transport. It's day is over -- as is the life of any country that still clings to and depends upon it. - Demos27, on 06/12/2009, -1/+4Exactly, Tesla is far from the cutting edge...$60k for an electric car is not cutting edge. Until someone makes an electric car for cheap (China will probably be first), no one is on the cutting edge.
In fact I'm kind of getting sick of people touting Tesla, sure they got an electric Lotus and now they have a sedan...great! The fact is they are creating tons of media coverage on their cars but are far from selling tons of cars. - Ultomato, on 06/12/2009, -1/+4mitsubishi is already selling evs. at least in japan
- Demos27, on 06/12/2009, -0/+3I'm far from the person who would call you American hating. In fact I support those who criticize this country, like you they love it so much that they want to see it be better. I do hope America becomes a great country again =)
Btw, I didn't know Russia had electrified track. I was wrong, my bad. I guess it's cause hardly anyone uses the train system here anymore. - EtherGnat, on 06/12/2009, -0/+3@inventorbs
Where are you getting the 2.5 miles/kWh for the Volt? I didn't find an official rating in a quick search, but some math based on the effective kWh of the battery and the range yields a result almost twice what you have.
"Also worth mentioning is that this doesn't do a lot to help the environment until we stop burning coal to generate the electricity that will power these vehicles."
This has been debunked again and again. - BigOnLogn, on 06/12/2009, -3/+6Actually, he just took the job.
- inactive, on 06/12/2009, -1/+4The whole joke about all this nonsense is that the amount of fuel "wasted" by regular folk is absolutely nothing compared to how much is used by heavy industry, the military, airlines, and the agro sectors. You want to make a REAL difference in fossil fuel usage? How about decapitating Amtrak and building real domestic rail travel in this country again? It's shameful the amount of fuel wasted so that we can fly 2 hours to Chicago from New York when fast trains could easily take us their in 6 or probably less using way less fuel. Electric cars are simply retarded, electricity doesn't magically pour out of your wall it comes from power plants that use and waste just as much fuel as the internal combustion engine! Maybe even more considering how much power you lose in transmission cables!
- suckaPU, on 06/12/2009, -3/+6at the very least, that's the wrong attitude. GM is already doomed at the beginning of their 'new start'
- spyderfreek2k, on 06/12/2009, -0/+3If your like me and picked it up at <$1 Good for you! Your not doing to bad.
But, when GM came out with the pre production model volt they were at $13. Ouch. -
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