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35 Comments
- inactive, on 07/07/2009, -0/+16you don't invest in a car company. invest in the company that figures out how to store massive amounts of electricity in a small lightweight space.
- sheagunther42, on 07/06/2009, -3/+11The Tesla is a damn sexy car.
- fury420, on 07/07/2009, -0/+5I can count on two hands the number of times in the past year I have needed to drive more than 150 miles at a time. Most people's automobile usage is similar, and could easily be handled by electric vehicles even with today's range & recharge capabilities.
If you really do wish to use an electric vehicle for trips longer than a couple hundred miles then you'll need some sort of range-extending battery-pack addon, or be in a vehicle designed to allow the battery packs to be quickly swapped for fully charged ones at service stations. (check out Better Place electric vehicles for an example)
Oh, and the batteries used are quite recyclable - mantis108, on 07/06/2009, -2/+6I have so much pent-up unfulfilled electric car desire it is ridiculous.
- TheMachine1, on 07/07/2009, -0/+4Aptera is not on the list?
- MWeather, on 07/07/2009, -0/+4Electric cars have been around since before the internal combustion engine.
- SilicoSurfer, on 07/06/2009, -0/+4Yeah keep an eye out on the Chinese firms...
- joshuaer, on 07/07/2009, -1/+41. Tesla Motors - great ideas no real price point for the average person.
2.Bright Automotive - I assume the same price point as all others great idea A. will make large companies seem more green. B. will actually help. C. big companies have money!
3. Brammo Epic Fail!. top speed of 50mpg and 12,000, compare to a nice high end scooter ( about 6500.00)http://www.vespausa.com/scooters.php#/overview/Ves ... but really a nice mid range motorcycle will get 40-60mpg and can be driven on the freeway. Bike conversion kits and other electric bike companies are selling better products for cheaper.
4. Fisker - again over priced and the over of a smaller cheaper short range car some time soon.
5. BYD- car looks nice i would like to find a price and some specs on it.
the rest are all small ass crappy little cars that most people will not buy and for people who live in colder areas are not practical.
If people would just live closer to work, buy a bike and bus it would be a lot better but ya most people will not do that. - tidu, on 07/07/2009, -0/+3This is the number one obstacle.
- stuffingtonpost, on 07/07/2009, -0/+3No, but it should have been done properly in that decade.
- NMRgentleman, on 07/07/2009, -0/+3Pss. Charge, we need to store charge.
Really, though, "electricity" is such an ambiguous word. Usually when people use it they mean "electric current," but not always. - dieboldcracy, on 07/07/2009, -0/+3bigger than GM? yeah, cause GM really set the bar for a companies success
- DarkShroud, on 07/07/2009, -0/+2You'll get lead poising from just sitting in them.
- MWeather, on 07/07/2009, -1/+3"The amount of toxic chemicals and pollution caused by making the batteries for these cars is staggering. "
As opposed to refining and burning petrochemicals? - dieboldcracy, on 07/07/2009, -0/+2and considering the haul I have to take in to work everyday, it would be tough to haul 500 lbs of gear on a bicycle
- Taiyoryu, on 07/07/2009, -0/+2omg... the Wheego IS a golf cart with an car body kit. Not allowed on roads with speed limits above 35?!? I couldn't drive this even within my suburb.
- MWeather, on 07/07/2009, -0/+1You can build one yourself. A light car sand engine is pretty cheap, and lead-acid batteries provide plenty of range for a daily driver.
I suggest the Kharmann Ghia. There are pre-made electric vehicle kits for them for just a few grand. - fasda, on 07/07/2009, -1/+2I think they'll make faulty batteries that will leak organic solvents from the battery so they crap out very quickly.
- ElCheLikesAudi, on 07/07/2009, -0/+1What he said! Oh and one word...composites!
- Narcism, on 07/07/2009, -0/+1"If people would just live closer to work, buy a bike and bus it would be a lot better but ya most people will not do that."
^This. Instead of spending additional money on fuel efficiency, we should all buy real estate close to work, inflating house prices. That's worked well before, right? - fury420, on 07/08/2009, -0/+1actually, I could see myself renting a vehicle to go on vacation if i owned an inexpensive urban electric vehicle, perhaps a truck or SUV?
furthermore, multiple cars certainly seems to be the norm, at least in 80% of driveways i see..... - Megadeth222, on 07/07/2009, -4/+5Electric cars? what is this the 70's?
- MWeather, on 07/07/2009, -0/+1Such as? Surely you don't mean extracting hydrogen from refined petrochemicals.
- imkidred, on 07/07/2009, -0/+1I like Think. If they get the Ox to market as it is and at the $20k- $30k area I've seen mentioned, I like their expansion odds better then everyone else after Tesla.
- Arachnivore, on 07/07/2009, -1/+2I expected to see Aptera on this list.
I wish the auto-industry bail-outs had gone to some new blood like Tesla and Aptera. GM had their billions and squandered them. Why would they do anything different with the billions thrown at them by the govt? - dalittle, on 07/07/2009, -0/+1So you are saying people will need to own multiple cars, which is just not realistic for most.
- MWeather, on 07/07/2009, -0/+1Naa, they'll use lead batteries.
- dalittle, on 07/07/2009, -0/+1As opposed to other kinds of clean technologies
- 3The3Dude3, on 07/07/2009, -1/+2Better idea: How about we didn't throw our money at anybody? If you make a quality product, with a price that is equal to appeal, people will buy it. If you have this combination, yet can't make money, you don't belong in business anyway.
- Moralogic, on 07/07/2009, -0/+1Tesla plans to have a car around the average person's price point here in the next year or so. That is part of what the government money they received was for. I wish they would have been given all the money GM was given to make a whole line-up of electric vehicles. (Cars, trucks, vans, and SUVs)
- Arachnivore, on 07/07/2009, -1/+1The problem is that America is already so heavily invested in cars. When the auto industry had the winning combination you described, cities like Detroit and Flint Sprung up (for the most part) around the auto industry. We also got sub-urban sprawl (a terrible idea in the first place) so we built, and continue to build, a massive network of highways and roads. Let's face it, America isn't known for having great public transportation.
I'm tempted to agree with you, but I honestly don't know if it's more realistic to let the "free" market do its thing than to keep an industry that we are so reliant on from collapsing.
Also; I know the auto industry wasn't doing so hot before the housing market collapsed, but when people's 401-Ks tank, they tend to shy away from large purchases like new cars. I think there's more to it than having the right product at the right price. - 4AntiStupid, on 07/07/2009, -1/+1There will be no game changing startups in electric cars because the technology is old and mature. Anyone can build one and they're all basically the same. The game changing innovation will be from companies making batteries especially fuel cells. Once you can recharge your car from a pump in just a few minutes, then we'll start seeing them all over the road.
- inactive, on 07/07/2009, -0/+0supercompacitor composites! i think
- 4AntiStupid, on 07/07/2009, -0/+0Yep...packaging over practicality.
- dalittle, on 07/07/2009, -4/+2I am still skeptical of electrical vehicles. The amount of toxic chemicals and pollution caused by making the batteries for these cars is staggering. And I have a hard time believing a system where you have to wait for the car to recharge before you could continue traveling would be successful.
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