gas2.org— President Obama announced today that $2.4 billion will be made available for the US-based development of plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles.
Mar 19, 2009View in Crawl 4
Not if we bail out the other guys. It is just going to make it ten times harder for Tesla and other forward thinking companies to compete if their competition is being helped with taxpayer money.
Take a look at the proposals over at<a class="user" href="http://www.betterplace.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.betterplace.com</a>This guy has a very interesting plan for addressing the convenience problem of batteries. The summery is: We should have a network of battery swap stations that can swap the batter out of your car and replace it with a fully charged one in a few minutes. Ultracapacitors sound great.. but not only does the technology not yet exist in a practical form... I wonder how safe it would be to fully charge a battery with enough electricity to go 100 miles (for example) in 2 minutes. I have to do the math, but that seems like it might be dangerous. :)
Believe it, kid, Portland Oregon is going to generate 3 gigawatts with ONE building covered with them (and vertical turbines). Plans are drawn, blueprints and schematics produced, private sector money is lined up, they're gonna break ground this summer.Now imagine a building like that in every major metro.
Toyota is very well managed, and they're currently unprofitable.People on both sides of this debate are trying to lump in unrelated issues.The question is really this: do the people of the US wish their government to break the logjam? Yes, they do. Now some will scream this "democracy" thing is a little too "people" orientated for their tastes, but that's what democracy is. Government has been asked to interfere in the market, and as soon as some electric vehicle momentum takes place, the voters will insist the same government get OUT of the very same market. Voters are funny like that.
To all the simpletons crying out that "If there were a demand for electric cars, there would already be a supply. Therefore the money is a waste…"I think the response is common sense...There is a demand for...1. Affordable jetpacks and/or rocket shoes2. Pheromones that actually attract women and aren’t snake oil bulls**t3. Pills that increase your size4. Timemachines...but the technology for developing it/them either just can’t exist or just isn’t realistically expected to appear for years to come.But the electric car? It’s a completely different animal—if not an imminent reality. The technology for developing an electric automobile engine has been around for decades, but the research/development allocated in this field to make it commercially affordable and viable for the consumer has been depressed. You can thank years of overinvestment into the nonrenewable energy in the form of tax breaks and a sense of apathy in the private/public sectors for the foot dragging and lack of progress. But now that we’re seeing even the Chinese investing in this field, interest is picking up. We’re seeing more car prototypes being rolled out that look like potential contenders. Even though a mass-production version of an all-electric energy-based car probably won’t appear for years, we can expect recent developments in hybrid car technology to pick up the slack further and contribute to the eventual rollout of an affordable all-electric car. Face it. Our economic and foreign policies are so intertwined that events in both areas are creating the conditions for volatile oil prices (Gas is creeping back to $3 in my area). Our dependence on oil from authoritarian governments whose hold over their populations is ephemeral can only last so long. It makes no sense for us to attach our livelihoods to the wealth and well being of corrupt countries. There needs to be a shift in the mindset.For all you pessimists out there, you can keep on driving your 10mpg hummers/suvs and whine that you’re just being realistic. Get over yourselves. Everyday that I drive I pass by at least 10-20 Priuses on the freeway. I’m willing to bet that those hybrid cars we’re seeing here are simply part of a technological evolution toward what’ll be a fully electric car that can be charged up at stations or at home.<a class="user" href="http://www.forbes.com/2009/05/20/future-car-models-lifestyle-vehicles-future-car.html?feed=rss_popstories">http://www.forbes.com/2009/05/20/future-car-models ...</a>
The LA Times is also noted Obama's statement that the current demand for cars should rise to 15 million from 10 million once the economy recovers.It's the economy, stupid.
It's just so disgusting how the truth is hidden in plain view, while people actually see this as something good. What the heck is this??? Funding for what should have been in the market 100 years ago, and for god's sakes people, look up the EV1! NOT ev1.com, the criminals against Humanity at GM bought that domain name & redirected it to their site. Go to ev1.org and see that they put an electric car that they made only in california through metal shredders. "something we could not really wrap our minds around, that no one was going to notice how this great car was being destroyed, unknown to the public..."
tamerzismeMar 20, 2009
Not if we bail out the other guys. It is just going to make it ten times harder for Tesla and other forward thinking companies to compete if their competition is being helped with taxpayer money.
Closed AccountMar 20, 2009
Yeah it's genius, dilute everyone's investment in the dollar for the gain of a slight few.
jbellaMar 20, 2009
Take a look at the proposals over at<a class="user" href="http://www.betterplace.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.betterplace.com</a>This guy has a very interesting plan for addressing the convenience problem of batteries. The summery is: We should have a network of battery swap stations that can swap the batter out of your car and replace it with a fully charged one in a few minutes. Ultracapacitors sound great.. but not only does the technology not yet exist in a practical form... I wonder how safe it would be to fully charge a battery with enough electricity to go 100 miles (for example) in 2 minutes. I have to do the math, but that seems like it might be dangerous. :)
bigj480Mar 20, 2009
What car are you describing, foomo? To answer your question, the American public.
gemfinderMar 21, 2009
Believe it, kid, Portland Oregon is going to generate 3 gigawatts with ONE building covered with them (and vertical turbines). Plans are drawn, blueprints and schematics produced, private sector money is lined up, they're gonna break ground this summer.Now imagine a building like that in every major metro.
jareth86Mar 24, 2009
Please look up the definition of communism. Its really embarrassing reading your posts.
randomfaceApr 2, 2009
people get pissy when you dam up rivers...
altgeeky1Apr 7, 2009
Toyota is very well managed, and they're currently unprofitable.People on both sides of this debate are trying to lump in unrelated issues.The question is really this: do the people of the US wish their government to break the logjam? Yes, they do. Now some will scream this "democracy" thing is a little too "people" orientated for their tastes, but that's what democracy is. Government has been asked to interfere in the market, and as soon as some electric vehicle momentum takes place, the voters will insist the same government get OUT of the very same market. Voters are funny like that.
Closed AccountMay 24, 2009
To all the simpletons crying out that "If there were a demand for electric cars, there would already be a supply. Therefore the money is a waste…"I think the response is common sense...There is a demand for...1. Affordable jetpacks and/or rocket shoes2. Pheromones that actually attract women and aren’t snake oil bulls**t3. Pills that increase your size4. Timemachines...but the technology for developing it/them either just can’t exist or just isn’t realistically expected to appear for years to come.But the electric car? It’s a completely different animal—if not an imminent reality. The technology for developing an electric automobile engine has been around for decades, but the research/development allocated in this field to make it commercially affordable and viable for the consumer has been depressed. You can thank years of overinvestment into the nonrenewable energy in the form of tax breaks and a sense of apathy in the private/public sectors for the foot dragging and lack of progress. But now that we’re seeing even the Chinese investing in this field, interest is picking up. We’re seeing more car prototypes being rolled out that look like potential contenders. Even though a mass-production version of an all-electric energy-based car probably won’t appear for years, we can expect recent developments in hybrid car technology to pick up the slack further and contribute to the eventual rollout of an affordable all-electric car. Face it. Our economic and foreign policies are so intertwined that events in both areas are creating the conditions for volatile oil prices (Gas is creeping back to $3 in my area). Our dependence on oil from authoritarian governments whose hold over their populations is ephemeral can only last so long. It makes no sense for us to attach our livelihoods to the wealth and well being of corrupt countries. There needs to be a shift in the mindset.For all you pessimists out there, you can keep on driving your 10mpg hummers/suvs and whine that you’re just being realistic. Get over yourselves. Everyday that I drive I pass by at least 10-20 Priuses on the freeway. I’m willing to bet that those hybrid cars we’re seeing here are simply part of a technological evolution toward what’ll be a fully electric car that can be charged up at stations or at home.<a class="user" href="http://www.forbes.com/2009/05/20/future-car-models-lifestyle-vehicles-future-car.html?feed=rss_popstories">http://www.forbes.com/2009/05/20/future-car-models ...</a>
Closed AccountMay 24, 2009
Dunno who's digging ya down. Seems like some people here support Big Oil. That's sad.
Closed AccountMay 24, 2009
The LA Times is also noted Obama's statement that the current demand for cars should rise to 15 million from 10 million once the economy recovers.It's the economy, stupid.
Closed AccountMay 24, 2009
Yes, it's clear from your grammar that Obama needs to invest more into grammar re-education.
criticalunityJun 28, 2009
It's just so disgusting how the truth is hidden in plain view, while people actually see this as something good. What the heck is this??? Funding for what should have been in the market 100 years ago, and for god's sakes people, look up the EV1! NOT ev1.com, the criminals against Humanity at GM bought that domain name & redirected it to their site. Go to ev1.org and see that they put an electric car that they made only in california through metal shredders. "something we could not really wrap our minds around, that no one was going to notice how this great car was being destroyed, unknown to the public..."