Electric Vehicles in the UK. Where are they in the USA?

[JayMusgrove]

Run time: 03:38 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Lo7IwfLw4A   Posted on YouTube: June 25, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: June 25, 2009 By DU Member: JayMusgrove Views on DU: 2656

 
I thought I saw one the other day here in the states. I need to know where to get one.

[valerief]

1. I'm waiting for the clean coal cars.

:sarcasm:

Electric all the way!

[truedelphi]

13. And they will run on highways built from the

Rubble that was once hilltop meadows!

Coal - for the clean and renewable Corporate profits of Pitcairn Coal and other campaign donors!

[pleah]

2. That is exactly what I want to know. Why the hell do we have to wait

two to four years for these kinds of cars?

[defendandprotect]

12. Presumably alliance with oil industry . . ..

which we should nationalize . . .

our natural resources should not be in private hands!

[tinrobot]

15. A lot of it is conflicting safety regulations

Here's an article:

DEARBORN, Mich. - It seems like an easy solution: Americans are looking for more fuel-efficient vehicles, so Ford Motor Co. is bringing over some of the small, gas-sipping cars it's been selling to Europeans for years.

But introducing the cars to the U.S. market isn't as simple as changing the speedometer from kilometers to miles. Ford has to reconcile American and European safety regulations — everything from the color of rear turn signals to the positioning of crash test dummies — that will keep the cars from hitting U.S. highways anytime soon.

Competing interests among automakers, governments and the insurance industry are hampering efforts to standardize safety requirements worldwide. That means extra engineering to make different versions of vehicles for different markets.

--

Some differences are significant, like the U.S. rule that requires protection for passengers not wearing seat belts, which has no European equivalent. Others are small, like the U.S. requirement that vehicles have side lights, which are optional in Europe.

more:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26444467/

[pleah]

17. Thanks.

:)

[msongs]

3. GM preferred to go bankrupt rather than sell an electric car, the EV 1 nt

[stlsaxman]

5. "and THAT'S the Truth- PHLLLPFFT!"

[madrchsod]

11. "lead acid batteries".......

if they built that car at that time with those components the car would cost around well over 50,000 dollars. plus the lead acid batteries limited the car to warm climates and limited range

[stlsaxman]

22. this is the earlier version, replace w/ lithium ions i believe.

[tinrobot]

14. That particular electric car would have bankrupted them sooner.

It was great technology and way ahead of it's time, but it also was very expensive for what it was. A lot of things bankrupted GM, the EV-1 was not one of those things.

Just as reference, Toyota stopped selling their electric car (the Rav4-EV) around the same time. Where's the venom for them?

[Fedja]

19. Selling, not developing.

Toyota sells several hybrid models today and is one of the technology leaders in the field.

[tinrobot]

33. But they still don't have an electic car.

They killed theirs for just about the same reasons GM killed the EV-1 - not practical at the time. Funny how people beat up GM for making the same decision.

But yes, GM subsequently dropped the ball and Toyota has done a great job with hybrid technology. But hybrids are nor pure EV's, and it seems like Toyota is a little behind in that area.

[Fedja]

35. Unlike Tesla

Toyota is a large manufacturer that has to appeal to broad masses, sell cars in the thousands, and to some extent, recycle previous model technology. Huge producers don't turn around and start revolutions overnight, it's simply not something they can sustain financially.

Still, hybrids (much as diesel) are a push in the right direction, one that the Big Three didn't follow enough. I don't think it's so much beating up GM for not going all-out electric, but rather for abandoning the direction all together.

That said, it's not GM's fault as much as it is the people's fault. If the population as a whole demanded vehicles that were economic, you'd have gotten hybrids, diesels, possibly propane engines to choose from years ago.

[Unca Jim]

23. I know that no one likes truth about the EV-1...but

it seemed like a loser to GM because gas was cheap and electricity was expensive at the time -and they test marketed it in LA, which is too spread out.

It was an excellent car, it had *NiMH* batteries so was not affected by cold too much. If they had marketed it in more-compact East Coast cities they would have realized the winner they had. GM is definitely making the right decisions now with the Volt. They are on target to deliver my Volt which I'm on the waiting list to receive next September. http://gm-volt.com/2009/06/24/exclusive-visit-to-the-chevy-volt-integration-vehicle-assembly-plant/

By the way, Toyota had a great electric Rav4 with similar technology to the EV-1 that they killed for the same reasons GM killed the EV-1.


Full disclosure: I am a *huge* electric car dork. I have converted two cars to use electricity, and currently drive an electric 1964 Beetle to work. I want them yesterday too, but I understand that the companies probably made an honest mistake in the 90's when they ditched their solid electric cars.

[MrsCorleone]

26. Errrrr, uum, GM sold the EV battery to Texaco, if I'm not mistaken. Then Chevron (thru a subsidiary)

took over Texaco and, therefore, essentially owns the EV battery technology.

Toyota was sued for using the EV battery. Hence, no more Rav 4 electric vehicle.

If I'm not mistaken, the EV patent will not expire until around 2013. Sooooooooo.....

[Unca Jim]

27. Sure.

That *particular* battery pack was pulled out from under them after the EV-1 and Rav-4 were out a while. I agree that was Chevron's attempt to kill the electric vehicles. If the cars would have been proven the winner we all know they were, then GM and Toyota would have assembled different battery packs. The Prius uses the same battery type as the EV-1, they just built the pack out of a different company's batteries.

[chill_wind]

4. K & R. n/t

[valerief]

6. The oil/auto industry is keeping them from us.

http://www.whokilledtheelectriccar.com/

[fascisthunter]

8. bingo

lot's of bingos today

[AtheistCrusader]

7. The Smart 4Two can be had here, in Gas powered form.

The Electric in that video is a prototype. It will probably need approval by the DOT before the electric can go on public roads, idunno. But you can get the Gas version now, it gets something like 43mpg.

http://www.smartusa.com/

They get one with a 100-150 mile range in Electric, around $20k and I'm all over it.

[Fedja]

20. Dunno about the prices

But the reason Europeans use gas powered cars isn't the mileage, which is roughly equivalent to a standard engine. It's the fact that gas costs half as much as petrol, and that the emissions are lower.

[AtheistCrusader]

25. I thought Petrol was gas

did you mean diesel? I only WISH we had the diesel cars europe has, here in the US.

[Fedja]

34. Ahhh

I figured you meant Propane gas, which is used extensively in Europe these days, mostly by cab drivers who run so many miles on their cars that they get a 100% return on the engine conversion investment in under a year.

Smart is a "normal" car generally sold in Europe, and I figure with the lax US vehicle regulation, you could convert it to fit the requirements very easily.

Speaking of diesels, they're drastically misunderstood in the US. is my last purchase, and it gets around 45 mpg while hitting 60 mph in 8.3 seconds. Diesels have buckets torque at low RPM, actually making them best suited for heavy vehicles rather than small urban plastic junkers. :)

[AtheistCrusader]

38. 45mpg is pretty good.

My Scion xB econobox gets about 36mpg. And that's considered pretty good around here.

(until you get into hybrids like the Prius and Insight)

[RBInMaine]

9. Chevy Volt is coming soon, as well as a new battery-equipped Ford Focus.

[madrchsod]

10. the electric car will have a market share of around 1%

until the electric car`s mileage equals that of a internal combustion engine or a hybrid the all electric car will be a urban car.

[tinrobot]

16. Where do you get those numbers?

Over half the population lives in urban areas... I think electric cars with an approx 100 mile range would be perfect for any two car family.

[Fedja]

21. Rectal extraction :)

On a sidenote, electric cars have made dramatic improvements in terms of mileage and can handle the average commuter's needs already.

[Unca Jim]

24. Every new electric car I've seen

either has a gasoline engine for extending range or is a neighborhood vehicle.

Hell, the 1964 Beetle I converted myself with off-the-shelf generic parts has a 35 mile range which is sufficient for my needs 80% of the time. Imagine what actual engineers can do when they try! :)

[tinrobot]

29. I wanna convert a Karmann Ghia

Sadly, I'm lusting after LiPO4 batteries, which will add 10 grand to the price.

[Unca Jim]

31. What area of the country are you in?

And what's your commute? Lead acid is cheap and fine for most applications. I bought military surplus NiCad and have been happy with that chemistry as well.

LiPO4 is still way too expensive.

[tinrobot]

32. I'm in SoCal, and I'd like more than a 30-40 mile range.

I've done the research many times over. Thought of doing AGM batteries and waiting for LiPO4 prices to come down, but I really don't want to do the conversion twice.

Right now, I don't have time to start a conversion so I run the numbers every so often and ponder... I could easily get my desired 100 mile range with lithium, but it's a lot of money. I'm figuring about $10-12 grand for 20-25kwH... prices will go down eventually, but I'll make the final decision when I'm ready to do the conversion.

Where did you get your NiCads? Are they the flooded type? Were they reasonably priced?

[Unca Jim]

36. I bought them military surplus...

I got one string off of Ebay from a supplier out of Pennsylvania and the other off a guy in Texas. I had to make electrolyte and completely refurbish the batteries myself, but I got the energy density I needed and spent about $1600, which isn't too much more than I would have spent on lead.

SoCal is so spread out that you really need a lot of capacity, even for commuting. Have you looked into buying the battery packs out of wrecked Pruises? String a few of those together and you'd have a NiMH pack that'd serve your needs until the LiPO4 prices get reasonable. If you get a Zivan NG3 or other programmable charger, you could just switch the batteries out when the time comes.

AC drive components are getting reasonable now, too.

The air-cooled VW platform is phenomenal for conversion.

[grahamhgreen]

18. The electric mini was to be be leased on a trial basis in LA...

[and-justice-for-all]

28. I refuse to buy another car until EVs are made availible..nt

[tinrobot]

30. My next car will absolutely be electric

If I can't buy one in the next few years, I'll convert an existing car. Either way, I will have one.

[Unca Jim]

37. So..

get on the Volt waiting list...