Who Killed the Electric Car?

[VoteForRonPaul]

Hey guys,

Did anybody get the chance to see this film?
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7006967054190044353&q=Who+Killed+the+Electric+Car%3F&total=366&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=3

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Killed_the_Electric_Car%3F

And what do you think?

[asgardshill]

The Stonecutters, of course.

[trey4sports]

yes, just watched it last week and took a quiz over the video today lol

[Richandler]

The electric car was killed because no one wanted to buy them. Just look today at the Tesla motor company. They were commited to building only electric cars, but recently have announced they plan on building at hybrid. This is a great example of the free market at work. Simply put gas prices are not at an uncomfortable level yet. Gasoline is way to use to use at the moment for any other technology to replace it.

[rp4prez]

The electric car was killed because no one wanted to buy them. Just look today at the Tesla motor company. They were commited to building only electric cars, but recently have announced they plan on building at hybrid. This is a great example of the free market at work. Simply put gas prices are not at an uncomfortable level yet. Gasoline is way to use to use at the moment for any other technology to replace it.

I have seen the documentary and they said that there was a demand for the cars because of California laws. However, one of the men on the board was influenced by the car companies to not enforce and then repeal the law. It was very shady to say the least.

Tesla on the other hand has an all electric car but it costs about $100,000, which is just ridiculous. The EV1 in the documentary would have been a great alternative to people who wanted it and it would have been affordable.

However, due to big business influencing law makers poof it was put on the shelf for years and years. :(

[TFH85]

This documentary is awesome.

California essentially killed the electric car, at least the rate at which it would have been developed. Then it was sad to seem them take all those EV-1s.

Some companies I like:

Phoenix Motorcars
Aptera

Google them, some cool concepts that are going to hit the market soon.

[VoteForRonPaul]

This documentary is awesome.

California essentially killed the electric car, at least the rate at which it would have been developed. Then it was sad to seem them take all those EV-1s.

Some companies I like:

Phoenix Motorcars
Aptera

Google them, some cool concepts that are going to hit the market soon.
Thanks for the company's name!
California would have been the American idol if it succeeded

[BrettCates]

The electric car was killed because no one wanted to buy them. Just look today at the Tesla motor company. They were commited to building only electric cars, but recently have announced they plan on building at hybrid. This is a great example of the free market at work. Simply put gas prices are not at an uncomfortable level yet. Gasoline is way to use to use at the moment for any other technology to replace it.

Who do you work for GM? You need to do your research!!!! Electric battery technology is here, now....It is corporatism that has prevented this NOT the free market.

[eleganz]

Thank You GM.

The next car I buy will be a hybrid/electric plug-in.

[Mesogen]

The electric car was killed because no one wanted to buy them. Just look today at the Tesla motor company. They were commited to building only electric cars, but recently have announced they plan on building at hybrid. This is a great example of the free market at work. Simply put gas prices are not at an uncomfortable level yet. Gasoline is way to use to use at the moment for any other technology to replace it.

Electricity is cheaper than gas. It's not the price, it's the convenience.

Also, Tesla cars are $$$.

[VoteForRonPaul]

It looks that the Clinton's Admin was doing a pretty good job regarding this issue



Instead, the company hoped that the EV1 would prove their technology and establish a "leadership" position within the electric vehicle market. GM itself did not expect to turn a profit on electric vehicles for perhaps ten years after bringing the EV1 to market.[citation needed] The end came when GM decided it was cheaper to sue the State of California to roll back clean vehicle regulations than it was to build electric vehicles.[citation needed] GM stated that they spent over US$1 billion developing and marketing the EV1, though a portion of this cost was defrayed by the Clinton Administration's US$1.25 billion Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV) project. [13][14][15] All manufacturers seeking to produce electric cars for market consumption also benefitted from matching government funds committed to the United States Advanced Battery Consortium. The estimated research and development costs for the EV1 program to production (prior to marketing and sale costs) was pegged by General Motors as "slightly less than US$500 million".

Pretty good information here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_EV1
And here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partnership_for_a_New_Generation_of_Vehicles

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battery_electric_vehicle#Present_and_future

It seems that every possible disaster has come in the time of this administration from natural disasters to the towers to wars and and... no wonder they were trying to pardon themselves from future prosecutions!

[Richandler]

Who do you work for GM? You need to do your research!!!! Electric battery technology is here, now....It is corporatism that has prevented this NOT the free market.

That was then this is now. You're funny. GM is the only mainstream brand developing and all electric car. The truth is it's going to sell well, but not everyone will buy one and certainly if you follow Ron Paul you know that not everyone is going to be able to afford them.

Electric cars are expensive simply put. They do merely okay in terms of driving distance and putting weight in the cars sucks them dry extra quick. Charging has to be done overnight and can't be with 5 minutes at the gas pump. Right now most people are still not ready. There is demand but the but not at the $100,000 price level and not for a roadster. People I think will be much happier with hybrids. Although, hybrids aren't the answer, because if you drive fast in the least bit you mine as well drive a normal car because hauling a huge battery on top of a motor at 75 will not get you 50MPG.

[Truth-Bringer]

Hey guys,

Did anybody get the chance to see this film?
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7006967054190044353&q=Who+Killed+the+Electric+Car%3F&total=366&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=3

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Killed_the_Electric_Car%3F

And what do you think?

I loved it. Everyone should see this documentary - especially to understand the role government played in preventing free market choices.

[ChickenHawk]

Who do you work for GM? You need to do your research!!!! Electric battery technology is here, now....It is corporatism that has prevented this NOT the free market.

Yeah the technology is here, but do you have any clue how much it costs? You ever priced a replacement battery pack for a Prius? The pack in the Prius will barely get you around the block. Imagine how much a pack that will power a 3k lb car 200+ miles with decent performance costs.

The only reason any car company built electric cars was because of CARB regulations. When those regulations were repealed most companies took the cars back at the end of the lease and destroyed them. They didn't want to have to provide service and repair for expensive limited production cars that they already had lost millions of dollars on.

When car companies can make money on electric cars they will start making them again.

[ChickenHawk]

It looks that the Clinton's Admin was doing a pretty good job regarding this issue



I must have missed the part in the constitution where it gives the federal government the authority to hand out corporate welfare checks to build electric cars.

[VoteForRonPaul]

I must have missed the part in the constitution where it gives the federal government the authority to hand out corporate welfare checks to build electric cars.
Better than wasting it on wars!

[Hook]

What killed the electric car was two things: Physics and Economics.
LiIon and NiMh technology is starting to make drive distances approach acceptable levels, but at huge cost. Most of the cost of the Tesla Roadster comes from off-the-shelf LiIon batteries. This will continue to get better over time, but there is no magic bullet to fix a very difficult problem.
We need more physicists and engineers and less politicians solving the problem.

[Ira Aten]

What killed it was a vast right wing conspiracy. The same one which is keeping Hillary Clinton from being able to run for President.

The same one which kept Bill Clinton from becoming President, twice.

Damn you vast right wing conspirators!

Damn you all to hell!

:mad:

[rp4prez]

If you guys think that batteries are going to be a problem in the future check this out! 10X battery life would pretty much revolutionize the electric car industry!

http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/16/027236


...Stanford University that researchers have discovered a way to increase battery life tenfold by using silicon nanowires. (http://www.news.com/A-tenfold-improvement-in-battery-life/2100-1041_3-6226196.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-5&subj=news) Quoting News.com:
'It's not a small improvement,' [lead researcher Yi] Cui said. 'It's a revolutionary development.' Citing a research paper they wrote, published in Nature Nanotechnology, Cui said the increased battery capacity was made possible though a new type of anode that utilizes silicon nanowires. Traditional lithium ion batteries use graphite as the anode. This limits the amount of lithium — which holds the charge — that can be held in the anode, and it therefore limits battery life... 'We are working on scaling up and evaluating the cost of our technology,' Cui said. 'There are no roadblocks for either of these.'"

[Ira Aten]

10X battery life would pretty much revolutionize the electric car industry!


I remember reading about how the electric car was going to revolutionalize the auto industry back in a 1965 Popular Science issue.

It is racing right along. Another four or five decades, and almost everyone in Rhode Island will be wanting one.

[MN Patriot]

I look forward to the day when I don't have to worry about changing the oil and messing around under the grimy engine trying to find where it is leaking. In another 20 years we'll see many more electric cars on the road.

There are many up and coming electric cars. many of them are just glorified golf carts, but they keep improving them.
The GEMM car is made in North Dakota by a bunch of former GM executives.
ZAP is a goofy 3 wheeled thing made in China, but they have a pretty cool electric SUV on the drawing boards.
REVA is made in India, and is the world's most popular electric car.
Of course Tesla has their roadster, but they have a regular mid-sized car on the drawing board.

Instead of charging the batteries overnight, they should make them replacable so that you can pop the old one off and put a recharged one on, like you do with a cordless drill. Have service stations like the quick oil change places where a robot removes the battery from underneath and puts a charged one on your car while you are inside peeing and buying more Mt Dew. Of course you could still charge your battery overnight in the garage.

Then there is the possibility of compressed air engines. Several companies are coming out with cars that run on compressed air. Interesting technology that has been around for 100 or more years.

[VoteForRonPaul]

Instead of charging the batteries overnight, they should make them replacable so that you can pop the old one off and put a recharged one on,.
The ZAP company claim that the battery of their new car can be charged in as little as 10 minutes (sounds incredible if true) and even better than throwing batteries which is not environment friendly job to do.

Check the car brochure in PDF
http://www.zapworld.com/electric-vehicles/electric-cars/zap-x

If those cars available in affordable price I would sell mine tomorrow.

[CurtisLow]

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/7541/040820smartshowroomh2xy8.jpg




Canadians get diesel versions (SMART CAR)
Up north, meanwhile, Canadian drivers will get two-seater smart cars starting in September. In fact, they'll have two models to chose from that get around 70 mpg because they're diesels, not gasoline-powered.

The models use what's called common rail diesel, a technology that's cleaner than older diesel engines. The top speed is 75 mph and prices start around $12,100 for the coupe and $15,170 for the cabriolet.

So what about heading north and bringing a diesel-powered smart back over the border? JoAnne Caza, a Mercedes-Benz spokesperson in Canada, says don't even think about it. "It is not possible since the Canadiancar is not certified for sale in the USA," she says.



I had this booked marked for some time.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Renewable-Energy/1979-07-01/An-Amazing-75-MPG-Hybrid-Electic-Car.aspx

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Green-Transportation/1980-01-01/Update-David-Arthur-s-Hybrid-Electric-car.aspx

.




.

[Hook]

I look forward to the day when I don't have to worry about changing the oil and messing around under the grimy engine trying to find where it is leaking. In another 20 years we'll see many more electric cars on the road.

There are many up and coming electric cars. many of them are just glorified golf carts, but they keep improving them.
The GEMM car is made in North Dakota by a bunch of former GM executives.
ZAP is a goofy 3 wheeled thing made in China, but they have a pretty cool electric SUV on the drawing boards.
REVA is made in India, and is the world's most popular electric car.
Of course Tesla has their roadster, but they have a regular mid-sized car on the drawing board.

Instead of charging the batteries overnight, they should make them replacable so that you can pop the old one off and put a recharged one on, like you do with a cordless drill. Have service stations like the quick oil change places where a robot removes the battery from underneath and puts a charged one on your car while you are inside peeing and buying more Mt Dew. Of course you could still charge your battery overnight in the garage.

Then there is the possibility of compressed air engines. Several companies are coming out with cars that run on compressed air. Interesting technology that has been around for 100 or more years.

Air cars will always be very inefficient because of the thermodynamic irreversabilities of compressing air (Unless you do it verrrrrryyy slowly). If they could get some decent SuperCapacitors, you could charge them up in minutes.

[Brian4Liberty]

Great documentary. They provided all the right evidence, but they came to many wrong conclusions.

For those who didn't see it, many devoted EV1 enthusiasts wanted to keep those cars. They offered to pay almost any price, and release GM from any liability. GM destroyed the cars instead. Some of those people were wealthy and would have paid almost anything to keep those cars. They were collectibles.

The facts:

- Electric cars are almost maintenance free (compared to traditional vehicles).
- Electric vehicles do not require gasoline or the entire infrastructure related to gasoline.

- The automobile industry makes tons of money on auto maintenance and repair.
- The gasoline industry makes tons of money selling gasoline (from oil-well to your gas tank).

Conclusion:

Both major industries lose out on 100% electric vehicles. In collusion, they killed it to maintain their businesses and profits. Monopolies in action.

Their solution:

- Create a car that gets better gas mileage. But to offset the better gas mileage and maintain profits, double the gasoline price.
- Create a car that requires more maintenance than either a gasoline or electric only vehicle. Increases profits on vehicle maintenance and repairs.
- Market it as "Green" option. Disguise it as an electric vehicle to take the momentum from that idea.






OK everybody, go buy your Hybrid...

[asgardshill]

Great documentary. They provided all the right evidence, but they came to many wrong conclusions.

For those who didn't see it, many devoted EV1 enthusiasts wanted to keep those cars. They offered to pay almost any price, and release GM from any liability. GM destroyed the cars instead. Some of those people were wealthy and would have paid almost anything to keep those cars. They were collectibles.


I'd be amazed if one or more weren't reported as "stolen" the night before GM was scheduled to come pick them up. And there are lots of abandoned barns in Flyover Country ...

[Brian4Liberty]

I'd be amazed if one or more weren't reported as "stolen" the night before GM was scheduled to come pick them up. And there are lots of abandoned barns in Flyover Country ...

Hopefully. I think there is one left in a museum or something.

But they tricked most of them by telling them it was a temporary "hold". They held them for a long time before taking them into the desert and destroying them.

[VoteForRonPaul]

NO PLUG?
NO DEAL
http://www.pluginamerica.org/where_ev.shtml

Green cars exhibit
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1659483417565878780&q=Myers+Motors&total=72&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=1