Electric cars head toward another dead end

polaris_x

charging stations multiplying ...

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/video/charging ... 00963.html

way easier to set up a charging station infrastructure than hydrogen

lukin2006

polaris_x wrote:

Idris wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmxUsGiGp3w



(It get's into the prius mid way)
-

uhhh ... a prius driving at full speed is just a corolla driving a full speed ... :fp: ... this is where the lack of critical thinking kicks in again ... of course a car with a bigger engine is gonna be more efficient at those speeds ... try stop and go commuter traffic ...

Then it does make me wonder if you buy a prius or one of these electric cars because it saves you so much on your commute to work in stop and go traffic ... and if you live in a place like this and your so concerned about the planet, why not walk, ride your bike or take public transit? It would not benefit me considering my daily commute is all highway.

hedonist

polaris_x wrote:

brianlux wrote:

What are these arrogant bastards trying to prove anyway?

they are like shock jock dj's ... they get a kick out of showing how ignorant they are ... let's face it ... if you are car lover ... who wants to consider the planet!? ... you want fast ... anyone else is just a hippie treehugger trying to impede your freedom to burn gas ... the sad part is how people will take this stuff and then go spew how prius's aren't fuel efficient ... :fp:

Why is it either/or? You yourself said someone who could afford the Tesla (must love cars) would buy it for the environmental benefit.

I'm a proud fast car lover. My guy has a fuel-inefficient Camaro but commutes five or six miles a day.

How shall we judge him :think:

lukin2006

hedonist wrote:

polaris_x wrote:

brianlux wrote:

What are these arrogant bastards trying to prove anyway?

they are like shock jock dj's ... they get a kick out of showing how ignorant they are ... let's face it ... if you are car lover ... who wants to consider the planet!? ... you want fast ... anyone else is just a hippie treehugger trying to impede your freedom to burn gas ... the sad part is how people will take this stuff and then go spew how prius's aren't fuel efficient ... :fp:

Why is it either/or? You yourself said someone who could afford the Tesla (must love cars) would buy it for the environmental benefit.

I'm a proud fast car lover. My guy has a fuel-inefficient Camaro but commutes five or six miles a day.

How shall we judge him :think:

I love good American Muscle Cars ... especially the older muscle cars.

hedonist

lukin2006 wrote:

I love good American Muscle Cars ... especially the older muscle cars.

:thumbup:

brianlux

lukin2006 wrote:

Then it does make me wonder if you buy a prius or one of these electric cars because it saves you so much on your commute to work in stop and go traffic ... and if you live in a place like this and your so concerned about the planet, why not walk, ride your bike or take public transit? It would not benefit me considering my daily commute is all highway.

This is something I've mentioned in numerous posts. I've always said, when ever possible, walk, ride a bike, take public transit or ride share. I do all of those and when I have to drive, I feel good about driving a Prius.

brianlux

hedonist wrote:

lukin2006 wrote:

I love good American Muscle Cars ... especially the older muscle cars.

:thumbup:

I did too... once upon a time. Even had one one- a 1965 Chevy Malibu. I just watched "Two Lane Blacktop" from 1971 starring James Taylor and Dennis Wilson. A weird nostalgic trip. And that what muscle cars should be- purely nostalgia. They belong in museums, not on the road.

hedonist

brianlux wrote:

hedonist wrote:

lukin2006 wrote:

I love good American Muscle Cars ... especially the older muscle cars.

:thumbup:

And that what muscle cars should be- purely nostalgia. They belong in museums, not on the road.

We're gonna have to agree to disagree on this one, sir.

(I'm also thankful you're not the automotive czar)

lukin2006

brianlux wrote:

lukin2006 wrote:

Then it does make me wonder if you buy a prius or one of these electric cars because it saves you so much on your commute to work in stop and go traffic ... and if you live in a place like this and your so concerned about the planet, why not walk, ride your bike or take public transit? It would not benefit me considering my daily commute is all highway.

This is something I've mentioned in numerous posts. I've always said, when ever possible, walk, ride a bike, take public transit or ride share. I do all of those and when I have to drive, I feel good about driving a Prius.

I agree you have stated that ...

Idris

I don't think Polaris and myself are going to agree on this anytime soon. I remember a few other threads about hybrids and they all went in the same direction as this one.

I hate the Prius!
-

I mean remember when they came out, many people went on about how amazing that car is, acting like baby dolphins are released from the exhausts along with some special 'green' formula that's helping to heal the planet or something.

When in reality, the Prius is one of the Dirtiest cars to manufacture and the build quality on the first gen Prius was low.

Also a diesel car get's as much and often times more MPG than these hybrids anyway, so if it's really fuel efficiency we want, well let's go that way.

Of course it's not just MPG, or how the cars built etc, it's a whole group of specific issues that need to be addressed and balanced.

Also I enjoy the internal combustion engine and don't want to see that build go away replaced with just an electric motor.

I fully support a move towards hydrogen, Check out what BMW is doing with them, they are making a car that drives like a real car should drive, along with being 'clean'.

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/insights/technology/cleanenergy/phase_2/cleanenergy.html

also check this out,

Toyota, BMW to research lithium-air battery

http://news.yahoo.com/toyota-bmw-research-lithium-air-battery-131434382--finance.html;_ylt=A2KJ2UaXWyZRqGsASDXQtDMD

brianlux

Despite our differing opinions I hope we can all agree on one thing- that we would do well for ourselves and the planet we live on to lower carbon emissions, move toward cleaner air and reduce our impact on climate change. Whatever it takes to get there, to me, those seem like reasonable and wise goals.

Idris

brianlux wrote:

Despite our differing opinions I hope we can all agree on one thing- that we would do well for ourselves and the planet we live on to lower carbon emissions, move toward cleaner air and reduce our impact on climate change. Whatever it takes to get there, to me, those seem like reasonable and wise goals.

For sure Brian!

Idris

This is a hybrid I like.

http://www.bmw-i.com/en_ww/bmw-i8/

whgarrett

This is the kind of car I'd like to commute with.

http://www.seriouswheels.com/cars/top-v ... er-car.htm

polaris_x

lukin2006 wrote:

Then it does make me wonder if you buy a prius or one of these electric cars because it saves you so much on your commute to work in stop and go traffic ... and if you live in a place like this and your so concerned about the planet, why not walk, ride your bike or take public transit? It would not benefit me considering my daily commute is all highway.

i would say it's not very common for someone to have a commute that is all highway ... even so ... an electric car would definitely benefit the planet ... a hybrid like the prius would also help just so long as you don't want to drive it 140 km/h ...

as for people who own prius's and why they don't take transit ... i think that's another one of those questions that really has no relevance ... just because someone is concerned about the planet and makes consumer choices to reflect that doesn't mean they are perfect ... either way - who knows what the circumstances are to make someone drive and not the other ...

i own a car but i ride a bike to work ... transit when the weather sucks ... are my concerns about the planet no longer valid?

polaris_x

Idris wrote:

I don't think Polaris and myself are going to agree on this anytime soon. I remember a few other threads about hybrids and they all went in the same direction as this one.

I hate the Prius!
-

I mean remember when they came out, many people went on about how amazing that car is, acting like baby dolphins are released from the exhausts along with some special 'green' formula that's helping to heal the planet or something.

When in reality, the Prius is one of the Dirtiest cars to manufacture and the build quality on the first gen Prius was low.

Also a diesel car get's as much and often times more MPG than these hybrids anyway, so if it's really fuel efficiency we want, well let's go that way.

Of course it's not just MPG, or how the cars built etc, it's a whole group of specific issues that need to be addressed and balanced.

Also I enjoy the internal combustion engine and don't want to see that build go away replaced with just an electric motor.

I fully support a move towards hydrogen, Check out what BMW is doing with them, they are making a car that drives like a real car should drive, along with being 'clean'.

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/insights/technology/cleanenergy/phase_2/cleanenergy.html

also check this out,

Toyota, BMW to research lithium-air battery

http://news.yahoo.com/toyota-bmw-research-lithium-air-battery-131434382--finance.html;_ylt=A2KJ2UaXWyZRqGsASDXQtDMD

no ... we're not gonna agree!! ...

are you telling me you have no interest in the tesla roadster!? ... the internal combustion engine is obsolete ... what is it that you like? ... the noise it makes ... the inefficiency? ...

you are right that as far as how "green" a product is does require us to evaluate it holistically and not just on one or two things ...

any way you cut it ... if one must drive ... the electric car is and will be the "greenest" option for the foreseeable future ...

whgarrett

The internal combustion engine is obsolete? That is a complete fallacy. I think you may be exaggerating.

I do believe that electric cars are super cool though. The Tesla, Finsker, and even the Volt are all legit.

polaris_x

whgarrett wrote:

The internal combustion engine is obsolete? That is a complete fallacy. I think you may be exaggerating.

I do believe that electric cars are super cool though. The Tesla, Finsker, and even the Volt are all legit.

they are ... obviously not obsolete in use as we have been convinced by auto plants that are built on a financial model of a new car every few years plus requisite parts ... and obviously big oil who wants us to continue to use an inefficient form of energy use ... but definitely obsolete in terms of technology ... why are all new golf carts electric? ... lawn mowers ... pretty much nothing new really uses a combustion engine ...

whgarrett

I'm not buying it. My understanding of the word obsolete must differ from yours.

How long does an electric car last?

brianlux

Webster defines obsolete as: "No longer produced or used; out of date." So, strictly speaking, the internal combustion engine is not obsolete.

On the other hand, some of the synonyms listed include: antiquated - out-of-date - outdated - old-fashioned. I would say any of those should apple to the internal combustion engine. If you think about how much change there has been in most technologies over the last several decades, the internal combustion engine is long overdue to be classified as obsolete.