Who killed the electric Car

[TheFaithfulStone]

Originally Posted by big dog

Before he retired my dad was the Director of Technical Services for Yugo America. In that position he went to a meeting in California where car companies were gathered to present their plans to CARB for reducing future emissions. The meeting he attended around 1990 had a contigent from GM making a presentation on an electric vehicle - a presentation that had been specifically requested of GM by CARB. They did the whole presentation which my dad said was fantastic. At the end of the presentation the head of CARB got up and stated his 8th grader did a better presentation in school than he had just seen from GM. And that before he would discuss an electric car with them, they needed to do an environmental impact study about the batteries. At that point the GM team walked out of the meeting.

I think this meeting was discussed in "Who Killed the Electric Car." Apparently, the chairman of CARB, Allen Lloyd, was also the head of some fuel cell institute.

Hydrogen economy ain't gonna happen without some other advances. (Namely, mass produced CNT's I think.)

Do we have the time to wait, before global warming or nasty middle-east geo-politics kills us all? I actually did look into buying a Prius with a plug-in kit when I replace my current car. (I have a forty mile commute, so I'm thinking I'm gonna need my car....)

The Prius isn't that bad, but most of that drive is interstate, so it doesn't do me any good there. The plug-in kit is ALMOST as much as the car.

Too bad. I keep hoping for a light rail in my area, but my breath isn't held.

TFS

[Zythryn]

The Lithium batteries are much easier and friendlier to the enviornment than the previous generations Nickel batteries. So I suspect this will be less of an issue.
2009 is the year I get my first electric car (as long as Tesla's time table holds). 200 mile range is plenty for me

[freeztar]

Here's a good, if not a bit lengthy, article on the new electric car to be released early next year by the Norwegian-based company, Think. They have an innovative idea of using the cars as a mobile power source, where unused energy is fed back into the grid during peak hours (while an employee is at work for example).

Can Think's electric car revolutionize the auto industry? - August 1, 2007

[freeztar]

Nissan plans to roll-out an affordable electric car in the US and Japan by 2010!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/13/bu...YClCfJkBg5JJnA

[Zythryn]

This would be great to see.
While I am encouraged by the efforts of Tesla to bring an EV to the market. An EV at a price point that can be widely adopted paired with the ability to produce a large number of them quickly will do more for the environment and national security.
I still wouldn't be surprised to see GM come out with a pure EV as well. I am quite surprised they haven't dusted off the blueprints for the EV1 and updated it.

[freeztar]

Originally Posted by Zythryn

This would be great to see.
While I am encouraged by the efforts of Tesla to bring an EV to the market. An EV at a price point that can be widely adopted paired with the ability to produce a large number of them quickly will do more for the environment and national security.

I agree, which is why I had to share the article. In a few years, there's a good chance that many people in the US will be driving these.

I still wouldn't be surprised to see GM come out with a pure EV as well. I am quite surprised they haven't dusted off the blueprints for the EV1 and updated it.

I seem to recall GM revealing plans to make a new one.
Searching....

I guess I was thinking of the Volt, which has already been brought up somewhere on Hypography.

This is a good interview regarding the Volt.
Chevy Volt: Where Is GM’s Electric Car? : Gas 2.0