GM pulling Plug on Electric Cars

Associated Press ^ | 04.9.3 | Brian Melley

[wallcrawlr]

SACRAMENTO, CALIF. -- The celebrated ride of the car that spawned the nation's toughest emissions regulation ends at a parking lot in Southern California, where a growing fleet of General Motors electric cars awaits an uncertain fate.

Dozens of the green, metallic blue and bright red futuristic autos are lined up behind a chain-link fence at the edge of a freight rail line in Van Nuys, a sign the world's largest automaker has pulled the plug on a vehicle it heralded just two years ago as "the car of the future."

[RetiredArmy]

The extension cable to power them was getting too long!!!

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[RANGERAIRBORNE]

"To us driving battery electric vehicles, we're saying, 'Hey, you've left us hanging out to dry.' "

Yep. That's what happens to morons. These "cars" are just so many tons of hazardous waste now- a stupid idea, and badly executed as well.

[blackdog]

Maybe the next time the geniuses at GM get strongarmed into junk engineering by politicians with no concept of reality, they can pull out this file.

[L.N. Smithee]

I sincerely hope that the Japan-American hybrids like the Toyota Prius and Honda Civic Hybrid spur other companies -- German manufacturers, for example -- to create their own. I wouldn't mind owning either one.

Just because I don't believe global warning dystopia doesn't mean that I think dirty air is cool.

[RonHolzwarth]

It really is a shame - the EV1 was considered to be the best electric car ever built.

The only problem is, the battery technology is just not there.

It would be nice if all the tooling would be sold to another company - I bet the cars would continue to sell!

[Zon]

I wouldn't mind owning either one.

Get one while you can. To each his own.

Just because I don't believe global warning dystopia doesn't mean that I think dirty air is cool.

Irrelevant. But perhaps you find some need to justify your desire to "the group".

"Honda concluded that the limited popularity of the electric car wouldn't effectively contribute to cleaner air, said Vice President Ben Knight said."

[tcostell]

If they were a good idea, the cars would have sold like hotcakes, but they weren't, and they didn't. You might say:

"Maybe if California would just pass a law requiring their use, then they would have done better".

Well if California required everyone to wear pointy hats, pointy hats would sell great too, but unfortunately for the environmental lobby, we live in a society where people are free to choose based upon their own proirities, not the mandatory pririties of a political lobby.

Even (believe it or not) in California.

[RicocheT]

The Toyota Prius and Honda Civic Hybrid also have batteries and they contain lots of nasty ingredients that took a lot of energy to produce. The batteries have to be changed after about 4 years and then a new set of expensive, nasty ingredients, took lots of coal-produced electricity to make go in.

[Sofa King]

Only in Cal. would they pass a law as stupid as "10% of the vehicles sold this year must be non-polluting". How do you enforce that? Fine 10% of the people who bought normal cars?

[cruiserman]

"To us driving battery electric vehicles, we're saying, 'Hey, you've left us hanging out to dry.' "

You might get some sympathy from Fiero owners.

[Libertarianize the GOP]

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/bump-list

[Old Professer]

The simple fact remains that energy-density relative to secondary battery systems peaks with silver/zinc and silver is far too expensive to use in production.

Even if this method was adopted the same problems exist of contamination, fatigue and corrosion which necessitates replacement of cells.

The only way to make electric propulsion feasible is in closed-loop systems where the power lies in a rail, either buried or exposed just beneath a thin surface and the magnetic field is alternated as occurs in an ordinary induction motor.

The experiment did make use of the old Van Nuys G.M. Firebird/Camaro plant facility for awhile - now it will once again revert to the "rulers-of-the-night."

[LaraCroft]

Its hardly irrelevant to desire alternate fuel sources, especially clean ones.

The metro areas of the country are so smog filled that they are hazardous to live and breath there.

Jeesh, why does there have to be someone peeing on everyones parade when they want change? Your type is why people tried to kill Copernicus and other outside the box thinkers. Face it, youre a dinasour and you're starting to smell bad.

[MIgramma]

Can anyone recall just how much of our tax dollars the Goron 'granted' GM for this fiasco?
Just so he could sell 'em more lead from his country-side polluting lead mine.
Actually just disturbing the ground to mine lead produces far more pollution than the emission gain but that wasn't allowed in the equation.

[waterstraat]

If you want cleaner air and less polution in California, quit increasing your population so much. There are too many people in California, and more come in each day. If you reduced your population by ten million or so, it would be better.

[RANGERAIRBORNE]

The desire for clean energy sources is good. Having a technology which CLEARLY will not work (for a variety of reasons too long to go into here), and then forcing it down the throats of manufacturers and consumers by Government fiat, is not good.

You really should read some free-market economics- try "FREE TO CHOOSE" for starters, by Milton and Rose Friedman. The free market will solve this problem- but only if it is allowed to operate. No Government "Five-Year Plan" is going to do it.

[RANGERAIRBORNE]

"If you reduced your population by ten million or so, it would be better."

Preferably by euthanasia. Stop moving to nicer places and destroying them, too.

[Viva Le Dissention]

I don't think anyone is saying that the government should require the automobile companies to produce these cars, but what I don't understand (and maybe what Lara is saying) is why so many people, especially "conservatives" that show up around here, have such negative, knee jerk reactions against things like electric cars.

I don't own an electric car, and frankly, I wouldn't buy one right now (mostly due to the limitations mentioned in the article), but I think it's sad that GM is stopping production on the car. The automobile manufacturers are faced with a free market Catch-22: there's no demand for the product because the technology isn't there, but without demand, there's no incentive to produce the technology.

Electric cars would be a far better alternative to automobiles on the road today. They would be cheaper to operate, quieter to run, and better for the environment. I don't see why so many folks have such a problem with that. But, oh well.