Posted on 06/10/2008 11:29:06 AM PDT by Sneakyuser
To Southern Cal Freepers: Wanna See Some Electric Cars? (Vanity)
Yes, they've existed since the mid-1990s. My friends, two stars of the film "Who Killed the Electric Car," will show the entire movie, have a Q & A and show their own electric Toyota RAV 4, and other electric vehicles and motorcycles, at the Torrance Main Library, in Torrance, California this Saturday at 2:00 p.m. The event is Free.
They have been driving their RAV 4 for over six years that was designed in 1996 and can go 90 mph with a 150 mile range (the average person travels about 40 miles a day both ways). They currently pay the equivalent of 75 cents per gallon to charge and drive the car. (They actually don't have to pay that because the vehicle is charged via their home's solar panels.) They have over 60,000 miles on the vehicle and it's still running great.
See Pluginamerica.org for more info
What makes this strange is that GM and Toyota designed and produced the EV-1 (subject of the film) and the RAV 4 in the mid-1990s. They crushed the EV-1 (and other car makers crushed their electric fleets). The people behind Plug in America prevented Toyota from crushing the RAV 4 models, which they purchased. Now, GM and Toyota complain that they're having problems with "Battery issues" for their new Volt and Plug-in Prius models. Huh? After 15 years, with new battery technologies used in cell phones, laptops, powerful cordless tools, you have battery issues when both companies produced viable all-electric vehicles (not toys) fifteen years ago with OLDER batteries?
Cy - Sneakyuses.com
You know that movie doesn’t even rise to the level of schlocumentary, right? Other than that, I’m a big proponent of going electric, as well as a hyuge investment in Nuclear Electric technology. I’d take an electric car that had a 100 mile range. Thats all I need for 90% of what I do.
I looked into getting some solar panels. Cost installed was $36,000. How much did their car cost? How much does operating and maintaining the solar panels cost?
Not exactly the sort of thing an ordinary person can afford.
Anyone remember the CitiCars aka CommutaCars?
Top speed, 30 MPH. Range, 40 miles.
Seems like a lot of fuss to save $ .10 a mile
http://www.electroauto.com/info/cost.shtml
How much does it cost to charge the car?
Energy usage usually works out to about .4 kWh per mile for DC systems, and .174 - .288 kWh for the more efficient AC systems. You can multiply this by your electricity rate to get a cost per mile. For example, if you pay $0.13 per kilowatt hour (most people pay more then this), this works out to a little over a nickel a mile for DC and about half that for AC. For comparison, gas at $2.00 per gallon on an efficient 25 mpg car works out to almost $0.08 per mile
Propane electric hybrid please.
Try the 80s, the 1880s.
A History of Early Electric Cars
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Crete/6111/electcar.htm
1905 Woods, 214a Brougham
http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aacarselectrica.htm
Without supporting math, this claim is meaningless. How about expressing this in cost per mile driven, with comparison costs for hybrid and conventional vehicles based on known mpg ratings and fuel costs?
“You know that movie doesnt even rise to the level of schlocumentary, right? Other than that, Im a big proponent of going electric, as well as a hyuge investment in Nuclear Electric technology. Id take an electric car that had a 100 mile range. Thats all I need for 90% of what I do.”
...me too!
Interesting as to how much they still looked like horse carriages.
Pst! there a 100 MPG carborator out there too...
This looks like a 1950’s t.v. on wheels, still a beautiful piece of work though.
Ya beat me. ;)
Yikes - did they have a trap door in front that you stuck your legs out of?
How many people expect their personal electronics rechargeable batteries to last a 10 year or more lifetime? I figure I get about two years out of laptop batteries before their life drops below what I consider acceptable and replace them for about $100. Look how many people complain about iPods not being replaceable (sorry Apple, you need to provide a battery door - I don't care how cute it is without a replaceable battery). Drills and such don't get a full recharge every day unless you're a contractor - in which case you replace your batteries every now and then.
People want their electric car batteries to last ten years, when they don't expect their gas engines' batteries to last more than three. Batteries just aren't that good.
60,000 miles / 150 miles = 400 full recharges. I don't know how much longer they should expect it to last.
Correction:
The event will be NEXT Saturday, June 21st.
More information here:
Sponsored by the Friends of the Torrance Library. For more information, call 310-618-5959 “Who Killed the Electric Car?”
Saturday, June 21, 2:00 p.m.
Website info: www.torrnet.com/Library/5504.htm
Sneakyuser
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.