Posted on 07/18/2006 12:05:31 PM PDT by LouAvul
If you're fed up with paying high gas prices, Hybrid Technologies says it has a solution for you.
The company is out with an "electric smart car" that runs on a lithium battery.
The company's co-founder, Richard Griffiths, pointed out to The Early Show co-anchor Rene Syler Tuesday that that's the same type of battery you'll find in cell phones, PDAs, computers, "pretty much anything we use now that's a portable electronic device."
Griffiths showed Syler how you simply plug the car in, literally, to a conventional 110 volt outlet.
"If you completely drain the battery," Griffiths said to Syler, "it's like your cell phone, if you drain the battery, a full charge is five to six hours. Normally, people won't drain the entire battery, so maybe one to two hours at night. Basically, it's like, 'Honey, did you take out the garbage and plug in the car?' It's kind of a new way of thinking. It's a plug-in hybrid. It uses absolutely no gas.
"On a single charge, you can go up to 120 miles and, depending how you drive, 150 miles."
"It's very, very small, though," Syler observed. "I am thinking safety. How does it crash test?"
"It has a three-star crash test rating," Griffiths responded, "and it has air bag systems, five air bags, three in the front. It's like a walnut. It's actually a very safe car. This is a city commuter car, so it's not a car that you'll necessarily be driving on the highway every day. So we're not looking at high speeds, necessarily."
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
Wonder what the Electric bill would be.
This is the cue for someone to post that pic of "Mr. Fusion" from Back To The Future.
"We have two cars. "
But many people can't afford two cars.
I have two now, but I won't shortly because the price of everything going up is forcing me to sell one of them. The cost of insurance is especially tough right now.
It's hard enough paying extra, in the hot months, for air conditioning, but wait 'til you see what re-charging your electric car costs on your electric bill each month.
I have a friend who found out the hard way. First three weeks he had the car its was "Nyah nah nah nah nah! I don't have to buy any gas!" Then he got his power bill and it was way more than double the usual (close to $600 for a three bedroom house...it normally runs him from $150 in winter to about $200 or so in the summer).
--Electricity comes from magic!--
Hilarious! I'm sure electricity is created totally cleanly, with no environmental effects.
I don't mind taking off slightly slower. Heck, I follow a lot of 'slow starters' everyday when I'm driving.
But the charge time would be a plus for me.
yah,but with a GOOD system in there yer trip-o-meter goes down to 25miles ;-)
Describe, if you will, how much gasoline you think is used in the production of ethanol.
It's a start in the right direction to free the Americans from dependence upon a nonrenewable resource imported from unreliable and unstable govts who hate America.
Yeah, it's not like my electric bill has skyrocketed. < /sarc >
Meanwhile all of the "alternative fuel" cars are using the roads without paying the taxes that maintain those roads. I suggest raising the licensing renewal fees and lowering gas taxes.
Valid point, but if we can get the rational environmentalists to tell the socialist utopian nutjobs to shut up, we can get more nuclear plants built. By itself this car won't let us tell the terrorist enablers in the ME to pound sand, but it's a step in the right direction.
Now I'm no engineer (but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night), but it seems to me that if a car is cruising down the road at 60 MPH, that it could somehow generate the power to charge the batteries that run the thing.
We could put a plastic strip down on the highway and then drag cats around on extensions cords....
Well if we removed the $0.50/gallon tariff on imported Ethanol, and removed the tariff on imported sugar to make it, the price would drop quickly.
"It's a plug-in hybrid. It uses absolutely no gas. "
Huh? If it's a hybrid, that would indicate a cross of two or more technologies. If it's all electric, then it's not a hybrid. If it is a hybrid, forget the electric part, I want the gasoline motor that uses no gas!
While it could become a practical solution, it is not likely to happen if the Enrons and smart growthers have their say.
The corporate interests want their monthly cut and the smart growthers are against property rights. You must join the collective.
GM dropped the electric car because it didn't want to be stuck with the project. The guys who were test using them wanted to keep them. Their prototype was $100,000, this prototype is $35,000.
In spread out country, longer milage is a concern. For people in cities 70 miles is just fine. For 25 year my husband had a 20 mile commute, maybe 5 or 10 miles shopping after work occasionally. Then into our garage with electricity. Most families have 2 cars. I forsee a pattern of 1 small energy efficient car, and 1 larger long trip, whole family car in our future.
I would like to know how many kilowatts it would take to give this vehicle its full milage electric charge. Then we could calculate the cost from our local electric rates. Where I live it is 6.5 cents/kwh, where my son lives it is 15 cents/kwh.
But many people can't afford two cars.
Well, looking around my distinctly blue collar neighborhood, I see zero houses with only one car. Most families have at least two cars...some have more.
If you can only afford one car, then one of these electric cars probably wouldn't be the best choice.
On the other hand, I have two cars, neither of which is anywhere near new. Both are paid for, and my driving record keeps my insurance low on both. I don't maintain any sort of collision insurance, since I have never had an accident. If I do, then the money I've saved from not paying for that insurance ought to cover it.
Your situation may be different. However, that doesn't mean that small electric cars for local use don't make sense for others.
It's always funny that people seem to think that their own situation applies to everyone. That's rarely the case.
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