Electric cars.... what's so difficult?

Question

I do not get what is keeping us from getting electric cars to work. We are so dependant on all the worse countries of all. The arabs, are laughing their way to the bank and into world domination because we can't get a electric design to work. Can somebody that really knows tell me, what are we waiting for. It better not have anything to do with the price of stock in car companies. It is a matter of national security!!!

Answer 1

One thing I can't stand is people answering questions with stupidity. The thing is there are too many politics and red tape about this issue. It is like 9-11, until the sh,].t hits the fan nobody will do nothing about this. Then it will happen. Unfortunately, will be late enough that the economy will be in the toilet, and nobody can afford to buy them. 100 miles per charge?. Why not a reverse hybrid? The main propulsion is the electric motor, and the gas is just to recharge. Then plug gin is just when the car sits in your garage or parking space.

Answer 2

There are lots of them on Indian roads.

http://www.revaindia.com/

Answer 3

A) America lacks the infrastructure for the mass use of electric vehicles...no recharge stations...nor a logical method of regulating such recharge stations if they did exist.

B) Truth be told about OIL, we export most of the oil produced in the U.S. and import oil from the middle east. This has more to do with economics than logic.

C) Even if all cars were electric, and we had recharge stations in place on every corner...we would still have to get the electricity from somewhere....such as coal or nuclear power plants...which have just as much if not more environmental impact.

D) The weight of the battery currently used for prototypes is a leading factor in the quick loss of power.

E) Very few people will pay 40K for a car that can only go 100 miles or less before having to be recharged.

Answer 4

nothing is "difficult" about it, they just aren't going to happen.

And if you think they are the precious energy savers the media makes them out to be, you are sadly mistaken.  The energy to manufacture and run a Hummer is less than that of a hybrid.  What does say about your electric motors.

remember to wind up you rubber band engine next road trip to go to some environmentalist wacko convention.

Answer 5

My school has an electric vehicle class, and over the past several years we have converted 3 electric vehicles. Our cars are very efficient and perfect for the average traveler. The charge lasts long enough for a person to go to work and back. The problem with electric vehicles becoming widespread is the human driving mentality. People don't drive conservatively, they only care about speed. However if people learned to drive conservativly, not heavily on the accelerator, then they would be ready for electric vehicles as they are now. Battery technology is a main limiting factor in electric vehicles. The batteries in our electric cars are lead acid batteries. We have 16 6volt batteries in our cars and the charge will last 40 miles. The tesla roadster and chevy volt are in the process of making electric cars with more efficient batteries; however they are more pricey. Electric cars could be more widespread when batteries are made cheaper and more efficient.

Answer 6

The problem with present day electric cars is that they have one or more of the following:

Too short a range - A practical car must be able to cruise at highway speeds for at least 200 miles (and preferably 250) on a single tank of fuel or battery charge

Too long to recharge - To be competative with internal combustion engine powered cars, you will need to recharge an electric car with a completely flat battery to fully charged in ten minutes or less

To inconvenient - You can refuel an IC powered car at thousands of convienent locations either in the city or on the highway.  There is no such recharging system available for electric cars

Not enough power - very few electric cars can repeatedly accelerate from 0-60 mph in 10 seconds or less without severily reducing their range.  

Poor driver comfort - The most basic IC powered car can keep its passengers comfortable when outside temperatures are as high as 100 degrees F or as low as 0 deg F.

Cost way too much - The very few electric cars that approach the performance of an IC powered car (none completely match it) cost at leat $20,000 dollars more than a comperable IC car.

Basically, electric cars are uncompetative in the market place.  Thus, very few people will buy them so not many are likely to be sold.  Companies that design and make cars are not interested in selling a few hundred, they want to sell millions.

Answer 7

watch the movie "who killed the electric car" for the answer to your question.

GM made the EV-1 ( a fully electric car) and allowed people to lease it in 2000 but in 2003, they took them all back and would not sell the cars to the public despite a high demand for the cars and great reviews and customer feedback.

I believe they recalled the cars because of pressure from the oil industry, which is obviously entangled in the auto manufacturing industry. The only reason we got hybrids is because Foreign auto makers started producing them and American auto makers had to catch up.

Until we get legislation that forces auto manufacturers to make cars with drastically better gas mileage, no one is going to offer electric cars.

Answer 8

there are some advanced electric cars being manufactured in the US.  Check out the website.

Answer 9

There's an excellent documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? which addresses the issues involved.  It's a great doc, I'd recommend it to anyone.

The culprits in the "murder" of the electric car are:

Consumers - unwilling to compromise on vehicle range and cargo capacity, even though the average vehicle on the road carries 1 person, little cargo and travels less than 50 kilometres per day.  Electric cars are suitable to 90% of Americans commuters.

Big Oil - Fearful of losing business, they bought patents for cutting-edge batteries and shelved the technology.

Car Manufacturers - Because electric cars are low-maintenance, they threaten the profits from expensive parts and repairs (a significant portion of income for dealers).  The manufacturers recalled their leased electric cars and scraped them, despite protests.

Government - The pro-oil U.S. federal government joined the auto industry in a lawsuit against California's Zero-Emissions mandate, and promotes vehicles with poor fuel efficiency.

Hydrogen fuel cell - an improbable alternative fuel which distracts attention from the real and immediate potential of electric vehicles.  It has been embraced by automakers, oil companies and the Federal administration in order to buy time and profits for the status quo.

Although there are electric kit-cars and some imports from Europe, the future for electrics in North America would seem to be in the form of a plug-in hybrid -- a gas-powered hybrid with batteries sufficient for an average commute.  You can plug it in overnight for your daily drive, and then, if you need it, let the hybrid engine continue indefinitely while filling up at the pump.

P.S.:  The United States imports most of its oil (and natural gas) from Canada.  Canadians have their own reasons to shy away from the electric car (batteries don't perform as well in the cold.)

P.P.S.:  Electric cars are so much more efficient than internal combustion, there would be fewer CO2 emissions even if the electricity was generated by coal-burning power plants.  And as the ideal user is a commuter, the only infrastructure needed is a power hookup where the person parks at their home.

Answer 10

"I do not get what is keeping us from getting electric cars to work. "

No one is stopping me.  Who is stopping YOU?

Answer 11

Bad battery technology is the ONLY real problem. Any battery good enough to do the job well costs ridiculously too much. That is why the Tesla electric car which is so good in so many ways costs $100,000, because of the extremely expensive lithium ion batteries. And it is also why and electric golf cart that costs only a few thousand dollars can only go 20 MPH for only 5 or 10 miles on a charge, because of the cheap lead acid batteries. What is needed is a battery that is as good as lithium ion but as cheap as lead acid. It has not been invented yet.

All that c**p about who killed the electric car is just that, conspiracy theory c**p. If there was a good battery available, electric cars would be everywhere.