I asked who killed the electric car?

Question

I listed a source

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_killed_the_electric_car

But of the 10 replys I got, 9 said the battery technology wasn't there.

Yet in the video & even in the source it states the battery WAS NOT the fail of the car. (GMs EV1 prototype)

By the way I'm talking total elect. not a hybred.

If you want the points and state an answer at least be kind enough to review the source so you don't look like an idiot!!

PLEASE?

Answer 1

oil tycoons

Answer 2

It's easy to want to blame oil companies and think that you are uncovering some great conspiracy.

The EV1 failed because it was shite, just read the data on the wiki:

"GM believes that the electric car venture was not a failure, and that the EV1 was doomed when the expected breakthrough in battery technology did not take place.[26] In fact, the NiMH battery packs (or Ovonic Battery) that were expected to dramatically improve range came with their own set of problems; GM had to use a less-efficient charging algorithm (lengthening charge times) and waste power on air conditioning to prevent the battery packs from overheating.[27] In addition, the elimination of the environmental mandate that led to the car's creation was, as previously mentioned, a huge factor in the program's cancellation"

Earlier on the page it says that charge times are as much as 2 hours!

Yes, batteries are the problem.

Imagine that you are going on a long drive out of state, maybe 500 miles or so.  A really good battery will get you about 300 miles, but then what?  You have to stop and wait for it to charge which can be as much slower than filling your tank.  Instead of stopping to fill up gas for five minutes, you will have to stop and sit in your car for TWO HOURS while the battery charges.  Also, batteries are only good for so many miles, 100k for a prius, and then they are expensive to replace.  

The next step in cars before we get to electric will be a plug-in hybrid.  A plug-in hybrid will charge overnight, run on the battery all day, and only use up gas when the battery runs out.  As you said, most driving is only 30 miles per day, so most of the time you will never use gas in a plug-in hybrid.

<Edit>

As another poster pointed out, if Congress and big oil companies were the only reason why the electric car failed, then why haven't we seen electric cars in the UK, Russia, Japan, China, or any other country?

Answer 3

To think that any government, or any corporation or industry group could stop a technology is just plain stupid.

  Why wouldn't China build it?  Why wouldn't Russia build it?  Why wouldn't Japan build it?  Why wouldn't Ted Turner and George Soros and any other America-hating rich liberal you can think of build it?  

China will soon import more oil than the USA.  Don't you think THEY are smart enough to make an electric car?

Do THESE people/countries listen to big oil?

Do you think China cares about patents?  Do you think North Korea cares about patents?

Try THINKING.  Just try it for ONCE.

Answer 4

The electric car was killed by Big Oil and the politicians they own - like Bush and Cheney.

Cheney actually created America's energy policies with representatives from the oil industry at the table. Anything that would put a dent in oil consumption has been squashed by them.

Answer 5

Maybe if you wish hard enough it'll all come true.  But I saw an EV-1, and tons of batteries in a very light-weight car makes for a perilous bit of transportation.  GM was pretty brave to have marketed the thing in the first place.  It had fascinating features like aluminum suspension parts to lighten the vehicle to within an inch of its life, and the tires were big and narrow, like on a motorcycle, and inflated to something like 70 psi.  

No, the batteries are indeed the problem, and there's little that can be done about it.  You're used to the improvements in computers, but most technologies aren't like that, especially batteries.  Thomas Edison, who fooled with electric cars and their batteries for years, said that storage batteries--or the claims for them--could make a liar out of the most honest of men.

Answer 6

the consumer killed the electric car by not showing a ligitimate interest in them with their buying habits still leaning towards the power of the fossil powered vehicles therefore some blame has to be put on the manufacture for not marketing them to their full extent.

Answer 7

Just as I always thought...

The oil industry!

And they keep buying up all the patents for the electric cars.

Competition sux, doesn't it?

Answer 8

The market did,  the oil barrons as well the stock market **** heads.

But in the end it just isn't very marketable.

no one wants to pay more for a car that does less has less room poorer performance,  and oh yeah batteries do eventually wear out life span on SLA batteries is about 6 years at most and for  a new set enough to actually put you into the 72v + range with at least one parellel set will put you back at least a couple grand,  you could get at least one crate motor for that price.

The batteries are there they just won't last forever the charge and therefore the roundtrip distance,  besides the charge they do wear out and under an intensive situation like an EV use no one wants to pay several g's every few years just in bateries thats if you can find a motor that will last a couple years.  

A motor like that one that has poor performance and doesn't have recharge while braking ability will set you back a couple grand and will probably only last you a few years as well.

That and labor on repairs most mechanics who don't have this kind of experience on @ least $40-65 an hr +

NEway im ranting your dreaming

If  its really that easy yo build a marketable EV that leaves lil to compromise be my guest

Ev 1 the specs were c**p 50 mile range thats 25 round trip ,  only 20 if you don't want to risk getting stuck even less if you're on the highway doing highway speeds.

I'll give it its just dues on one thing it was a real production vehicle and looked like one.  Not theese hippied out golf cart pos'es  you see on the internet that cant do 35 mph

Answer 9

the electric car was killed by congress. The real congressional hearings on the case were shown in the movie Who Killed the Electric Car.

Watch the movie and you'll see.

But if you read between the lines, it was the oil company's lobbyists.