If you ahd to drive an electric car - what would be its most important feature or requirement for you?

Question

lol! I didn't say Had to..I said ahd to...don't you know the difference?

Interesting responses - thanks!

Answer 1

That the car could travel 600 miles on one charge.

Answer 2

Better batteries.

I want to convert one of my old VW's someday and don't want an extra 1,000lbs of batteries that only give 50 miles on one 'fill up'.

Answer 3

A loooooong extension cord.

Answer 4

That it used nickel-metal hydride batteries since I don't like lead-acids and I don't trust lithium-ions yet either.

Since most everything on them seems to work fine, I think I'd just ask that it had solar panels, though that would add a lot to the build cost [Why are they so d**n expensive??] it would help trickle charge it, slightly extending its continuous range and likely saving my *** in case I get stranded because I ran out of power.

And it would be so awesome....

Edit: If I had to? What do you mean "If I HAD to"?

Are you insinuating that driving an electric car is a burden?

I don't like that tone. You do that again... I'll stab you in the face with a soldering iron... </Chris Walken>

Answer 5

A gasoline powered engine is the most important feature for me.

Answer 6

It would need to have performance equal to my gasoline powered car at the same price.  Performance includes acceleration, cruising speed, range, comfort, and refueling convenience.  Cost means total life cycle cost including purchase price, maintenance, life span, and operating costs.

Answer 7

I would want both reliability and a reasonable range.  The recharging time should not be excessive.

Answer 8

i wont get electricuted

Answer 9

balls

Answer 10

that it is reliable

Answer 11

all wheel drive and very fast like the Tesla but not $98,000

Answer 12

I'd want it to be reliable and reasonably priced. Really, I need something to get to work and get groceries. Not much else. I'd rent something bigger for summer trips if I could get away with a really reliable, small, cheap, electric. Two seats would be nice.

Answer 13

Well the limiting factors on electric cars are range, speed, and price.

Generally current EVs only have about 40 mile per charge range, but the next generation coming out in a year or two will have around 100 mile per charge ranges.  That's enough for almost everybody's daily needs, so I would be satisfied with that.

Generally current EVs only have a top speed of 25-40 mph, but the next generation will have 100+ mph speed, so that problem has been solved.

The next generation of EVs will be priced from about $30-60k.  That's still rather steep, but not too much more than a Prius ($22k), for example.

For me as long as the EV had freeway speed capability and a ~100 mile per charge range, my main issue would be price.  Last year I bought a Prius and the $22k price tag was about as much as I could afford.  So I'd need an EV not to cost any more than that, which will take a few years.

Answer 14

quick recharge.  can you imagine driving 100 miles then having to wait 6 hours for the darn thing to charge ugh

Answer 15

The only puzzle that hasn't been solved sufficiently in building electric cars is storing power and recharging batteries quickly.

Electric engines can be made as powerful as anything on the road and more reliable than any gas powered engine. Look at the motor in the Tesla. It's the size of a watermelon and puts out 248hp. In a larger car, you could put one of those motors at each of the front wheels, and almost any car on the road could be pushing 500hp. That's not a pipe dream, that's what's currently available. A group in England put a 161hp motor at each of the 4 wheels of a Mini. That's a 644hp Mini for those who can't do the math.

Once battery technology makes them relatively cheap and able to get a 200 mile recharge in less than 30 minutes, they will sell like hotcakes. And don't worry about the infrastructure. Gas stations might be reluctant, but recharging stations will pop up all over the place at regular businesses. Fast food restaurants, grocery stores, and places like Lowe's could put a half dozen chargers in the parking lot, and charge $15 for $1 worth of electricity. They'd be stupid not to do that.

Oh and, don't worry too much about prices. They will drop drastically once these vehicles go into mass production. Right now they'll all be expensive because they're hand made in small numbers.

Answer 16

That it's battery was rechargeable.  I would hate to have to replace 2000 D batteries every day.