When will the big car companies make electric cars?

Question

So far, major car companies seem unwilling or unable to manufacture 100% electric cars. While they have been dragging their feet, small companies like Tesla, Pheonix, and Zap have shown that electric cars are not only possible, but can potentially be viable, practical, and somewhat affordable alternatives to gas engine cars. Here are some examples:

Tesla Roadster -- 2 seat sports car, 248hp, 0-60 4.0 seconds, 210 mile range, $98,000.

Zap-X -- 5 passenger SUV, 644hp, 0-60 4.8 seconds, 350 miles range, 10 minute recharge, approx $60,000.

Pheonix SUT -- sport utility truck, 90 MPH top speed, 0-60 10 seconds, 100 mile range, 10 minute recharge, price TBA.

The Tesla will be available this year, the other 2 could be available as early as next year.

As you can see, it is entirely possible to build an all electric car that will serve the needs of 95% of the population. So why don't the big companies follow these small ones?Why do they continue to put out wimpy, inefficient hybrids instead?

Answer 1

please try and see if you can get your hands on a copy of the documentary 'who killed the electric car?' It'll show you that big car companies have been (forced) to make some electric models, but tried hard (and succeeded) to not have to produce them anymore, and, in spite of popular demands, proceeded to have all cars returned to them and have them destroyed (also brand new ones).

quite sad actually..

Answer 2

Well I don't believe they will be making electric cars, i think this would be even more of a waste, because we would have to burn so much fuel to create all this energy, so it wouldn't make the situation of global warming etc. any better. They are however making cars in Germany which run with hydrogen, the only problem is at the moment that there are not many petrol stations which offer hydorgen. As the manufacture of the hydrogen car increases, there will also be more hydrogen stations. As the hydrogen comes out of the exhaust the only waste product will be water as the 2 molecules of hydrogen bind with and oxygen molecule.

Answer 3

Major car makers exist for one reason, to make money.  Until there is a major market, and infrastructure, for electric cars they will remain an oddity.  Many people have made electric cars available over the years, and they've never been popular.  People know liquid fuel, they are comfortable with it, so they will buy it first.  Sure, some people want electrics... but if Ford can't sell 300,000 cars a year... forget it.

For those of you who have seen 'Who killed the electric car' please note that it is not an objective movie.  It was made to further one groups agenda, and was quite wrong on many fronts.  The auto makers were forced into making electric cars, and likely lost millions of dollars because of it.  GM made a great effort with the EV1, a vehicle I have had the chance to help in restoring.  It's a remarkable machine.  But still, they likely lost stupidly large sums of money developing it.  And believe me, if GM had thought there was money to be made by selling it, they would have sold them.  Plain and simple.

To date, every company that has come into being for the purpose of selling electric cars to daily drivers has gone out of business.  And I bet the same fate will befall Tesla, zap, and the rest of this latest crop.

I hate to be a pessimist, but this is simply historical fact.  For the foreseeable future, electric cars will not be a major player in the auto scene.

Answer 4

When the market will support their development and commercial distribution.  To date, this is simply not the case and it will not be until electric cars can match the performance of gasoline or diesel powered cars at the same price.  This has been discussed in great detail in previous questions including the necessary performance criteria.  At present there is no electric car that can match petroleum powered vehicles, and there are none even close to commercialization.

Answer 5

Pretty simple answer.

When consumers make electric cars profitable.

Answer 6

first of all, the big three auto makers are not having a good time financially. to expect them to take a run at electric car production, well good luck on that. if pure electric cars is what you want, then get into the faces of politicians and demand change. California was on the right track with the mandate for zero emissions vehicles. isn't it amazing how the oil industry has so much power? until both American and Canadian governments see the light, battery electric cars will remain in the back ground. at least there are some companies and conversion shops trying to make a difference by offering an alternative to the internal combustion engine.

Answer 7

Where would you get the electricity to charge your electric car?answer you will be getting it from a COAL fired power plant.and can the average blue collar worker afford that electric car?build more nuclear power plants that will produce cheap electricity and produce hydrogen that will power these ECOLOGY friendly cars until then you can give every American citizen a electric car and it will do nothing to help with Global warming it's only until you get rid of coal fired  power plants that electric cars would make sense.getting electricity from coal the biggest polluter on earth.?????

Answer 8

"GM made a great effort with the EV1"

No, they didn't.  In the documentary, they showed GM's commercials for the EV1.  "How did it go without sparks or explosions!?" and one with a bunch of appliances moving to the middle of a street.  Those were the worst car commercials I'd ever seen.  Wherever those "stupidly large" amounts of money were spent, it sure wasn't in Marketing.

GM could've either stopped selling cars in California, or made a zero-emission vehicle, and they made one.  And people bought them regardless of the horrible commercials.  And then a couple years down the road, GM took all the cars back and had them destroyed, even though people offered to pay full price for them.  I know the documentary was subjective, but GM was fishy at every turn.

But to answer the question (When will the "big" car companies make electric cars?) - who cares?  Seriously.  There's about six (Aptera, Miles, Phoenix, Tesla, Zap, Zenn) companies that are working on electric cars.  Some already have cars on the road.  They'll be available to the public in a couple of years.  So waiting for Detroit to churn out an electric car isn't too smart.

Answer 9

The combustion engine is more complicated and needs more parts for repairs and upkeep which makes the car companies a huge amount of money.  Electric cars are simple, use no oil, no radiator, no transmission and require little maintenance.  Plus Big oil doesn't want you recharging at your house for 2 to 4 dollars, they would rather you bought gas or diesel or hydrogen from them at a gas station.

To DMS

Coal, Solar, Wind, Hydro and Nuclear are all used to make electricity.  Solar panels on your house would solve your biggest gripe.  As a side note it takes 1/2 the CO2 emissions from a coal plant to charge the electric car vs the CO2 emissions to run a car on gasoline the same distance.

Electric cars would be simpler to make than any other type of car.  So they would also be the cheapest if the big auto makers would adopt the concept

Answer 10

for all your big numbers..i dont believe them..zap x 350 mile range 0 to 60 4.8...if true..people would be buying them like hot cakes....all the hollywood  greenies....

Answer 11

You get them down to $20,000.00 ,.....I would  buy one!!!

!

Answer 12

I doubt it. Car manufacturers must make only cars that will sell. Thus far, the public has not accepted these. I believe it is primarily due to the price, range between charges, fear of battery problems, etc.

For myself, the price alone is enough. At 5% interest, a $100,000 car is costing me about $416 dollars a month just in interest on my money. Lets say I spend another $100 a month on electricity for it for a total of $516 operating cost. I can buy a nice little Corrola or VW for less than $20,000 and get 40-50MPG. My cost of money reduces to about $75 per month and my gas cost is about $50 for a total of $125.

I am spending 20% of the cost of driving the electric, and do not have the range restrictions, battery replacement costs, etc. If I get the VW Diesel it gets 50-60MPG and can use Biodiesel which is even better than the electric car that just moves most of the pollution to the power  plant location.

In my opinion, it isn't the car companies or oil companies that is the problem. It is the device itself.

The companies advertizing the 10 min. charge time I believe are not telling the whole story. Have you calculated the power source and equipment required to move that much electricity in that short a time? It is huge. You would need some big cables and a large transformer. I wonder how they do it.

Answer 13

do you own one of the current electric cars? if so, then ask your question; if not, that may be your answer.

Answer 14

Just as a quick note, the ZAP-X probably won't be available until 2010 at the earliest.  ZAP is shooting to go into production of the Alias in the second quarter of 2009.  The Phoenix SUT may start selling to individual toward the end of this year.  A few others:

Available in California in October 2008, the Aptera typ-1e will cost about $27,000 with a top speed of 95 mph and range of 120 miles per charge.

http://www.aptera.com/details.php

Soon thereafter Aptera will introduce the typ-1h, a plug-in hybrid version of the typ-1e with a 40-60 mile range on purely electrical energy, and a range of over 600 miles total when in electric/gas hybrid mode, for around $30,000.  On a 120 mile trip, the typ-1h will get 300 miles per gallon.  The shorter the trip, the higher the efficiency.

http://www.aptera.com/details.php

Available in 2009, the Miles Javlon will cost $30,000 with a top speed of 80 mph and a range of 120 miles per charge.

http://www.milesev.com/

As for the big auto companies, the furthest along is GM with the Chevy Volt.  Of course, this is not a fully electric car, but a plug-in hybrid.  Still, it's a step in the right direction for the big auto companies.  Toyota is also shooting for a plug-in Prius around that timeframe.

The only big auto company I've heard of that's working on a fully electric car is Mitsubishi.  They're making a small EV which can go 90 miles/charge and 90 mph for just ~$20,000 (thanks to incentives from the Japanese government), shooting for sales around 2010.  However, they may only sell them in Japan.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7816102/

Answer 15

Though it may seem companies are starting to care about their impact on the environment with cars like the Prius, they really only care about what their customers care about. People want to help the environment; going "green" is cool now. But most people are barely willing to pay the extra 5-15 thousand dollars that hybrids cost! The cheapest car you listed is enough to buy an awesome sports car. Few people can afford it, and those who can will probably choose the awesome sports car. As long as people want cheaper cars more, companies will not be making electric cars.

Answer 16

I believe that our big 3 auto companies have not been known to make good decisions regarding many aspects of either construction or sale of autos. I also believe they will probably be beaten to the market for plug in hybrids and electric vehicles. I am telling my auto dealers that I am simply not buying another car until someone makes a plug-in hybrid and at a price I can afford.

I don't think they did any real marketing of this concept and so it is not surprising that nobody bought them. I didn't even know they were available. Instead I am inundated with ad after ad for more powerful, tough and very expensive autos that take at least $50 each visit to the gas station.

If we don't start demanding them, Detroit will never make them. I could charge a plug-in at home during the night when rates were low and drive to and from work every day, all week long without ever visiting a gas station. I could even sell electricity back to the power grid when it was needed on heavy electricity days. With a plug-in hybrid, I could also drive normally using whatever fuel was available.

If we keep buying gas hogs, that is all they will make. Rebel! Demand! Refuse to buy and watch how quickly they panic and make what we need. Truthfully, it is in our hands. We can sit on our hands and let them control us or we can make clear what we want. Money in their pockets ... or in ours ... speaks their language.

Answer 17

I think they are afraid of the "World's Cleanest Car".

"BBC News is reporting that a French company has developed a pollution-free car which runs on compressed air. India's Tata Motors has the car under production and it may be on sale in Europe and India by the end of the year.

The air car, also known as the Mini-CAT or City Cat, can be refueled in minutes from an air compressor at specially equipped gas stations and can go 200 km on a 1.5 euro fill-up -- roughly 125 miles for $3. The top speed will be almost 70 mph and the cost of the vehicle as low as $7000."

A Korean company is also producing these cars.

"The engine, which powers a pneumatic-hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), works alongside an electric motor to create the power source.

The system eliminates the need for fuel, making the PHEV pollution-free."