Why aren't all cars and buses electric(free of gasoline)?

Question

Why aren't all cars and buses electric(free of gasoline)?

Answer 1

The electrical cords would run into the billions of dollars , and create trip-zones - for pedestrians.

Answer 2

it's very difficult to store enough energy in a battery to power a large car or bus for any practical length of time.

Answer 3

because the middle east has lots of oil and we like trading with them, they are so peaceful.

Answer 4

Several reasons, actually.  A big part of it is because internal combustion engines are a tried and true method of moving a vehicle that allows the vehicle to be refueled along the way.  Charging a plug-in electric car takes several hours, which is fine for someone who only makes short trips and lives in the city, but it's not so good for anyone who travels outside of a certain radius of their home.

As others mentioned, a problem until very recently was the quality of the batteries.  More waste would be produced by replacing the battery every few years.  Plus the distance a person could drive on that charge was very small, much more restrictive than most people wanted.  This has been improved upon (which is why we now see hybrid cars).  However the distance that can be driven on a charged battery is not that far, compared to how far a tank of gas can get you.

Electricity is also very expensive and a source of carbon emissions on its own.  Most electric plants are at least partially coal powered.  Owners of electric cars would spend the same amount or even more to "fuel" their electric vehicle, and it would still be a cause of carbon emissions--maybe even more than driving a gasoline car.

The short answer is:  electric car technology just hasn't been perfected to the point where it's affordable and performs adequately for normal folks to use.

Answer 5

The weight of the battery is one limiting problem. The range is more like a joke.

Answer 6

Because too many oil tycoons would be loosing too much money...by rights there should be electric cars up&running by now!

Answer 7

its 2 much hassle having to recharge your car for 8 hours a night, if you forget to charge up your screwed.  its just as easy to be low on fuel and go to a petrol station and fill up instead of wasting hours on a recharge.

Answer 8

There are a myriad of issues with electric vehicles

Capacity of the battery

weight of the battery

voltage of the battery

re-charge speed (8-12 hours)

size of the batteries

number of batteries (it typically takes 30+ batteries to have a light weight car that goes only 100 miles)

efficacy of the batteries

expensive control circuitry

loss of energy not absorbed durring regenitive braking

I can go almost 400miles in my gas-car and in under 5 minutes "recharge" and go another 400 miles

in an electric i could go 100miles but then have to wait 8-12 hours to go 100 miles more. ....electrics wont be doing any cross country driving durring the near future

i like electrics but they wont replace gas-cars anytime soon.

Answer 9

for the average journey to work you'd need a battery the size of france.

Answer 10

Because it is way to expensive and then we would have to figure out where to get all the electricity from, which we usually get from coal and coal will not last forever just like oil.

Answer 11

my oh my, some of the answers are somewhat amusing. until we get politicians who are open minded, not owned by the oil and automotive industry and are willing to listen to you and me, electric vehicles will be in the distant future. I drive an electric vehicle, its awesome. so, if electric cars is what you want, GET IN THE FACES of your politicle reps. check out the folowing site.

Answer 12

b/c we haven't figured out how to make the battery/engine effecent enough yet.  Imagine the nightmare of getting rid of millions of really big car batteries. We'lll get it someday.  But that's why we have Hybrids instead of just electric.