Why don't we have more electric cars in America? I mean, we've got the technology, right?

Question

I mean, we've got the technology, right?

Answer 1

Electric cars are limited in range because you can't get very long extension cords. ;-)

Answer 2

The problem with electric cars right now is their lack of range. You will only be able to get about 200 miles on a full charge (for comparison, I can go 420 miles on a full tank of gas. I drive an '05 Grand Prix BTW). Americans are spoiled in that we like to drive everywhere and if an electric car cannot match the range you can get from a gasoline powered car, we will not buy it. That has always been the stumbling block with electric being adopted, and is also the problem with hydrogen fuel cell cars also - a 200 mile max range.

Answer 3

Reply to the reply -

Well, at least it is clear you don't really use the glycerin correctly.  Biodiesel glycerin makes unusually horrid lye soap - and the 'ladies' that take 5-gallon jelly buckets full of slop would probably be unlikely to use 130 bars (5-gallons worth) of any kind of soap in several years.

Actually, as slanderous as it may sound, 'dumping it on the back 40' is the correct answer.  Glycerin muck composts quite well.

One hour of charging costs less than 25 cents.  If you're that worried about someone's 'fixed income' you can leave a quarter on your once-a-month trip to 'donate' five gallon buckets of waste glycerin.  Or not charge the EV at all if you plan your trip correctly.  Or, since you have all the 'free' fuel you want anyway, drive the truck on the day you go into town.  Save the electric car for errands on the farm.  

Even though it may be cold today, there are some days the weather is nice enough to open the window, even in Idaho.

"The only electric vehicles I have ever seen for a reasonabile price, were ones in need of a new battery (very expensive) or were wrecked. Quiet simply, there are almost no electric vehicles in my state of a just over a million in population. They do not make sence here. Distances are too far."

So, original intent was say that because they don't work for your particular circumstance they can't possibly work for anyone.  Believe it or not, most people live in and around cities (with electricity) where they do make sense.  Very few people live on farms.

"You do of course realize that EMP pulses come from things other than nukes, right?"

Sure - lightning, your electric fencer, turning on a light switch, the radio station in Boise...  The fantasy is that a vehicle would ever be negatively affected by one (unless you like to park at the tops of hills during thunderstorms).

Scraping off 6" or so of soil for whatever amount of acres you have makes for a big pile of radioactive dirt someplace.  And it wouldn't just be your place - any wind would blow contaminated dust back on your crops (food and rapeseed).  You and your animals would be eating contaminated food, and your biodiesel powered tractor and vehicle would be spewing radiation out the exhaust, requiring more topsoil scraping.  Eventually, the radiation would win in the fantasy doomsday scenario.

"We are not, have not, and never will recieve a subsidies check from the Government. We pride ourselves on our independance."

Glad to hear it - Many farmers do.  Where I used to live, EVERY farmer plowed under acres of soybeans, wheat and cabbage because the subsidy was worth more than the crop.  Cabbage was the worst - stank for weeks.

"Our rapeseed does not come from the MiddleEast"

Unlikely that is does, since it would be uneconomical to import it from there.  Your crop (or seed, or fertilizer) is or has been -supported- (keyword here apparently missed during your speed reading) by mideast oil if you ever burned diesel.  Since biodiesel tends to gel below 32f, you probably run at least 50% petro diesel in your various machines for much of the year (especially since it is so bitterly cold no one can open a window where you live).  In other words, your crops are supported by middle east oil since you use diesel.

My vehicle 'runs' on a combination of renewables (about 80%), with additional sources being natural gas, and (drum roll please) a small quantity of coal (gasp! Say it ain't so!)

Since I charge at night when peaker plants are idled or turned off, the quantity of natural gas, coal and solar (no sun at night) used are not significant.  While not perfect, this combination of sources is significantly better than burning any fuel in any vehicle, hybrid, old, new, petro or biofuel.

Lead acid batteries are probably the most recycled item around.  It my have been common practice 50 years ago to dump them, but today the lead has too much value to throw away.  Probably the bigger problem is that thieves like to steal batteries because they can make a quick few bucks by turning them in to the recycler - Much easier than digging through trash for stray aluminum cans.

Since the batteries are recycled, it is likely that more land was 'strip mined' to produce the steel (iron, coal, etc.) in your excessively heavy vehicles.

Modern home solar installations typically don't use batteries - almost all are now 'grid tied' to reduce expense and increase efficiency.  After rebates, incentives, etc. a small system tends to run about $8,000 a kilowatt.  If my electric rate were significantly higher, or it were not as 'green' as it is, it might make sense to have one installed, but for the present it does not.

"pollute more than several hundred of your neighbors". ...that's the line that really got me. How EXACTLY do we pollute?"

Perhaps you are unclear on the concept of pollution as it relates to the topic at hand.  While there may be possible benefits to using Rapeseed oil when comparing -carbon dioxide- emissions, ANY vehicle that BURNS fuel creates pollutants.  Since you drive relics, here (again) is the reason YOU pollute much more than several hundred of your neighbors - Perfect reading comprehension aside, you seem to have missed quite a few details - I'll type it a bit slower this time.

Your 1968 'gross polluter' probably puts out somewhere around 130 grams per mile of HC, 36 grams per mile of NOx, and 870 grams per mile of CO (per EPA studies of older vehicles).  

HC, NOx and CO are pollutants.  These pollutants are formed by burning fuel.  You burn fuel in your vehicles.  Biofuel creates these pollutants in similar quantities as petro fuel.)

Compare that to today's standards for exhaust emissions from cars - 0.25 gram per mile HC, 0.4 gram per mile NOx, and 3.4 grams per mile CO.

Since your neighbors foisted off their junk on you when they bought that brand-new Chevy, their vehicles conform to current emissions regulations.  Yours do not.  If your vehicle puts out 130 grams of HC per mile, it would take several hundred new V8 Corvettes to equal that amount, since new vehicles only produce 0.25 grams HC per mile.  Do the math, and you'll see how you pollute more than your neighbors.

(mercifully truncated due to length)

The point of the matter here - We don't have more electric cars in America because people 'heard once' that weren't the solution to every problem, so they gave up.  Education is the key to getting more electric cars out there - debunk the misinformation brought to you by big oil and dinomobile manufacturers.

Answer 4

Some of the previous answers should tell you. Lotsa people are afraid of change. In my opinion the arguments for far outweigh the arguments against, but until there are enough consumers DEMANDING there wont be more manufacturers SUPPLYING its simple economics and it makes the world go round. Also the technology has been around since the 1900's there were some awsome electric cars back then.

Answer 5

diving into life

The one EV car I currently have (have 2 vehicles that run on hydrogen also) I converted from a vw bug and is free to charge. As I live completely off the grid all my electricity comes from solar panels and 2 wind generators, which I a;sp built.

However I did charge up at Costco in Carlsbad California (I actually only drove up there to fill up) if I remember right it was around $2.00

Here’s a list of other places you can charge up, don’t know if there are any prices though.

http://www.evchargernews.com/#regions

Not sure if you’re interesting in doing it your self, but I’d be willing to walk you step by step threw the conversion. I've converted 3 of my own cars (a datsun truck, ford ban, and a vw bug) and a few for neighbors. I've also converted cars to run on hydrogen, ethanol and biodiesel, by far EV is the easiest.

If you’re interested here’s what it would entitle…

- The engine compartment is first cleaned out of any gasoline components.

- Electric components are then installed in exchange.

- A battery bank is built and incorporated.

- Existing starter and driving systems are connected.

- Turn the key, step on the gas pedal sending more energy to the electric motor, & thus more power to the drive system, which in return creates more speed, more acceleration.

- The system has normal automotive top speeds and acceleration, typical to the vehicle your modifying. If your top speed was 85 mph and your acceleration was 1 mile per min, then this will be what your left with after the conversion.

The methods are extremely simple, making the process possible for anyone, everyone, ANYWHERE.

Typical tools, hardware & supplies are used, making access to parts available for all.

Electric Conversions can be easily accomplished in ANY model vehicle, even tractors, Generators, types of machinery, etc.

Project lengths range from 1 day to 1 month.

If you’re interested I wrote a guide on it which is available at www agua-luna com

Hope this helped, feel free to contact me personally if you have any questions if you’d like assistance in making your first self sufficient steps, I’m willing to walk you step by step threw the process. I’ve written several how-to DIY guides available at  www agua-luna com on the subject. I also offer online and on-site workshops, seminars and internships to help others help the environment.

Dan Martin

Alterative Energy / Sustainable Consultant, Living 100% on Alternative & Author of How One Simple Yet Incredibly Powerful Resource Is Transforming The Lives of Regular People From All Over The World... Instantly Elevating Their Income & Lowering Their Debt, While Saving The Environment by Using FREE ENERGY... All With Just One Click of A Mouse...For more info Visit:  

www AGUA-LUNA com

Stop Global Warming, Receive a FREE Solar Panels Now!!!

Answer 6

We do have a number of low-speed short-range EVs, the best of which is the ZAP Xebra.

http://zapworld.com/electric-vehicles/el...

And there's the Tesla Roadster, of course.

http://www.teslamotors.com/

Within the next year or two, several affordable long-range high-speed EVs will become available.

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 ZAP Alias will cost $30,000, have a top speed of 100 mph, and a range of 100 miles per charge.

http://zapworld.com/electric-vehicles/el...

Soon thereafter the ZAP-X will be available at a cost of $60,000 with a top speed of 155 mph and a range of 350 miles per charge.

http://zapworld.com/electric-vehicles/el...

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/

Phoenix Motorcars will start selling their SUT to individuals in 2009.  It will cost $45,000 and have a top speed of 100 mph with a range of 100+ miles per charge.

http://phoenixmotorcars.com/

Answer 7

we have technology to build low powered, limited speed, limited range vehicles with serious safety implications in a wreck

environmental costs associated with battery disposal is seldom considered

neither is the cost of the electricity

electricity is produced by those nasty coal burning plants that we won't let anybody build / operate anymore

OK so we build gas fired plants - oh no - we import a lot of that and shipping it is hazardous and we are destroying the environment in the poor countries where evil American corporations are robbing the poor

OK - so we build nukes - oh no - we are all going die glowing green in the night - or at least we will all be poisoned by the spent fuel - or terrorists will get it and kill us all

OK - so we can ride horses - oh no - we will all be up to our necks in horse manure

OK - we can all ride in bull drawn wagons - we are already used to the BS

Answer 8

Actually a lot ofAltenitive fuels have benn made for cars but gas staitions and things buy them and somtimes destroy them.

Answer 9

I believe cyborg's answer describe's the real problem.  Much of our current infrastructure is built around automobiles as we know them. Auto plants will have to completely change. Auto repair places will have to change drastically. Nobody is able to take the risk of changing because they fear that the public will not buy them and they will be left holding useless vehicles. It is going to be a slow change but probably an absolutely necessary one. Unless someone miraculously finds a lot more oil, the entire world is going to have to switch, so we'd better make a war like effort to solve it now. I am a tree hugging environmentalist but I am also a realist. Prices for all fuels are going to get worse as the industry will drive prices higher which will encourage investment in alternative companies and then destroy them by lowering prices just long enough to drive them out of business. We, the people need to start forcing our leaders to help or get out of the way.

Yes, the technology is avialable but there are many political and some technological problems to be solved.

Answer 10

No one wants them - ever heard of the free market? I will stick with my gas guzzling V8's instead of driving a car that looks like a pregnant rollerskate.

Answer 11

You really do need to see the documentary called "Who Killed the Electric Car" for an answer to this one because it is complex. Ultimately, most of the electric cars that were produced from 1998-2003 have been crushed because, it was argued in the film, the technology was too scary for the auto industry, who makes piles of money off of all those combustion engine-related tune ups and oil changes, it also threatened the oil industry because you could simply recharge the batteries at home overnight (get it...no gas stations). GM ultimately sold the patent to the second-generation electric car battery (NiMH) technology to a subsidiary of Chevron-Texaco (surprise, surprise). At the same time, the Bush-Cheney administration, who both came from the oil and gas industries, assembled an administration that was overtly hostile toward environmentally sound principles and practices. They have allowed (via the executive branch oversight and appointments to the EPA) the EPA to drag their feet and not regulate auto emissions and they have openly thwarted efforts to raise the CAFE standards which govern the average fuel economy of the American fleet of cars. It's truly an alarming film that will activate you to demand plug-in electric vehicles.

Answer 12

Yes we have the technology. However electric cars made today only have about a 40 mile range if driven at 35MPH max. Currently they are inefficient for everyday use and there are very few public places that have recharging facilities.

The biggest reason though, is that if mass production of electric cars were made to replace the current gas combustion engines used, the amount of additional power generating stations that would have to be built in order to supply the additional electrical power consumed would produce more greenhouse gases than what is currently produced by the current gasoline engines.

Answer 13

What source of energy are you going to use to charge the bats?  No such thing as a free lunch.

Answer 14

Yes, the technology exists, but so do the oil barons who don't want this sort of thing until they've finished extorting the earth and all of its residents

Answer 15

Because the government and large corporations have too much money to be made in oil.

Consider this: A well-designed, purpose-built electric car does not need any of these:

gasoline

muffler

exhaust system

catalytic converter

emissions check-ups

the loads of parts in an ICE

spark plugs

fuel pumps, fuel system

carburetor

air system

air filter

oil system

oil filter

fuel filters

valves

regular brake checks / changes [With regen. braking and good driving skills, the brakes of an electric car almost never wear out]

They might possibly need transmission fluid, but since the transmissions are usually 1-speed or 2-speed manuals, they are much cheaper and need little maintenance.

If electric cars caught on, some industries would simply collapse.

Answer 16

We certainly do. There are many independent companies out there trying to break through the conventional petroleum based industry. Aptera has a great shot at doing it and so does Tesla.

Answer 17

Where am I going to plug my electric car in to "fill it up" if I'm not at home?

If my electric comes from coal plants or oil plants, does that mean my "electric car" is actually burning coal and/or oil? (It does)

Where can I find an electric car to purchase for $1000, or under?  

Will by mechanically gifted husband be able to fix anything that goes wrong with the electric car....or does it need to be hooked up to specialized computers, have specialty tools used on it, and oh yes, will the replacement parts cost our first born child and a mortgage payment to buy?

~Garnet

Homesteading/Farming over 20 years

Who's newest vehicle is a 1983, and who's oldest vehicle is a 1968 (they all run perfectly).

One more time folks...this time to respond to the slanderous things "Tom" is stating about me.

On the rare ocassions I drive off farm, I'm usually visiting VERY elderly ladies.  Their famlies were litteral pioneers here in Idaho, coming over in covered wagons, ect.  These ladies live on fix incomes, and houses that were usually built in the 1930's.  Do you think it proper to "borrow a cup of electric" from a lady on a fixed income?  How much of their electric would I have to use, since their 1930's houses do not have outlets on the outside....that would mean leaving a window or door cracked open in our bitter cold winters.   Somehow this simple does not strike me as appropriate.  Even if my husband "fixed their waterheater," so what?  We do that sort of thing to help out our neighbors, who need help.

Most of the businesses I visit were also built a very long time ago.  Most of them are made of brick, lava rock, and a few of wood.  They also do not have outlets on the outside of buildings.

The only electric vehicles I have ever seen for a reasonbile price, were ones in need of a new battery (very expensive) or were wrecked.  Quiet simply, there are almost no electric vehicles in my state of a just over a million in population.  They do not make sence here.  Distances are too far.

You do of course realize that EMP pulses come from things other than nukes, right?  I also happen to live very close to a Government nuke testing/research area, which of course would be a terrorist target....not to mention just general accidents happening....like the earthquake that rolled through 4 days ago.

I do Not believe someone is going to come and bomb my farm.  As for the TV, well ours has been turned off for a very long time now.  We read a lot of books...we don't watch TV.

As for our crops not growing, in the unlikely even that there was nuclear fallout (an EMP pulse wouldn't affect crops), since we are a permaculture farm, we could scrape off the top, contaminated soil,  and spread new the animals are always creating, and grow uncontaminated crops on clean soil.  There would be zero slow down in our ability to grow and provide for ourselves.  We raise meat rabbits, and meat goats...their manure does not need to be composted.

My 86 truck is a diesel.  It gets 26 mpg just as I stated.

We live on a permaculture farm. The vehicles doing the planting and harvesting are running on the biodiesel we make here on our farm, with the rapeseed we grow. The goats, rabbits and horses make the manure to fertilize the crops. We are not, have not, and never will recieve a subsidies check from the Government. We pride ourselves on our independance.

When a truck or tractor needs an oil change, we take the used motor oil to our friend's business and dump it in his used oil furnace that heats his shop/business. He runs the local scrap metal/wrecking yard. We also get our antifreeze from there. The antifreeze/water mix is drained out of the wrecked vehicles, and kept in 55 gallon drums. We run this "used" antifeeze in our vehicles. I'm always shocked at how many of those wrecked vehicles only have a few thousand miles on them.

As for dumping glycerin or anything else on our back 40, that is a completely slanderous statement. The only thing we ever "dump on our back 40" is manure and waste hay from the livestock....to of course fertilize the ground/crops.

I make some soap from the glycerin. Over the years, we have developed a pretty thriving market for the local ladies that want to make soap. They come pick it up in 5 gallon plastic buckets. The buckets come from WalMart's bakery. The buckets hold the horrid (tasting) frosting they slather on cakes. You can buy the buckets and lids for cheap. One more great way to recycle, and not to generate new plastics.

We do not burn strait rapeseed oil.

Our rapeseed does not come from the MiddleEast (another slander). We save seeds year to year....as we have for years. That means we also do not support companies like Monsanto, with their terriminator genes.

Where does the electricity for your home come from? If you live in a some of the West Coast, you have mostly hydro power. Most of the U.S. however is powered by coal, oil, and nuke.....so what is your electric vehicle actually running on?

All of those modern "flex-fuel" vehicles are almost all running on a mix that is 95% oil from the Middle East, and only 5% biofuel. If they cut down on their driving, they would do more for the environment, than their actual flex fuel is doing to save the environment....besides, what were the manufacturing and distributing costs of that new vehicle? Will it actually ever pay its manufacturing oil cost of with the fuel savings it has over its lifespan?

Solar pannels? I had no idea you had a $20,000-$40,000 solar array system for your house, since that is what it would take to generate enough power to be able to recharge an electric car overnight. By the way, what do you DO with all the batteries, your solar system needs, and your electric car needs, when they finally die? Where were the batteries made? Better yet, what country was strip mined to supply the eliments needed to make your batteries?

If you have a lithiom ion battery in your electric car, your batteries were strip mined in the U.S.A., Russia, Canada, Chile, Gabon, Australia, and Mexico. You also have eliments from Norway, and Finland in the battery...I'm just not sure if those two countries allow strip mining. I am sure about the other countries. Isn't that "cool" that so many countries are involved with the mining of what it takes to make the lithiom ion batteries for electric cars? I wonder if electric cars ever actually pay back their manufacturing/oil cost over their lifetime....I mean since the minerals to make just the battery alone are such world travelers.

Makes one think, doesn't it?

Of course your last paragraph was the most slanderous. Not the spelling part....I've always been a bad speller, and freely admited so. I'm a bad speller, but a FANTASTIC reader. I read 3000 words a minute, with over 99% word comprehension....that means I read fast, and understand everything I read.

"Smarter is relative (you might consider spell check - committed has two 't's; independent doesn't have an 'a') as is independence (check the belief system you are chained to), self sufficiency (government crop subsidies) and being 'earth friendly' (choosing to pollute more than several hundred of your neighbors)."

I'm a bad speller...freely admit it. Our belief system, and desire to be completely independent of all bills, to be able to feed and cloth ourselves, and generate our own power is just fine, thank you very much. We DO NOT, HAVE NOT, AND NEVER WILL recieve a SINGLE Government subsidy. The Government does not subsidize independent farmers....it subsidizes those farmers who are growing/producing too much of an item, like corn, or milk. Since we use all of the crops we grow ourselves, exactly WHAT would the Government subsidize? What we produce for sale, are meat rabbits, and meat goats (goats being the main thing by far). For every single goat I raise, there are 9 customers waiting in line to buy that goat. Why on earth would the Government need to subsize us, since there is such high demand for what we raise?

"pollute more than several hundred of your neighbors"....that's the line that really got me. How EXACTLY do we pollute? We raise rapeseed to make the fuel here on our farm, to run our vehicles. The livestock produces the manure needed to fertilize our fields. The livestock eats the alfalfa we raise also. We use tiny wasps for fly control for the livestock. We use NO chemical fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, ect so on and so forth on our farm.

There is no run-off from our farm, no water, or well water contamination from our farm. Our livestock produces "cold manure," meaning it can be spread directly onto crops without having to compost it. Cow, chicken and pig manure is "hot manure, " and must be composted 1-2 years before being spread on crops.

The only time we have stink on our farm, is when the winter corrals are scraped out, and the manure, waste hay, and straw bedding is spread over the fields to fertilize them. That smell will be 1-2 days (out of 365 days), before everything dries back out and stops smelling. If we spread on a windy day, it begins to dry out immediatly (since we live in the high mountain desert) and there is almost no oder.

You need to explain yourself....exactly how does a permaculture farm that has no run-off, and uses zero chemicals, pollute several hundred neighbors?

You also need to keep something else in mind. When I first answered this question, I was answering the person who asked the question...not you. In turn, you chose not to answer the question, but rather poke fun at someone you know zero about, and who's lifestyle you know zero about.

Answer 18

There's a really good documentary on this called "Who Killed the Electric Car" that's in Blockbuster.