'lectric Action

Autoblog reports: http://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/27/gm-not-killing-the-electric-car-after-all/. Commenter #1 got it mostly right. It's not just the range, it's the charging time.

A range of 100 miles may be irritating, but it would be tolerable if the driver could pull into a recharging station and recharge in five to ten minutes as one can with a gasoline or Diesel powered car. Electric cars require hours to fully charge. That makes an electric car impossible to use for any trip exceeding its range on one charge.

We bet that in a few years we'll see the invention of the super capacitor that will allow for near-instantaneous charging. Then we'll be all "w00t!" and "You drive an oil-machine? sux0r!" And the girls will see be saying, "WTF is he going on about? Are they off their meds?"

Comments

[Jay]

The tech is going to have to improve before the EV is a viable option. Who wants to pay 20K for a car that is solidly outperformed by a 1990 Escort?
I think we'll see viable Hydrogen propulsion before a full electric car. As soon as they figure a way to get and engine to extract the hydrogen and oxygen from water to provide fuel.

[Brian]

How about a standardized battery pack that securely locks in place from underneath the car. If all the car makers used the same pack gas stations could become charging stations, but they have a stock of charged batteries ready to swap out with your empty pack. Could be done in less than the time to pump 20 gallons I bet.

Make the battery pack a reasonable size so that cars could have 1 to say 3 packs based on their size. This could create a whole new industry in place of the gas station industry we have today. Perhaps you don't 'own' your EV's batteries, but rather lease them.

[editorbob]

Hey Aaron -

What if people can't afford two cars? I certainly can't. While we'll agree that they are great commuter cars, what about being the only car in the family?

I don't believe that bad PR is the sole reason EV died. As technology improves we'll see EVs come along because they meet more needs. I think it was a shame that GM recalled the EV-1 and wouldn't let folks keep them.

But I'm guessing we'll see EVs in the next 5 years and they'll be far better than the past ones.

[Aaron Gold]

Most people who think EV range is a problem need to start looking at their odometers. Keep in mind that EV owners recharge at home, at night. So even if you can only drive 100 miles a day, that's 36,500 miles per year (36,600 on leap year) -- three times the national average.

The average commute in this country is, I believe, around 16 miles each way. That means a 100 mile EV (and most have a range closer to 120 miles) is more than capable of going to work and back plus dropping off the kids at school and running to the grocery store. Is the EV the right car for a 500 mile vacation run to Arizona? Nope, but neither is the piece-o-crap second car many people also have in their driveway.

EVs died because of bad PR, plan and simple. They are (were) practical cars that, given mass production, could have gone mainstream and been profitable. I've done week-long reviews of three EVs and can tell you they RULE. (And hybrids aren't even in the same ballpark.)

For those who like sound bites, consider this one: EV drivers don't have to stop for gas. EVER.