The Chevy Spark is out, another electric vehicle, priced under the Nissan Leaf, and the Chevy Volt.
There is, or was, a Leaf and a Volt in my neighborhood. I saw them on walks in the evening. I don't know the owners, I think the Leaf people moved. A neighbor told me he talked with the lady Volt driver. Loves it, absolutely in love. She does about 20-30 miles every day around town for what she believes is 15 cents worth of electricity. The lady owner said she had not used any gas for about 6 months but was going to run the engine the next few trips because she was afraid it would go bad in the tank. (in case you don't know, the Volt goes about 30 mile on "E", then you switch to gas and go all day like any other car)
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A couple months ago I went to the state house to meet legislators and ask them to vote down the ALEC bill that would make wind energy less attractive and I met one who owns a Chevy dealership. He was ranting about the Volt, Chevy made him buy some to sell, he hates them, people want big cars he said, big as you can get, and ask me how would I like to only get a few miles and be on foot. I said not true, your volt goes all day and what I really want is a Tesla, which goes 200 miles on a charge. OH shit he was mad, "god damn Tesla, you better buy it fast, they are almost bankrupt, be gone in a few weeks". I will email him this weekend with the news Tesla is doing so fucking good they paid off $450 million government loan 7 years before it was due, a $10 million dollar profit for the US taxpayers. 450 and 7 and 10, love those numbers. Also I'll ask him how it feels to be part of the solution, selling both the Volt and Spark?
And then stand back. ; )
ReplyDeletebite a leather belt.
DeleteKev, I guess you meant stand back from the Chevy dealer dork going ballistic. He never answers emails, I'll never hear anything. But, I bet he spits on his computer when he sees my email. gotta do that later today when I come up with a clever remark. D.
DeleteDarrel,
ReplyDeleteThe problem is the lack of infrastructure for the electric cars. Teach Sarge, say the battery is dead and you are running on gasoline only - Do the electric cars have the ability - like and alternator - to recharge the battery?
And, what about immediate power - I had to make that Sportage of mine scoot today!
Ron
Ron, the infrastructure for E cars is not a very big deal to get going, the supply is everywhere. There is some special equipment needed, but unlike a fuel station everything can be delivered in a van and set up by an electrician.
DeleteRegenerative braking is in hybrids, and some not all E cars. But the gas motor in the volt starts and runs as normal with it's own battery and alternator.
The power depends on the model. The Tesla can burn rubber all over town, the Spark goes 0 to 60 in around 6.7 to 7 seconds, thats damn good. My hybrid Camry has more torque in the electric motor than the gas engine, no it's not a race car, but I never got caught with it, it does just fine.
D.
It's a "Catch 22", not very many electric cars so nobody wants to put in the chargers for electric cars, so people are buying many electric cars. The thought I had was that most motels in Northern regions have plug-ins for engine heaters in winter. Maybe they could use those to recharge electric cars overnight. Probably wouldn't even have to make any changes.
ReplyDeleteKulkuri,
DeleteThats right. But the cost is far less than setting up a gas station with tanks underground and pumps and fire precautions. Or a natural gas station, same problems. I have seen a couple of restaurants that have a charging station (at the front door) for free use while you dine. Colleges are setting up a few charging stations in their parking lots. I read a few hotels along major hiways are installing them as well. As I understand it most cars have to connect to an external converte/chargerr, I know the Tesla does have it in the car, so as far as I know they could plug into the heater wire. A company in Australia just went into production of a new low price convertor/charger, I think it will sell for a couple hundred, most current ones are 2 or 5 times that. Prices will fall fast, and markets do meet needs, E cars just topped 100k in the US. I suspect they are mostly in certain cities, as this number grows the infrastructure will come along.