32 replies to this topic

[sculptor]

addendum to the above

http://www.teslamotors.com/models

wowie zowie
50K for a 4 door 7 passenger zero emissions electric
maybe, when Teslamotors comes out with the under $30K model, I'll keep the old truck for when i really need a hauling beast, and get an all electric for the normal trips--------------really------------less than 5% of the time do i go anywhere over the lower end of their driving range,
and another 5% for when i really need a hauling machine------
------and, as Iowa's electricity goes more and more wind powered, with smart meters, ----charge the thing when the wind blows----cutting ghg emissions to near zero
hmmmmm

we live in an age of miracles
ok technological miracles,
but darned wondrous none the less

[SpiroFlo]

Anyone see that lawsuit against the Honda hybrid? I'd be angry, too, if my expected 50 MPG was 20 MPG short.

[SpiroFlo]

Also, doubt the new Fusion will snag that 100 MPG it's claiming either.

[Eiza]

I find the tax break highly attractive, especially when combined with the potential gas savings. Also consider that you'll be reducing your carbon footprint. Right now I'm driving a gas guzzler, but an electric car is definitely going to be my next car.

[eds]

[eds]

[Runi1024]

Once they become more popular the price will go down. There is a company here in Israel called "better place" that is making electric cars. They are very popular in the country and when I have to get a new car I intend to get one, partially for the environment and partiality for my wallet, gas here is just too expensive.

[eds]

Runi1024, on 25 January 2012 - 11:17 PM, said:

Once they become more popular the price will go down. There is a company here in Israel called "better place" that is making electric cars. They are very popular in the country and when I have to get a new car I intend to get one, partially for the environment and partiality for my wallet, gas here is just too expensive.

I understand, that car rental companies in Israel, will be buying these vehicles, for customers to "try, before they buy."
Have they figured out the total cost, to buy the Better Place car, it's operating cost, and Maintenance, VS Oil based car?
The 100 new cars that took the road last week are all for Better Place employees, although a company spokesman says employees will pay to lease them just "like everyone else." About 70 cars were on the road already.
 kalmancar.jpg   56.5K   3 downloads  switchstation.jpg   45.06K   3 downloads

Source: Technologyreview

[brihooter]

I think I would own one. They might not be the best looking cars but at least they are eco friendly. I sure can't afford the price they are at right now though. Once they go down I would love to get one.

[Runi1024]

I have not checked recently what the cars are going for, but I know that for Israeli standards atleast last year they were only a little bit more expensive than the regular cars. As of now I have not seen any of these cars on the road but many Israelis are switching over to hybrids. Those are not so cheap here either.

[tri-n-b-helpful]

Green Thumb, on 27 December 2011 - 11:46 PM, said:

Why can’t they make it to be a hybrid car? Solar and electric. Or the electric charging station deriving their energy from renewable energy. They are thinking out-of-the-box anyway.

As for the price… I guess it’s hard to sell economically when the product, however useful, is still striving at the top of the list. They are propelling substitute for the recent transportation that are run by oil. Would the transportation industry submit that easily? Not if they would earn from it. Anyhow, the costs of electric cars and gas cars are not at all different except that how it will affect the user and the environment. Besides, do you still need an electric car if you are feeding your gas car with biofuel already? Oh yeah, why can’t they also have services to turn an existing car to an electric car or to simply install electric engine. I mean, like sanitary landfills, let’s also think of car junk yards jamming. I’m sure they can also apply reusing and recycling cars for better and beneficial usage.

Good point about the hybrid solar car. They've tried that one already on the Tuk-Tuk in India. Solar gives a very tiny output for the money as well as the area in panel space needed. A solar charging station would be extremely expensive and operating costs couldn't run the business at a profit without huge subsidies from the government.

In the USA you can already get an electric car conversion done for about $3000, depending what sort of car you have. That's an excellent idea to turn old or problem cars into full electric. If the car has a problem and it's going to cost $3000 or so to fix it, why not get an electric conversion?

[brihooter]

We see a good amount of them here in Arizona. I have even seen a few charging stations. Does anyone know how long you have to charge them for? I assume people just charge them overnight?

[greenking]

Electric motors have very few moving parts and don’t need fluids such as engine oil, anti-freeze or transmission fluid, so they require relatively little maintenance and are far less likely to leak. Excellent reliability means down time is less likely, too. =)