Who Killed The Electric Car, Who said documentaries are boring?! Options

[Boo]

Awhile ago, I watched a documentary called 'Who Killed The Electric Car?".
Before watching it, I thought nothing of vehicles such as the electric car, which is pretty sad, considering that I'm the one that will have to shop for a car sometime in the near future (I'm sure some of you are on the same boat). After watching it, I was absolutely shocked at what an excellent alternative we had in our grasp, (pretty much the solution to the gas crisis in the US), that was destroyed by greed... I wanted to throw the TV...

I would highly recommend the documentary to anyone. I think more people need to be aware of what became of the electric car (and what future it may have). I highly suggest renting it.

For anyone who wants more information on it, here is the official link:
Who Killed the Electric Car? (Official Site)

[Zhanneel]

Wow, thanks for this nod toward environmentalism ^^. *hugs*

As an avid environmentalist (and buyer of gasoline x_x) I'd also like to offer my regrets to the lack of future we seem to be heading for. While I'm not entirely happy with the idea of 100% electric engines (namely because we burn coal that inevitably charges these engines) I am totally stoked about the idea of hybrids and alternative fuel sources. If I could afford a hybrid I so would.

There's a lot of blame to go around, but for one I'm pointing my finger at politicians who have a large stock in oil companies. Those *plural curse* have dug us in so deep (speaking of the US) that it may take a highly retroactive figure to pull us away from this cesspool of greed. More people need to jump on the environmental bandwagon. Screw that. They need to make their own environmental bandwagon. Parade them around town, on the internet, at the local Asian cuisine take-out down the street. So, if we could come back down to reality, away from the Industrial Revolution that has gone on far too long, there may be some future for the next generations and our pocket books. I am all for ending this love/hate relationship with oil.

Sorry...I just took that and ran a mile with it.

[Boo]

No problem at all! ^_^

I couldn't agree with you more. We fight with the middle east for oil; enough is enough. How many lives is it going to cost?! Now we're just getting absolutely too desperate with our "hunger" for oil. It needs to end... and we had the solution years ago.

I understand why one wouldn't want a fully electric vehicle. If you were to just use it for commuting, then it would be fine (since you could run on electric the entire time... no gas, no emissions...). But for longer distances, it's somewhat impractical. I like the idea of a Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle (partially electric, and partially standard vehicle... ) For short distances, all electric is used, for longer distances, the gas kicks in. (Now all is left is finding a substitute for gas... like a renewable resource.)

I think I will be truly content when electricity is produced using solar or wind energy and electric cars are widely used (and it'd be just perfect if the electric cars ran on electricity created by those renewable resources). But I just don't see that happening... darn oil and car companies.

And to think the highly efficient battery used in those electric cars years ago was sold to an oil company. There goes hope. Greed and money... greed and money...

I'm hoping that hybrids/electric cars will become cheaper in our lifetime. I sure can't afford gas the way it has been lately! I only work a few hours a week, I'm just a teenager, how could I possibly afford $5 a gallon?! There's no way... I feel for those who had to pay that price and had to fix their budgets for it.



I think I'm done ranting now... (this subject just makes me want to talk forever some days...) he he...

[Zhanneel]

Yay! More ranting! I could go on for hours with you =P.

One thing that really irks me (replace "irks" with a nastier word), is to know that the executives from oil companies do all they can to hold back the future of alternative fuel/engines. I sometimes can't get my head around how money-driven they can be. To the point where their stupidity will be their downfall. They are shooting themselves in the foot when they brush off the job of protecting the environment. Sometimes...I just want to beat them with a reality check...a sharp, jagged reality check ^^.

[Boo]

Ha ha ha, I would join you. I can't believe how they can be so very greedy either. They'd rather harm our earth and make life a lot tougher for the middle/lower class then lose money. We're like puppets; they control us. We lean on them, even if we don't want to. We don't have a choice. Why? The car companies contribute as well. They keep producing the vehicles that run on gas that we keep buying, thus, leading to our constant dependence on oil to fuel those vehicles. It's a vicious cycle that the oil and car companies don't want us to break for their moneys' sake. It's a pity that they don't think of the normal person more. How much money can they suck out of us?
I can't believe most people haven't looked into alternatives more, especially when all you hear about in the news is gas prices either rising drastically or falling... we can't take that kind of fluctuation without taking a hit to our wallets (people set up budgets...) Yet, people don't do their research... *sigh* I guess I can't say much, since I hadn't looked into it all too well before watching 'Who Killed The Electric Car?' (though I don't have my license quite yet...)

I need to cut back on the typing.

[mightymarty2]

(I have not watched it)

A few points

In the real world a Toyota prius (hybrid) in England has not been as efficient as other cars, (lost racing to a BMW, SUV got only a couple of miles to the gallon less and the prius was no where near its claim, in a test driving as economically as they could the value was not achieved.

Diesel cars are more economical but take a very long time to pay back and are generally not as good as petrol's to drive and tend to be less refined. Though this is improving.

Electric cars cannot be used in the real world due to cost of buying the car, charging times to long, range to small, also a lot do not even do 70 mph and this would not be good on a motorway in the UK

Also we can create hydrogen and if we can do that on large scale and roll out filling stations across the world, also sort out a few issues and confidence (could tank exploding?), there is a civic (though they do need to sort out the rear wing across the middle of the rear window) in California i think which runs on hydrogen and has hydrogen gas stations.

I am all for going green if it is a better alternative and cheaper. Though we are a long time off that. Also I would miss the sound of a powerful car being drive to the max. Though for an electric car you can have the sound.

[Zhanneel]

Thanks for the info Marty. And you reminded me of the hydrogen car that has been semi-recently put on the market. Here's a decent description of the idea. Hydrogen also sounds beneficial, since they claim it runs clean and still efficiently. However, once again, the collection/production of hydrogen for the car can be less than environmentally sound (see The Hydrogen Problem paragraph). But overall, if it is more sound than gasoline let's go for it for now. Anything's better than oil at this point.

And yet another beef I have is with my own city for its complete lack of a good public transportation system. I've pretty much decided I'm moving to a bigger city in about a year simply because I'd rather take public transit. However, I will have other problems such as higher rent, living costs, yadda yadda ya, but my car problems are driving me insane.

[mightymarty2]

heck public transport i have never seen a bus on time, heck it is normally half way between the two times, cramped, you have to stand, also any bags you need to carry are a pain. Used it and hated it

[Zhanneel]

*nod* I feel that pain. I go to NYC often enough now and I take their public transportation. It is all those things, and even worse in the humid hot summer and the freezing frigid winters. However...even with all of its problems (especially when it's never on time x_x) I still prefer it to driving a half an hour to college. Sometimes road rage can be unbearable and I hate driving for long periods of time. But a car is definitely preferable when you have a grocery trip to make.

[Boo]

I wish we had more public transportation around here... although subways scare me (they just feel really rickety.) Though, subways are much faster, like Zhanneel pointed out. I can't imagine using them more then 2 times a week though; I just get all too scared... I worry too much.


Hydrogen: I am a bit leery with the hydrogen idea. I once read that 1 kilo of hydrogen may cost anywhere from $1-20 (which sounds to me like the cost is too similar to the constantly fluctuating gas prices). Plus, a whole new form of energy system would have to be created (lots of time, and lots of money). Though, if they could somehow make it work, I'd be alright with it. ^_^

On the electric car: Actually, the EV1 could fully charge in 6-9 hours (so you could plug it into an outlet in your garage and charge it while you're sleeping). There were some that went up to 65 miles per hour and could go on electric for about 100 miles (but the battery technology was sold to the oil companies, so I'm guessing it's either non-existent, or the oil companies are going to use it to their advantage in the future.)
Toyota plans on releasing a Plug-In hybrid in 2010 (I'm actually a bit skeptical about it... it sounds less efficient then the technology we had a few years ago that was destroyed. Plus they're saying that they want to price it at $25,000... which sounds too unbelievable for me. I wonder if they'll go through with it...)

Transportation: I don't know that much about transportation in England (I've heard that there is a lot more public transportation services versus the US), so I can't rightfully claim that an electric car would be efficient there. I can say though, that for short distances (commuting and such), it would be practical, but for those who travel long distances, it would not be a good choice.

I totally agree about being environmentally aware and that we probably are a long ways off of making an ideal vehicle.

I think what we need is a miracle vehicle.

[mightymarty2]

Though 65 you could max it on the motorway which would drain the battery more quickly and unless you are going somewhere with a plug in socket it has a range of 50 miles, so useless for long journeys unless you want to spend 3/4 of your time looking for a plug socket you can use