What do you think of electric cars?

A4seen Racer · VP

What do you think of electric cars?

Tito · Guru

I hate electric cars. But I like the looks of that one. Why do I hate them? 200 miles on a 'charge', then what do you do, Citgo doesn't have chargers as far as I know. And it costs nearly 100k, yeah. No thanks. When it's affordable, practical, and fun, then I'll be interested. And, as I'm sure most people on here can agree, there is something about the internal combustion engine that is better than everything....ever.

Steve

Raoul Duke · Pronounced "dookie"

So you spend $92k to save a few dollars at the pump.... I think not.

Viet · POOP Bum

that thing is pretty cool. i dunno about you but i'd rock that thing if i had the money. how would you go about modding the motor to get more power? i like the dyno graph!

A4seen Racer · VP

The thing is really fast. And its basically an elise with an electric motor. Its going to be built on the Lotus assembly line. Electric cars are going to happen anyways so I'd wrather see them come in the form of sports cars with awesome torque curves wrather than cute little hippy cars.

Raoul Duke · Pronounced "dookie"

A4seen Racer wrote:
Electric cars are going to happen anyways so I'd wrather see them come in the form of sports cars with awesome torque curves wrather than cute little hippy cars.

On that point, I have to agree with you.

I am still upset seeing 2-Strokes being phased out of existence. I get excited when I hear them scream and smell their exhaust fumes (I love that smell), it brings back great memories of my youth. I hope I wont be here when the internal combustion engine is no more, I don't think I can handle it.

To be honest, I just popped on Ebay and looked at prices on 250 2 stroke dirt bikes. That was a bad idea.

Tito · Guru

A4seen Racer wrote:

The thing is really fast. And its basically an elise with an electric motor. Its going to be built on the Lotus assembly line. Electric cars are going to happen anyways so I'd wrather see them come in the form of sports cars with awesome torque curves wrather than cute little hippy cars.

Yeah but how soon? I mean, yeah, there are a lot of companies working on designs, but say with the 'sporty' option of this one being near 100k, what does that mean for a mundane family sedan? 50k? Or more? And not to mention the impact of switching to electricity would have on the petroleum companies, and should I even talk about all the technicians who would basically be out of the job? Being replaced by people who are specifically trained to work on the electric powerplants.

I just don't see it as a viable option, I know nothing about electric cars, but I know this, the Internal Combustion engine has been around for a really long time, and when it was first used in mass production, it sucked, and now we are able to kick ass, go fast, and still get good fuel mileage. How long will the teething process be for the electrics? Yeah we have better technology, but, I think with any sort of hindrance during the acceptance process(the time in which it takes you, me, and everyone else to learn to deal with these things), we will all just say eff it, and revert back to gasoline. Or at least that is what I would do, dunno about you guys.

It may seem like I'm denouncing these things before I even drive or work on one, and I am, not because I'm narrow minded, because I LOVE the internal combustion engine, and like IO said, I would never, ever be able to live without it. Do you know what a electric car sounds like as it's WOT or "on", whatever it'd be called, as it's pulling up one of the hills on the dragon? It's vacuum cleaner-esque sound resonating off the mountain? I don't, and I never want to find out.

/rant

Steve

A4seen Racer · VP

I felt the same way before. I've learned a little more now about electric motors and such and now I'm not so against it. Electric motors have really high efficeincies or they convert most of the input electricity into mechanical power. Internal combustion engines are much less efficient because they convert so much of the energy from the fuel into heat. Theres of course still combustion in the elctric motor cycle at the power plants but they make energy relatively cheaply. Thats why electric is good. They make full torque from zero to 7000rpm and do it cheaply.
I doubt the internal combustion will go away anytime soon or probably not at all and I dont see any reason it should. Petroleum however, might go away. I've heard all kinds of things about petroleum running out soon, politcal things causing the prices to go up and stuff like that. All that talk brings up stuff that I just dont care about. If that happens then theres a few options other than electric.

I'd definately drive the Tesla if it was cheaper. The performance is good so it has to be fun. Then I'd be willing to learn more about electric cars. I doubt I'll ever be without some kind of internal combustion engine though. The sound is just too good.

majorposer · howling machine of destruction

before it was "buy this car to save you money on gas", now i look at "buy this car to use less fuel so that there is enough for everyone". i wouldn't buy a car now-a-days to save me money, look at my bug for instance. you could buy a VW diesel for 24+ grand, and save $600 in fuel, or you could buy a $2000 honda and save $300 a year in fuel. it doesn't make much sense from that point of view. too many people concentrate on how much money they would save, instead they need to see that they are wasting fuel, and if they would drive more fuel eficient cars, the amount of fuel we currently have would last longer. it's like we are all in a small room, with no a/c or vents, the only air we have to breathe is in that room, and the people that drive SUV's and trucks to work (and they are the only people in vehicles) are using up our air, they are running around, yelling, doing everything to waste what little air we have, while the smart people are relaxed, using only the air that they need.

Tito · Guru

Electric cars FTL.

Smart cars FTW.

http://smartusa.com/

I just heard today they are going to be marketed/sold at Dodge dealers next year. Employee discount FTW.

Steve

And BTW, if you read into the Smart website. Instead of paint, all colored surfaces, body work, is powdercoated, no paint. That alone is bad ass. Apparently it's way more efficient and 'eco-friendly'

-- Edited by Tito at 16:18, 2007-05-12

tampa railroad hobo · Senior Member

I saw one of those Smart cars out in Westshore about a month ago. A bit small, but not too out of place in the city.