Electric or not....

[AlanJ]

Just been reading various mags. web sites etc. on electic and hybrid cars. Latest stuff in Auto Car (UK weekly car mag.) shows some reasonable looking city type cars BUT with a range of only 95 miles AND a recharge time of 7 hours. So my question is, where is the energy saving in these things if you have to give it a 7 hour re charge every night? Anyone got one or thinking of going electric?

[Z4 Beemer]

I was quite impressed with the MINI-E when they launched it for trial purposes a few months ago. As you say, only if the costs worked out, I could see me buying one if they mass-produced them in a few years time.

[WLH]

Not for me...
The limited range is a big issue.
I'm not so sure how much greener they are either as the electricity still must be made to charge the car with and then there are the batteries and the steps in making them is not that green or so I have read.

[gannet]

Not to mention the environmental impact the batteries in such vehicles pose.

as far as I can see it is just deferring the point of pollution. ie in the petrol/diesel car you have it in the exhausts, where the electric car is 'clean' as it has no exhaust gases, but something has to be used to produce the charge - ultimately power stations ,and being as noone wants nuclear on their back yard.... where is the gain?!

I need alot more convincing on the subject

[johnnyboy_10138]

Over here we have the Tesla Motorsports. Their Roadster is 0-60 in 4 flat, and can get up to 220 miles. I still believe the recharge time is up there around7 hours. These cars arent made for long drives, just the around town stuff.

My dad works in the industry and was telling me about some of his friends that had an EV 1. That is the car that Al Gore made the movie An Inconvenient Truth about, or atleast talked about the car. Well these guys had a small trailer behind theirs that had a small diesel generator. When the battery died the gen would kick on and they could average about 80 mpg

[Breaker]

Vauxhall is having a re-think on electric!


http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoe ... baa392c489

[Tweed]

If the Tesla model S lives up to the promises and isn't 4.8 gajillion pounds, I would definitely get one as an everyday/family-ferrying car and keep the Z for fun.

I can see a lot of sense in what Jay Leno said on Top Gear, about the electric car doing for the sports car what the automobile did for horses. Petrol sports cars will live on, but become hobby pieces... and I reckon will be the better for it

[DrNick]

I am not sure that electric will be the future...after all where does the electricity come from...mostly fossil fuels...

Plus the current national grid would not cope with such increased demand!

And the environmental impact of battery production is huge

[Z4_in_Norway]

The Tesla Model S is really nice. I love the look! I am definitely considering one (when they start producing in 2012).

Since in Norway cars are taxed HEAVILY on emissons (a 2007 2.5 costs around £ 40.000) this car will be very reasonable to purchase. The electricity production in Norway is also 100% from renewables (water power) IIRC, which makes it a clean(er) option.
But I was not aware about a huge environmental impact from battery production. Would be interesting to hear someone develop that argument.

[Tweed]

...electricity production in Norway is also 100% from renewables...

Really? 100%?!
Wow, that's impressive... I was going to make the point that electricity can come from renewable sources, where petrol obviously can't! (well, by definition it is renewable, just takes a few million years to renew )

Hydrogen fuel cells are probably a more likely solution though, being clean and the most abundant mineral in the known universe...

[mcbeee]

It's true that Hydro generated electricity is very very green but it's not available everywhere. Take a look around the UK, seen many large dams lately...wind power is also a great alternative but at the moment it's one of the most expensive sources on the grid , next to diesel generation. Sorry to say it but most of the power still comes from coal fired generating plants and will do for some time I think, for as mentioned before..."No-one wants a nuke in the backyard..."

I tried a Hybrid (rental) last spring on a trip south and was pleasantly surprised, tons of torque, lots of power and great gas mileage tearing around Phoenix on the expressways. It still burns gas but at a much lower rate so it was "slightly green". Maybe it's time we supported the hydrogen fuel cell research more as it seems to be a really promising alternative ...

[DrNick]

Hydrogen fuel cells are probably a more likely solution though, being clean and the most abundant mineral in the known universe...

Getting the hydrogen from sea water currently requires a huge amount of electricity - which comes from burning fossil fuels

The environmental impact of batteries mainly relates to the mining of the metals they require...cant remember the details but remember reading about it not so long ago

At the moment fossil fuels are still the cheapest form of energy, and until that changes the desire to develop alternatives will never be that strong

[a11y]

I don't do the sort of driving suitable for the current electric vehicles - I don't do short journeys (use the pedal bike for that) and my minimum car journey is usually a 50-mile round trip but more often at least 100-mile round trip. And with the way I drive there's no electric car out there that'd replace my Z4 for these journeys.

The Tesla is the best option, but it's been shown by several sources that the claimed 220-mile range is nowhere near possible if you drive it normally, and <100miles if driven enthusiastically (i.e. like you would a Z4). Cracking car though, as it would be being done in conjunction with Lotus

[Z4_in_Norway]

...electricity production in Norway is also 100% from renewables...

Really? 100%?!
Wow, that's impressive... I was going to make the point that electricity can come from renewable sources, where petrol obviously can't! (well, by definition it is renewable, just takes a few million years to renew )

Hydrogen fuel cells are probably a more likely solution though, being clean and the most abundant mineral in the known universe...

It is pretty impressive. In a normal year (with regards to temperature and amount of rain) Norway can cover its own demand for electricity. The last few years in Norway have been mild and rainy and as a result the country has actually exported electricity.
I doubt 100% electricity from renewables would be possible in most other countries, but the dramatic landscape in Norway has many positives.

[Nosa]

I read somewhere or seen on TV that part of Norways electricity is actually made by extracting the salt from sea water by using magnets of some description, and apparently this causes electicical particules to bubble out which are captured. That is by no means what I would call an accurate description of the process but it is in Use and I also believe that the UK imports some of this to boost our supplies.

Simply ingenious way of producing electricity, especially when you consider that all the power used to make the process happen already comes from 100% renewables.

Norway.