This is a subject near and dear to my heart.......to answer the thread title question......there is NO case for electric vehicles in 97% of the individual vehicle purchase situations in the US.
One of my best friends likes to "play" with this idea, and launched on a project several years ago. A number of years in the past Ford built a limited run of experimental Ranger compact pickups that were totally electric (utilizing lead/acid battery packs strapped underneath). After Ford engineers determined (the obvious) that the idea was impractical......(these Rangers had an optimum range of about 40 miles between charges under ideal conditions).......these pickups were sold to enthusiasts.
My friend decided to find and purchase TWO of these experimental Ford Rangers, and convert them from lead/acid to lithium battery packs in hopes of improving the range, and arriving at a practical short-haul utility vehicle. His FIRST mistake was that he had to pay about $16,000 apiece for the Fords, and at least $2500 to have each of them transported to his western Pennsylvania home.
He then had to rent a forklift to remove the lead/acid battery assembly, and contract with a Chinese company (Owned by the PRCA) to design and build new batteries for this application. The cost of the new batteries and transportation from China came to nearly $40,000 for the two trucks.
To digress....he IS rather wealthy, and retired (a physician), so he can afford to embark on such folly, but that is beside the point.
After the new battery packs were installed, all of the electronic controls and systems had to be redesigned, as well as a new charging system built for the new application. All of the engineering work (minus his and my labor) came to another 10 grand. We STILL don't have all of the "bugs" worked out of the software yet......minor stuff, like getting the electronic instrument panel to read the correct battery charge level, etc.
As of last September they are BOTH now sorta "on the road"........and so long as the outside temperature is between 45 and 80 degrees F, they demonstrate a maximum (unloaded) range of about 90 miles between charges. which is close to his goal of 100 miles.
NOW.......add a maximum GVW load in the bed of 500 pounds, two people, and the A/C on, and the range drops to only 25 miles, under optimal temperature conditions........essentially useless.......after an investment of nearly $100,000 (or 50 grand apiece). It should be noted that redesign and engineering was free, as well as all the conversion and reprogramming labor (countless hours over four years).
So what's the bottom line?.......electric vehicles have been attempted since 1903, and in EVERY case determined to be impractical in what we Americans consider "normal use". A tiny fraction of vehicle owners in the US live close enough to work and shopping to ever use the concept on a practical basis, and that completely sets aside the occasional need for a one-way trip exceeding 100 miles, which is essentially the limit of range within the technology available today.
Today's politicians and environmentalists need to come to grips with the laws of physics......it simply requires "X" amount of energy to move a mass "Y" over a distance of "D", without replenishment of the energy source. The energy required to move a mass over distance cannot be "repealed", or distorted by artificial means.
Next week, our president is going to announce that he proposes a "grant" of $7500 to every citizen who purchases such a vehicle, which is coming out of we the taxpayer's pockets, that is over and above the $7500 tax credit that is already in place.
What is happening is that both the "Volt", and the "Leaf" are now available in dealer showrooms, and they are NOT exactly jumping off the lots. The administration is seeing their objective of 300,000 electric vehicle sales per year going down in flames due to public apathy........and rightly so, because once the public sits across the desk from a car salesman and begins to understand the SEVERE limitations of such a vehicle they are taking the reasonable course.........and giving it a "pass".
doc
