Why are ReTHUGS against electric cars

[EagleKeeper]

I got nothin against electric cars...Eh accept the catching on fire thing and the fact I they cost too much and the fact the return on investment is not favorable.

Tell ya what DUmbasses...lets do this.

You might be familiar with Indianapolis, its got this thing called 465 which runs as a loop around the city, are you with me still?

Ok so we get in a helicopter and we go up and remain centered on monument circle but we are far enough up that we can see 465.

Now, look around and tell me what you see...on 465 and on the streets of Indy.

Whats that you say? You see cars? Cars that run on gasoline and diesel?

As far as the eye can see you say?

Ok, now that were back on the ground lets drive around a bit and checkout the support infrastructure for electric cars.

What! There is no infrastructure?! Does that mean I can't wheel into the local Speedway and plug in?!

Look DUmbasses, the point of this exercise is to show that the technology is NOT ready for prime time...do ya get it now?

[JohnnyReb]

Lithium is used to combat depression...DUmmies can snort the batteries when they are dead....recycling at it's finest to the DUmmie mind.

I type to slow to express everything I think about electric cars.

But here I go..."...WTH Happened, I didn't hit post??????????

Anyway, here I go ...."SUPER CONDUCTIVITY"....until they develope a material that will act as a "super conductor" at some reasonably maintained cool temperture, I don't see much improvement in the "battery powered electric car".

All those billions wasted on green energy would have been better spent on research for said material.

Until then, The only hope for electric cars would be something like bump'em cars or the old electric line overhead buses and trains.

Now where is that picture of Obama in the "bump'em" car? 

[67 Rover]

Refueling my trucks 21 gal tank takes ~ 3min and that includes payment. 

[Tucker]

Refueling my trucks 21 gal tank takes ~ 3min and that includes payment. 

My truck holds enough gas to get me to the next station.

[67 Rover]

My truck holds enough gas to get me to the next station.

In the winter with the heater on.  Not to mention that I can work on it without electrocuting myself.

[Karin]

Why are DUmmies such big fans of coal-fired cars?  Dirty, sooty coal.  Why???

Lacrew gives a perfectly reasonable argument, then he has a few more posts.  They ignore that, and make lame jokes about conservatives being against progress, and just dying to line the pockets of corporations.  Who wants to go back to windmills? 

[JohnnyReb]

Why are DUmmies such big fans of coal-fired cars?  Dirty, sooty coal.  Why???

Lacrew gives a perfectly reasonable argument, then he has a few more posts.  They ignore that, and make lame jokes about conservatives being against progress, and just dying to line the pockets of corporations.  Who wants to go back to windmills? 

Take a DUmmie out to a field on a 100 degree day and put him to plowing a mule. 15 minutes later he won't give a rip how much you pollute....anything will be better to him than hard work and mule farts.

DUmmie engineered electric car.....a convertible with 6 seats. Each passenger will wear a beanie cap with a propeller on top driving a mini-generator to recharge battery while car is in motion.

[Tucker]

Take a DUmmie out to a field on a 100 degree day and put him to plowing a mule. 15 minutes later he won't give a rip how much you pollute....anything will be better to him than hard work and mule farts.

DUmmie engineered electric car.....a convertible with 6 seats. Each passenger will wear a beanie cap with a propeller on top driving a mini-generator to recharge battery while car is in motion.

Bad analogy.

DUmmies would follow a mule anywhere. After all, they are the party of the ass.

[NHSparky]

Refueling my trucks 21 gal tank takes ~ 3min and that includes payment. 

I looked at the new F-150's.  While I like the idea of a 36-gallon tank, I'm not all that wild about paying $150 for a fillup.

[Kyle Ricky]

I looked at the new F-150's.  While I like the idea of a 36-gallon tank, I'm not all that wild about paying $150 for a fillup.

That is why I haven't bought one. I would be filling it up once a week, so it would cost more for gas than it does for the truck payment.

[67 Rover]

I looked at the new F-150's.  While I like the idea of a 36-gallon tank, I'm not all that wild about paying $150 for a fillup.

288,000 relatively trouble free miles and very happy to take it as far as it will go.

4.2 V6 with the 5 speed manual. No frills

[BEG]

Question: how much has the battery op cars improved since it was introduced way back "in the day"?

[Chris_]

Question: how much has the battery op cars improved since it was introduced way back "in the day"?

Quite a bit, but the price has increased at the same rate. Gizmodo has an article about batteries that generate an electric charge from the atmosphere.

[Chris_]

You can get a used Prius for around $11-13k (sans replacement battery) and if you're a resident of Illinois, you can get a brand-new Volt for only a few dollars more -- I think the state offers a $7,500 tax bonus on top of the fed subsidy.  If I were to build my own DIY electric car, it would be identical to the Chevrolet Volt... a purely electric car that carries it's own generator (unlike a "hybrid" that uses both motors and batteries to move the car).  I like the idea of the Volt, I just have no taste for GM's politics, lame-ass styling, or shitty union-dominated management.

[BEG]

Quite a bit, but the price has increased at the same rate. Gizmodo has an article about batteries that generate an electric charge from the atmosphere.

I thought I heard (can't remember where) that the distance a car will go on a charge hasn't really improved very much.

[Chris_]

My feeble brain hasn't quite grasped the difference, but the distance you can go on an electrical charge is not the same as the speed you can travel.  Sure, you can go 100 miles on Jay Leno's old 1903 electric runabout, but you'll only do it at 12 mph. 

Amperage = speed while voltage = range.  Most all electrical cars will have similar voltage but better cars will have a higher amperage-per-hour rating.

I'm confused.

[BEG]

I Nadined it. LINK

Electric motors and batteries have improved substantially over the past one hundred years, but today’s much hyped electric cars have a range that is - at best - comparable to that of their predecessors at the beginning of the 20th century. Weight, comfort, speed and performance have eaten up any real progress. We don’t need better batteries, we need better cars.

From about 1895 to the mid-1920s, and following the bicycle craze of the 1890s, electric cars shared the road with petrol and steam powered cars. EV’s were comparatively slow, heavy, and had a smaller range than their alternatives. During the very early years, however, electric automobiles were the most popular option for a short time, mainly because of two reasons.

Firstly, they were easy to start, while a gasoline car had to be cranked up and a steam powered car required a long firing-up time (not unlike a wood gas car). Secondly, there were few paved roads outside the city at the turn of the 20th century, which made the limited range of EV’s not that problematic. The production of electric vehicles peaked in 1912: during that time there were 30,000 EV’s on the road in the United States, two-thirds of these were used as private passenger cars. Europe had around 4,000 electric vehicles.

**snip**

Then and now: 100 miles

If today’s supporters of EV’s would dig into the specifications and the sales brochures of early 20th century electric “horseless carriages”, their enthusiasm would quickly disappear. Fast-charged batteries (to 80% capacity in 10 minutes), automated battery swapping stations, public charging poles, load balancing, the entire business plan of Better Place, in-wheel motors, regenerative braking: it was all there in the late 1800s or the early 1900s. It did not help. Most surprisingly, however, is the seemingly non-existent progress of battery technology.

The Nissan Leaf and the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, two electric cars to be introduced on the market in 2010, have exactly the same range as the 1908 Fritchle Model A Victoria: 100 miles (160 kilometres) on a single charge. The “100-mile Fritchle” was a progressive engineering feat for its time, but it was not the only early electric that boasted a 100 mile range. I have only chosen it because its specifications are most complete, and because its range was certified.

The first electric cars (1894 - 1900) had a range of 20 to 40 miles (32 to 64 kilometres), still better than the 20 km “range” of a horse. The average second generation EV (1901 - 1910) already boasted a mileage of 50 to 80 miles (80 to 130 km). The third generation of early electric cars (1911-1920), including larger vehicles that could seat 5 people comfortably, could travel 75 to more than 100 miles (120 to more than 160 km) on a single charge - and this is still the range of electric cars today.

**snip**

[BEG]

My feeble brain hasn't quite grasped the difference, but the distance you can go on an electrical charge is not the same as the speed you can travel.  Sure, you can go 100 miles on Jay Leno's old 1903 electric runabout, but you'll only do it at 12 mph. 

Amperage = speed while voltage = range.  Most all electrical cars will have similar voltage but better cars will have a higher amperage-per-hour rating.

I'm confused.

You still can only go so far on a charge. You would think after well over a 100 years that we would have been able to improve the battery so that a car could go much farther, no matter how fast you get there.

[Chris_]

Yes, but you're not including acceleration or average speed.  Those cars have the same numbers but they were much slower.  If you took sixty seconds to get up to speed, you would be run off the road.

[BEG]

Yes, but you're not including acceleration or average speed.  Those cars have the same numbers but they were much slower.  If you took sixty seconds to get up to speed, you would be run off the road.

.

It doesn't matter how fast you get there if you can only go so far on a charge.

[TVDOC]

You still can only go so far on a charge. You would think after well over a 100 years that we would have been able to improve the battery so that a car could go much farther, no matter how fast you get there.

Unfortunately one can't repeal the laws of physics, and the battery "cell" is fundamentally unchanged (except the materials and size) from its invention 5,000 years ago.

doc

[delilahmused]

How about because I like driving over 45 miles an hour and putting hay on the roof of one of those stupid things is impractical. Idiots.

Cindie

[Lacarnut]

How about because I like driving over 45 miles an hour and putting hay on the roof of one of those stupid things is impractical. Idiots.

Cindie

Every time I see a Toyota Prius driving below the speed limit on the interstate, I have this urge to run this POS off the road.

[Evil_Conservative]

Every time I see a Toyota Prius driving below the speed limit on the interstate, I have this urge to run this POS off the road.

I'm glad I'm not the only way who wants to do such things. 

[Lacarnut]

I'm glad I'm not the only way who wants to do such things. 

Depending on my mood, I sometimes blow my horn at them.