 egoldstein says: I sure hope they can pull this off. The introduction of a rechargeable electric car has the potential to be a game changer for our economy and global dynamics. I would imagine that the response to this in the market would dwarf that received thus far by hybrids. We are talking about truly revolutionizing one of the most important industries in the world. And don't forget the ripple effect this will have by creating the need to make enormous investments in our national electricity grid. It's been widely debated the possibility of an all electric car operating in colder climates. Unfortunately, they have still admitted that important things like heat and defrosting windshields are not efficient jobs for electricity. Other deal breakers (there are many) are the fact that when the electrical grid goes down, so do the electric vehicles. Electric vehicles are starting to emerge but I'm afraid they are not going to be the answer. Napster, purely electric is probably not the immediate answer but truly efficient hybrids (100+ mpg) are a good start. What exactly is the issue of colder climates? I haven't read anything on that. Typically with anything electrical you efficiency goes up as the temperature goes down. Personally I'm looking forward to being more able to work on my own vehicles. I only have a mild understanding of how to work on internal combustion engines but I know electronics pretty well. Maybe one day out of work electrical engineers can find jobs as cutting edge mechanics  burndata0- The problem facing all electric cars is the same one that plagued the 1960's Volkswagon Beetle, a poor heating/cooling system. The rear engine was air cooled, thus no radiator coolant to extract heat from. Try driving one around in the winter when the windshield even frosts over (happens alot) and you'll understand one of the problems. VW added a little dash mounted kerosene heater to try and combat the problem, but they were prone to fire and poor overall performance. A/C was not a viable option. When you have an all-electric car (as I stated earlier), and have to channel battery power to heat, you lose. All of you people trying to 'save the planet' and your wallet ar... Here's an already on the market all electric car named the ZENN. (Stands for zero emissions, no-noise) It too, suffers the same problems as other all electrics. The two-seat Zenn starts at $15,995. The model we drove had options that drove up the price. (Find out what they were and how much more it cost in by clicking on the “slide show” link below.) Zenns get the equivalent of 254 miles per gallon, Clifford said. It costs less than two cents per mile to drive, based on the average retail rate of electricity in the United States of 10.15 cents per kilowatt-hour. Regular cars cost about 10 cents a mile to drive, according to a 2006 report... I had two of those bugs you were talking about (first two cars I owned). I live in FL though so the frosting of the windows was never really an issue, but that lack of AC was a bitch on a 100deg summer day. The great thing about the oil "crisis" is that it is finally driving new development. I'm super excited to see what people will come up with in the next 10-20 years. |
View the Top Clips from August 13, 2008
Embed This Clip In Your Site...
|
||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
|
New from the makers of Clipmarks: Amplify.com - Don't just share the news...Amplify it!
|
|||||||||||
