I watched who killed the electric car finally the other day and I was livid. It was horrible. Propaganda through and through. I loved the end of suburbia and was really excited for who killed the electric car to provide ideas like it did but instead they said "lots of people wanted it but the car companies said nobody wanted it" "there's now reason for them to destroy them!" and "it was perfect why didn't they keep making it? IT WAS FREAKING EXPENSIVE TO MAKE!!! The reason the destroyed them is for the same reason companies offer less and less services, liability. They stop making it then some douche who got in an accident says they knew there was xyz problem and that's why they stopped making it and they should have protected him. I highly doubt the number of people that wanted it was high enough to actually bring the economy of scale to make the car viable at that time. The only point the movie made that was valid is that CARB screwed up royally. I think its hilarious that they brought on a guy who says he invented a battery that could end world hunger and the companies bought it up to hide it. I doubt it performed nearly as well as he says it did and I'm sure there are some numbers that show that it does perform as well as he says it did, but conveniently avoid some problem with the battery that would make it useless at some point or during some type of activity.

I DO believe that now that we have a reason to use them and batteries that will work it would be a great idea to make them but we have to realize that the battery's are still expensive and electric car companies won't have the same kind of maintenance income that normal car companies do so they have to find a way to make money off the car itself. One car you forgot to mention was the commuter cars tango its a pretty cool car and they sell kit cars right now (because they don't have dot approval to "sell a car").

Personally, I believe that it's not that it was that expensive, but that: a) the automotive companies didn't want to be told what to do; and b) didn't want to be forced into spending money on R&D when it could be happily applied to the bottom line instead.

Look at the way they're fighting higher MPG standards tooth-and-nail, saying that anything more than 30MPG by 2020 will destroy the industry and in all probability take the country down with it (seriously). Of course, they said the pretty much same exact thing when EPA standards were first mandated and catalytic converters were required. Guess what didn't happen?

What DID happen, however, is a repeat of the exact same situation we had in the 70s. Detroit made bigger and bigger gas-guzzling cars, the oil crisis hit, and Japan ate their lunch.

Only today, Toyota and Honda are eating their lunch, breakfast, AND dinner.

Aren't there problems with series hybrids? They need bigger and heavier electric motors, a bigger battery, and that adds on a lot of weight, at least with current, road-safe technology. That extra weight reduces fuel efficiency and the motors and battery add a lot of cost. Ultimately, it's like having an electric car that always has to tow a portable generator. I like parallel hybrids like the Prius better, because they deliver great results and the gas engine can provide a boost of acceleration when needed. I'm sure there is a series hybrid that can outperform anything on the market from the big car companies. However, it seems to me such a car would be too expensive to be economically worth it compared to the slightly lower milage of a parallel plug-in hybrid with a much lower price.

Is there any credence to the idea of having an electric car that can tow a gas engine for long trips so that it can be a series hybrid when it benefits the driver? Because it just seems like that extra engine would be dead weight a lot of the time with a good battery and a plug-in charger.

Tim:
Right now the problem with series hybrids is that the batteries have to be larger, however, I think they have more potential than paralell hybrids (like the prius) because:

Series hybrids may need heavier electric motors, but their internal combustion engines are much lighter (and more efficient) than ICE's in parallel hybrids because they only have to run at one speed.

This, combined with the ability to run for up to 40 miles without ever burning gasoline, more than makes up for the extra weight of the batteries.

This, of course, being contingent on battery technology moving forward.

There is no perfect car for every job and lifestyle:

BEV - great for around town, short commutes but until 10min charge and good range 200+ miles between charges they are limited. Great for those who rarely go on a long trip. They can rent for that 1-2 times a year.

BEV+range extender type series hybrid such as the E-Flex/Volt. Slightly longer commutes that might strain the batteries of a pure BEV. Great for those who might make a longer trip once or twice a month.

Parallel plug-in hybrid, if the above becomes viaible these may go away. Hear me out here, it comes down to weight. It might turn out to be better to dispense with the larger heavy engine and transmission that a parallel hybrid has vs. the smaller motor/generator and the direct drive electric motor powering the wheels. Otherwise a parallel plug-in hybrid fits into the slightly longer commutes that might strain the batteries of a pure BEV. Great for those who might make a longer trip a few times a month mode of use.

Conventional diesel car is a good choice for those that spend a lot of time on the highway at highway speeds. A conventional drivetrain doesn't have the losses found in generating electric power and the loss from the electic motor.

Will we ever see a diesel parallel hybrid? Since diesels are a more expensive to build than a gas engine and hybrids are more expensive to build than non-hybrids it follows that a diesel engined parallel hybrid might be quite expensive. That being said I think I saw an article yesterday that a French company was doing on but I can't remember which. If I see it again I'll post it up.

What a absurdly simplistic description, amounting to what Dennis Miller said on Jay Leno anout Iraq :"We been attacked, dude!"

I am so tired of football field rethorics and your article does no better. You ignore the pulling of forces inside the different industries which, in the late thirties disabled the electric car (90 % of the taxicabs in N.Y. city were electric) and firmly withheld future development of the battery.
Think about it: The motor is there and it's darn close to perfect.
The achilles heel, of course, is the battery. If I were a Saudi and had nothing more than Oil - and Sand - I'd buy me a government in any industrially developed country (that's how the Bush family got rich- uh - filthy rich) and regulate and legislate every up-and-coming industry that might try their hand at sustainable transport. Bush's special envoys crusade to sabotage this planet at this moment in time make this painfully visible.

On the other hand, you mention the 10 minute recharge time of the Phoenix SUT. Did you ever read up on what you need to get that charge time? You need a stationary platform which you can not feed at home, it needs special power to run. These are chargers which produce upwards of 30 KWatts and they would obliterate your household circuit.
Still, if it were only possible to ever testdrive one of these Vapor machines, I'd sign up on their buyer's list today. Believe me, I tried. Have you?

Sloppy research and half-right statements. Does that serve our (hopefully green) future? I don't think so. With your article, you work for the other side, as far as I'm concerned....

uh, no electric cars are not expensive to make. read about tesla motors, about a guy who initially made a car from laptop batteries and it had a better milage than the EV1.

consumer electronics are way ahead and you can succeed. just don't listen to those who say you can't.

"uh, no electric cars are not expensive to make. read about tesla motors, about a guy who initially made a car from laptop batteries and it had a better milage than the EV1."

100k isn't expensive? do you know how much laptop batteries cost? and how many are in that car?? you and the guy that think 100k is to much for a house would have a lot to fight over

@Ride the Future
Sometimes I'm asked to answer complex problems in a small amount of space. That's life, and I have to chose what to leave out. But I am a bit offended that you think my research is sloppy. I disagree.

One of your comments specifically puzzles me though.
Why would the ten minute burst charger be in your house? We don't have gas stations in our houses. The ten minute charge time is important because it can replace the five minute refill that gasoline cars have. Trickle charging is fine for when the vehicle is in your garage at night. But if you want to drive to grandma's house, you'll need a couple of ten minute burst charges on the way. And, presumably, you'll stop at a charging station the way we stop at gas stations now. I just didn't think this needed explaining.

As for the oil industry and saudi arabia destroying the electric car industry...I honestly do believe that we wouldn't be stuck on oil if it wasn't massively less expensive and more convenient to do so. Sure there was a concerted effort from interested corporations. But I don't think it's quite the conspiracy you make it out to be.

When we talk about how useful electric cars were in the thirties, we tend to forget that there was no interstate highway system, and commuting was done on a much smaller scale. We need gas (and better batteries) now, because average trips are much much longer.

You could look into the Zap Xebra line of vehicles. I have a Xebra pk ( a three wheeled pickup very small, two pass.) With the right battery set you can expect to get 35 miles and 40+mph. This is enough for more than half the daily commutes, and if you can plug in at work (or your favorite store) you can extend the range significantly as most of the charge goes in in the first 90 mins. Here in Oregon i costs me 38 cents to charge up over night then my work lets me plug in to make my homeward commute free.

I am waiting to see how this electric car evolves. I live 20 miles from pretty much anywhere and although we plan shopping trips, etc, it still requires driving.

I presently drive a SCION XB that gets 36 mpg which is not half bad. I'd love to get something affordable, cheaper to drive and something that will get me through the snow and foothills of these Allegheny Mountains...

I bought a Chevy S10 conversion for $15K; money that was well spent. Now, all my driving is done in this electric vehicle and for out-of-town trips I use my old Camry, which sits in my garage most of the month.

You know all this big fuss about the EV-1 shows even a greater problem in America.Once a long time ago we were at the forefront of technology and standards now we are not.Once,this great country of ours prided itself on being independent from the outside not anymore.Independence is a scary notion .The EV-1 illustrated that quite well.

This isn't complicated. The guys who build cars are the same guys making trillions of dollars on selling OIL, so don't expect them to provide electric cars unless politicians force them to.