I saw the movie "Who Killed the Electric Car" last night, and I could not believe that such an atrocity could have occured in this country or on this planet. People in California were leasing electric cars and then because of corporate greed, new cars were taken away from people, and crushed and shredded, and the big car companies, and oil companies made the electric car "go away". Without a trace.!! I just kept shaking my head and saying " I can't believe anyone would choose making more money over safeguarding our earth from pollution, and not changing to alternative cars before its too late. How was this allowed to happen ? The big corporations argued that it would be too much of a profit loss for the period necessary to introduce the new electric car,and they stopped making them, and so they were taken off the market before they could catch on. I would feel so much better driving an electric car, and I know many others would too. What can we do ?
Were always going to have problems, and nothing is ever going to be enough. if we had electric cars youd be making a post as to why they arent doing this or that to make them better. Its an ongoing cycle. And yes, i agree, it is sometimes wrong to choose money over humanity. In the end though, were all fucked, and whether it comes around 500 years sooner or later, it doesnt really matter. We arent that important, seriously.
Speak for your self mushy man, A.B.E I think your concern for our planet and for your well beeing is fantastic and IMPORTANT !!! About electric run cars, Toyota makes the Prius and a few other Hybrid´s... I know its not perfect but it sure is a huge step into getting people used to these types of cars. Consequently accept them forcing car makers around the world to produce less fuel run vehicles and more alternative propultion cars !!
An electrically powered car is only as efficient and environmentally sound as the power plants that produce the electricity. As for what happened in California: don't forget that it was right around the time when California was having some serious power grid issues. I expect that the decision to recall and destroy electrically powered vehicles was not based on blind corporate greed, but was a panicked reaction to the fear of blackouts and brownouts that would result from any additional demands on the already strained generating capacity available at that time. In other words, introducing the electric car in California at that time turned out to be analogous to building a hydroelectric plant during a severe drought. Of course, the power grid issues and shortages themselves probably had a lot to do with blind corporate greed...
Ya know, I believe I read somewhere that even the California "serious grid issues" were staged to manipulate someone into doing something,and of course, having something to do with the acquistion of more money for big corporations. I don't believe anything anymore, and have come to the conclusion that we are being duped as a nation by the media, and the powers that be can make us believe anything they want to, change the outcome of presidential elections, and "kill the electric car", for selfish reasons.
The great factor of the Hybrd cars is that the batteries are charged by the movement of the wheels so there is no need to plug the car in eliminating the need of power plants.
thats really not how electric cars work. they have whats called "regenerative braking" which means when you let off the accelerator pedal, the electric motor actually acts a generator, using varied resistance to put a charge back into the batteries. It's also used to simulate engine braking like a gasoline powered car would have. If one tried to use fulltime electrical regeneration on the car, as you said Chris_mate, then the drag of the generator would overpower the electric motor. which, means you would have to use more torque to move the vehicle, requiring more electricity, which would cause more drag on the generator. see the conundrum here?
