I was just watching the news and of course they have all this boring crap about global warming and new fuels blah blah blah, and then I remembered about electric cars from the late 90's and whatnot, but why are they not trying to make more people drive them anymore? I mean it doesnt emit any gases or anything, and no need to worry about fuel prices going up/down since all you need to do is charge it. So yeah what happened to them?
erm-erm
"Hi, I'm an electric car. I don't go very fast, or very far... And if you drive me, people will think you're gay"
erm-erm
"Hi, I'm an electric car. I don't go very fast, or very far... And if you drive me, people will think you're gay"
lol very true
"When teh rainz hitz m3 i eXplod3"
Well they were only out for a few years, I'm sure if you gave them 20 years or so, they would be able to advance the technology and make the battery power alot longer between charges.
The electric car is a cool idea, but I think the whole idea coupled with a small motor...kind of like what's in the Prius right now is the right way to go. If you live in a city and drive short distances then it would be cool, otherwise it just doesn't work.
Maybe someday we'll have much more efficient solar panel tech that can help with this issue...otherwise the electric car will be for the privileged few who can get their hands on them.
Electric cars with current technology are terrible. They take long amounts of time to charge, they don't hold their charge very well, and the batteries weigh quite a bit so that's added energy in trying to move a heavier vehicle that's basically wasted.
As gft said, hybrids seem to be the route they are going, and they are looking at alternative fuels. Ethanol made from corn would be a viable source, so can bio diesal. There are vehicles that run on hydrogen and emit water as the waste (that's where we'll probably end up). Solar power is too inneffective to ever be the answer for everyone (what do people up north do when they have limited sun? The biggest problem is making the vehicles work efficiently and getting everything widely available. Hybrids and fuels like alcohols and bio diesal will likely be the closest solution, with either hydrgen fuel cells, some other fuel cell, or something no one has tried yet being the long term solution. I say the big auto makers and american based gas companies should collaborate and switch to ethanol (not as difficult as it seems). The middle east will lose a lot of $$ if the US stops using gasoline in vehicles, and farming in the US will help boost the economy. But even that's a pretty expensive process.
Electric cars may make a comeback. I'm scared about the rise of ethanol because it is driving up corn prices, making food and anything that eats corn more expensive. Meat prices are going up, milk, everything. So much corn is being used to make ethanol that the corn available for eating has a higher demand. Mexico had to put a price ceiling on corn because tortillas were becoming too expensive for people to get and that's their main source of nutrition.