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The death of the electric car »
Posted by: Ousama 2 years agoIn a telling moment in the film, journalist Paul Roberts says the typical American consumer fears being made to drive "small cars and live in houses that are cold - they basically fear they are going to have to live like Europeans".
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Comments: 19
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Virginia
Aug. 4, 2006, 1:19 p.m.Saw the maker of the doc on the Daily Show. GM did not want these cars out there but made everyone return them and crushed them. People who were originally leased these cars liked them a lot but were not allowed to keep or buy them. Sad that we have so few real alternatives. Remember Ma Bell and the black phone from way back there. No alternatives then either.
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Ousama
Aug. 4, 2006, 2:21 p.m.It sad that this idea was killed before it became more mainstream and accepted. I am sure many will agree when we have $4 at the pump later this year and $5 next year.
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hzmp32001
Aug. 4, 2006, 3:29 p.m.I have a lot of hope and faith in the Tesla car (teslamotors.com). They seem to be taking the right approach and generating a lot of interest. It will be a few years before the technology is attainable by the average consumer, but they are making progress.
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think
Aug. 4, 2006, 3:34 p.m.Corporations would not be able to make such backbreaking amounts of money if they sold you products that would last forever. The electric car had so few moving parts that it would have killed the aftermarket sales of parts and other related services. If you want to know the truth follow the money. I have a feeling that Delorian fell to the same fate as the electric car. What? A car that does not rust! Wow! It is all about sales people. We can free our selves if we realize this. J. Prince
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JJTopp
Aug. 4, 2006, 3:40 p.m.The problem with electric cars is that they are so small that they would be "death traps" when hit by a
typical vehicle on USA roads today. Picture being in an electic car or a tiny Honda hybrid and being broad-sided by a LINCOLN NAVIGATOR---the thought sure brings chills up my spine; ie, the old "Law of Gross Tonnage"!
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callmeeddy
Aug. 4, 2006, 4:39 p.m.Yeah that's capitalism, if people will buy a huge overprized suv screw those wimpy european cars. Who needs them, this is america. Hoooah!
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callmeeddy
Aug. 4, 2006, 4:46 p.m.Okay, well maybe we are being a bit selfish at least the companies are. Plus, after 911 you would have thought the president would have encouraged electric cars to stop our consuption of middle eastern oil.
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Watchemoket
Aug. 4, 2006, 4:59 p.m.My initial reaction to the headline was - "another example of corporate double-talk and smoke&mirrors" But when I read the entire article and the comments after the article itself, one comment stood out:
"Electric is a total waste of time and an enviromental distraction. Electricity doesn't just appear by magic: its created (expensively) by burning oil, coal, gas or uranium. Equally batteries are an enviromental nightmare- they contain hundreds of kilos of very toxic heavy metals (lead, cadmium, nickel, lithium) and concentrated sulphuric acid. At least petrol (with a catalytic convertor) only produces CO2 and water. Peter, Nottingham"
I don't think it is a total waste of time & effort, but I think these are valid criticisms.
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Outspoken22
Aug. 4, 2006, 5:19 p.m.I don't think there will ever be a market for electric cars. The cars that are hybrids mostly require a waiting lists, which shows they are in demand. The main problem isn't that people won't drive them, but automoblie makers won't push the models.
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usneedschange
Aug. 4, 2006, 6:12 p.m.The main problem is that the gas companies are making billions a quarter and the American public is still in denial. The reason we don't have many alternatives is because many people in our government had made their millions in the oil industry and therefore, alternatives have not been seriously bolstered.
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sabah-arif
Aug. 4, 2006, 7:20 p.m.The EV1 had a cool recharging mechanism. The recharge station (roughly the same size as a gas pump) had a corded plastic paddle that magnetically stuck to the front of the car.
There are still a couple electric car companies, including two sports cars.
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st911
Aug. 5, 2006, 12:57 a.m.There is a battery called the Vanadium(see at www.vanadium.com.au). It only needs its electrolyte to be charged and is exchanged in under 5 mins. The used electrolyte can be recharged by renewable energys while you are driving around. It is not as powerful as Lithium Ion but is being tested on a Chinese Bus system.
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lancaster
Aug. 5, 2006, 2:54 a.m.Batteries are all well and dandy , but what happens at minus 40 deg C , I can see what happens to a normal car battery
when it get that cold , get out and push guys .
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m-simon
Aug. 5, 2006, 5:22 a.m.The illegal drug market proves that you can't defeat profit.
If electric cars are not every where, there is no profit in them.
Socialists/Communists are so ignorant of economics that they belive the fact that products they want at prices they are willing to pay are not on the market because of secret cabals and Illumanti conspiracies.
Reality based community my ........
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jmdenison
Aug. 5, 2006, 10:08 a.m.it would be much nicer if they could produce a hyrdrogen/methane car because hydrogen & methane can be made from renewable sources with little energy and it costs only about $1 per gallon but is very energy efficient and produces almost no pollution. then no one could complain about large suv's etc.
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Virginia
Aug. 5, 2006, 8:51 p.m.Simon, we will have to see the documentary to get more facts about the cost. No one was able to buy one according to the bit on the Daily Show. If they are able to control things, sometimes a compay on a course that has been previously determined with costs already incurred will not let a new even better or more desirable product come to market. Sometimes it amounts to buying a new product maker company and then not making that product any longer as it competes with their brand recognized item. They can often obtain all the patents to the new item so no one else can make it either. To what length they will go to to achieve their ends is the stuff of conspiracies and cabals.
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