Bob Rice chimed in: >> The same qualities that make them undesirabe here- low range, expensive >> and high maintenance. > I Beg to differ here. How "High Maintainance" are EV's ya check an' ad > water to the batteries, now an' again. You would likely not see a flooded battery in an OEM car, save perhaps Nicad. Certainly not user-accessible. The high maintenance I refer to is the limited mileage of Pb based EV's before a required pack change. With advanced batteries it's the prohibitive costs of the pack and it's ultimate demise. >> the only thing cleaner at this point would be the imaginary hydrogen >> powered fuel cell vehicle. > Yeah! Fool cell, WHERE doya get all this wonderfull Hydrogen from?? And transport and store it. I won't say it won't be possible someday, but it certainly isn't today, or around the corner. >> the Think is not a real car. > Beg to differ. Think is a purpose built vehicle aimed at a niche market. It would be destined to join the LeCar, and my favorite, the Yugo, as some of the worst cars ever built. Yes, there are those that drove them, and some that even liked them. You don't see very many of them around, and there's a reason. The one thing they had going for them is they were cheap. I haven't see anyone that's pointed out the Think's sticker price is $26K. The only way that comes down is with "incentive programs", which means they're basically subsidized by taxpayers. If you live in a state like I do that has no such program, the sticker price stands. Ain't no way anyone in their right mind pays this much for a tiny-wheeled barely freeway legal, 50 miles if you're lucky EV. Ford knows this too. Mass production would cut this approximately in half. Still too much for what you get. >> It's tiny, underpowered and would be squashed like a bug in a wreck. > Yeah, ya have a point, But that's what they sed 40 yearz ago about the > origional "Bug" And bugs are almost twice as big... > Yu can go 60 on the 'Pike, yur legal. Legal and safe are two different things. I used to commute the Mass Pike and can't imagine getting from Springfield to Boston alive doing 55. 70 is pretty much a standard speed, if you're not keeping up with traffic, you're a hazard whether you're legally correct or not. So the Think becomes a surface street-only vehicle. I can hear it now, "but it satisfies XX% of everyone's needs" but it's the remaining unsatisfied percentage that kills it for the typical consumer. >> EV issues are solved with science and engineering, the rest will come in >> it's time. > We resemble that! The List is the place where Real World EV's are > happening, one car at a time. You're right! It's been a slow process but thanks to many here who devote many hours of time figuring things out, progress is made. There's no doubt in my mind that when the right technologies come along that will enable a practical EV, it will happen here first. Mark Brueggemann Albuquerque, NM [EMAIL PROTECTED] S-10 EV
