Zell, Chris wrote:
Cold weather makes electric cars even worse. The public wants wasteful, gas sucking monster SUV's , not dinky, "75 mile range", recharge - over night Toys.
I think you are wrong about that. Millions of people would love to have an electric car with a 75-mile range if it costs about as much as a comparable gasoline model. I would love to have one! I seldom drive the Geo Metro more than 10 miles per day, and it does not go over 55 mph (except maybe downhill). (My wife drives the Prius.) Hundreds of millions of people may prefer gasoline vehicles, but a vehicle with a 75-mile range would be a strong niche product with more than enough people to support profitable production. A lot stronger than motorcycles, I think.
Clayton Christensen wrote an interesting chapter about this in the book The Innovator's Dilemma. He said, among other things, that parents with teenage children might want to buy underpowered limited range electric cars precisely because they cannot go 120 mph or 100 miles away from home. Most American families already have a gasoline car, so this would be a second car for urban dwellers. As such, it is a lot more practical, safer and faster than a bicycle, motorcycle or taxicab. Millions of people live in cities after all.
These cars have advantages besides eco-friendliness. As noted in the article they cost less to run and to maintain. They are simple and long-lasting. Traditional lead acid batteries may not last long but they can be recycled. If GM had engineered and marketed their EV properly they would be selling 100,000 a year by now. However, the hybrid gasoline car makes pure EVs obsolete, and the plug-in hybrid makes all other vehicles obsolete and not worth considering -- and that includes ethanol fueled vehicles. The only reasonable alternative to a gasoline plug-in hybrid is a diesel plug-in hybrid.
- Jed
