2010 Detroit Auto Show

[kthx]

Thats not really true anymore epi, since the terrible idea of using solar panels and windmills as a power source has sprung into being in the last five or ten years nuclear/coal/gas power plants now have to "reinforce" the power that people buy from "green power companies" during night time and when there is no wind, or when there is too heavy of a wind that they have to stop the windmills from storing power due to battery capacity. So the energy isn't being "wasted" really at night as much as you would think it would be.

Also 40miles on the electricity with what I would assume would be around 25 miles or actual top performance from electricity before the charge started to wear down to the point where it was undriveable especially on the freeway. I see this as being more of a problem than a solution, and I don't think most people will even bother to plug their car in after a while of dealing with it. And what are the hidden costs with this, batteries can only recharge so many times before their capacity is lowered, after lets say three years maybe or even less I would expect the batteries to only take you 20 miles, 15 miles, and I am sure the batteries are going to be not only expensive to replace but also detrimental to the environment that the idea of an electric car is trying to save. Are they going to have specialty dumping sites for old worn out electric car batteries?

So yeah, the technology is basically useless unless someone comes up with a battery that is far beyond the capabilities of the technology that we have now, and is probably more detrimental to the environment in the long run than using gas, not that I care much about the environment but I just want to make sure you understand it from what I assume is most liberals perspectives.

[Troll King]

Detroit 2010: Tesla Model S Electric Luxury Sedan Coming in 2012



Interestingly, Tesla's display was right next to Lotus.

Chinese manufacturer BYD (Build Your Dreams), part owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, was there too. They claim their electric crossover, the e6 gets 205 miles on a full charge. They also say their batteries, a lithium-iron-phosphate batteries are supposed to be recyclable, and last longer than the common lithium-cobalt-oxide batteries.

True story: Less than a minute after I published that story, the car's USB press kit literally fell apart in my hands:

[kthx]

Just like the car itself will.

[Troll King]

The car's interior did look really cheap. Not what you'd expect from a company's big show car.

[kthx]

I sorta want to go into other potential problems with electric cars.. short circuits etc but I guess I won't until someone eggs me on some more about the benefits of switching from gas to something else.

[Troll King]

You need someone to egg you on? I thought you just randomly spout out stereotypically Conservative arguments all the time.

[kthx]

I only do it to convince other people that I am right because I am right.

But if other people already know I am right I don't really have any need to keep driving the point home.

[Troll King]

You forgot to capitalize all those R's.

[kthx]

boom, roasted.

[Izor]

The Volt is supposed to get 100 miles per full charge, which will diminish down to 80 after about 5 years, they claim. I dont know how thats possible, because the battery will be charged very aggressively to get its time at gas stations down to a reasonable wait. The prius is successful because it slowly charges and discharges its battery, which you can do millions of times. This car will be nothing less than a total failure. Who is going to pay 40000$ for a car that you cant drive more than 100 miles? I can get a Camaro for 40k! Well under that, even

I see that Chevy has tranny tricked me...am I thinking of the nissan leaf? I remember seeing the numbers I posted above no more than 3 months ago right on chevy.com/volt, and now I'm seeing they changed the design

[Epinephrine]

Thats not really true anymore epi, since the terrible idea of using solar panels and windmills as a power source has sprung into being in the last five or ten years nuclear/coal/gas power plants now have to "reinforce" the power that people buy from "green power companies" during night time and when there is no wind, or when there is too heavy of a wind that they have to stop the windmills from storing power due to battery capacity. So the energy isn't being "wasted" really at night as much as you would think it would be.

Also 40miles on the electricity with what I would assume would be around 25 miles or actual top performance from electricity before the charge started to wear down to the point where it was undriveable especially on the freeway. I see this as being more of a problem than a solution, and I don't think most people will even bother to plug their car in after a while of dealing with it. And what are the hidden costs with this, batteries can only recharge so many times before their capacity is lowered, after lets say three years maybe or even less I would expect the batteries to only take you 20 miles, 15 miles, and I am sure the batteries are going to be not only expensive to replace but also detrimental to the environment that the idea of an electric car is trying to save. Are they going to have specialty dumping sites for old worn out electric car batteries?

So yeah, the technology is basically useless unless someone comes up with a battery that is far beyond the capabilities of the technology that we have now, and is probably more detrimental to the environment in the long run than using gas, not that I care much about the environment but I just want to make sure you understand it from what I assume is most liberals perspectives.

The technology for electric motors and batteries are something that's decades old. WWII vintage submarines for instance ran on battery/electric power. So do a lot of industrial vehicles, most ships, and of course the electrical engines of hybrids.

That said I don't trust anything GM makes and the Volt will likely have a TON of problems. This entire technology used in cars will take years for it to fully mature.

Personally I think electric cars are really a distraction. If we really want to be serious about reducing our carbon consumption and the way we ruin this planet, we need some radical changes in the way that we all live. This means vastly denser cities, vastly higher public transit usage, and having people live in communities where they can walk everywhere they need. This will make for healthier people, less car usage and better land usage (i.e. less bulldozing prime farmland to create endless suburban sprawl so that people can drive 1 hour down a highway to get to the city to go to work).

Fundamentally the reason why you're so worried about the range of the Volt and other electric cars is that you probably live in a community where you have to drive everywhere, and may even drive forever to get to work. Considering you're from Texas, I'd say that's a huge possibility. If you didn't have to drive so far to work every day (say at most 5 miles) then the prospect of owning an electric vehicle, or taking public transit (i.e. train or subway like they do in Asia, Europe and basically NYC and Toronto) would be quite normal and accepted. For instance here in Toronto where 25% of people use public transit every day, downtown where a lot of well off professionals work people will frequently take the subway or walk to work. And then have a car only for weekends or use car-share programs where there's 1 car that you rent for a few hours for a time parked in the parking lot of your condo. It's pretty popular here and quite useful if you don't need a car and don't want to waste all the money for insurance/gas/car payments/repairs.

[kthx]

Yes but public transportation is dirty, annoying, uncomfortable, and not very private. I would rather destroy the planet by burning fossil fuels than get on the bus to be honest. And I plan to continue destroying the environment even after I die by getting a casket made entirely out of salt blocks so nothing will be able to grow where I am buried.

[Epinephrine]

Yes but public transportation is dirty, annoying, uncomfortable, and not very private. I would rather destroy the planet by burning fossil fuels than get on the bus to be honest. And I plan to continue destroying the environment even after I die by getting a casket made entirely out of salt blocks so nothing will be able to grow where I am buried.

That's only because you live in a place where so few people take public transportation it totally sucks. Also the bus isn't so good I agree, subways and trains are vastly better.

As for how you want to destroy the world, good for you. I'm glad not everyone thinks like you do and ruins it for the rest of us.

[kthx]

It's more like taking it to the extreme to show the ignorance of extreme environmentalism.

A bunch of idiots think recycling is going to save the planet so I purposefully never recycle and even go out of my way to not recycle.

People think cars are going to cause the planet to burn so I drive a large truck and always cut off smart cars and prius's.

You might find it stupid but what other insane liberal ideas do you not agree with for instance Peta throwing red paint on fur coats, and people donating money to Peta when real people are starving where we actually live. How could you really give two shits about dolphins and whales knowing that a human life could be gone instead.

It probably isn't the right way to go about it but it helps offset some of the extremism on the other side, and lets face it nobody will ever come to a middle ground on issues like this.

[Benno]

It probably isn't the right way to go about it but it helps offset some of the extremism on the other side, and lets face it nobody will ever come to a middle ground on issues like this.

It helps. Sheikh Mohammed can afford a few more racing ponies because your misguided viewpoints regarding electric vehicles is too common.