VTEC_Junkie

many car manufacturers are developing electrical/hybrid vehicles due to ever stricter governmental mpg and emissions requirements. they are developing these vehicles merely to offset mph and emissions of the other vehicles in their lineups. this in no way indicates that the future is steering towards all electric. the only way we'll see an all electric future is if either government bans all internal combustion engine cars or consumers are completely satisfied with the technology, cost, and convenience of electrical vehicles. and unless and until there is a major technological breakthrough in battery sizes, charging capacity, and charging times, i really don't see the convenience part being satiated.

ahmad

The problem with electric cars is the battery, that’s it. Battery technology getting better so other solutions (hybrids) are there like what GM did with it Volt car which uses a ICE Generator when the battery SOC is getting low.
Talking about electric cars efficiency and CO2 emissions depends on the source of electric power to recharge the batteries, once there are enough renewable energy power plants, then the EV’s are the best solution.

Hydrogen in the fuel cell is great technology for EV but the safe transportation of hydrogen is difficult compared to the gasoline or diesel.
Nuclear power can’t be used with today’s technology in cars or air planes because it is simply needs a lot of water (sink) to generate steam and cool down the reactor.


So both battery tech and renewable energy makes EV’s perfect, but this takes time and it is in progress.While EV in progress, ICE cars are also getting better efficiency specially the diesel and the hybrids. This going to move until we see a clear “shift”.

ZDan

The vast majority of miles traveled is in commuting. The vast majority of commuters work within 25 miles of home. Electric vehicles could easily perform commuting transportation for most of the nation's commuters without ever having to do a "battery swap" (I don't think that concept has legs anyway, for reasons already covered in this post). Get home, plug in. I did this for a while myself, commuting 35 miles one way, on an electric motorscooter (capable of 68mph, ~45mi. real-world range). Ride to work, plug in there, come home, plug in at home. When gas was $4/gal, I was saving $50 a week commuting like this.

Electric and plug-in hybrids will become more and more common in the coming years and decades, and this is a good thing for all of us. And it will extend the window of viability of fossil-fuel powered vehicles.

ZDan

Fortunately, everyone's not going to electric or plug-in hybrid all at once. And it's easy enough to set charging to take place in the wee hours of the morning when demand is low. For the relatively few who will be going electric/plug-in over the next 5 years, I don't see a problem. In fact it makes better use of electric power production capacity.

Peak demand is usually driven by industry, and falls off at night. Again, electric vehicle charging won't likely take place right when people get home, but rather much later when demand is down.

But that's not how it's going to happen. And again, the load won't be in the evening, but in the early early morning hours. This new demand will make better use of existing power plants.

It's not a question of whether we're going to continue to all drive 5000+ lb. SUVs or we're all going to drive electric vehicles. There will be a transition to more electric for commuting. The excess power that powerplants have in off-peak hours will more than cover the new demand for transportation for the near-term future. Obviously, we should also have an energy policy that will ensure clean energy production for industry and for transportation going forward, which will mean more wind, solar, geothermal, hydro, and nuclear.

Having a transportation grid charging up overnight won't drive the peak requirement for a long time. If and when it does, it won't be addressed by diesel generators.

asrautox

It's not a deceptive number, it's a real number that indicates we use nearly zero petrolium to generate electicity. Ever hear of a thing called Smart Grids? Guess what they do? They eliminate the need for excess capacity and backup generators. Your arguments are flawed and biased toward what you believe to be true. At the end of the day electric vehicles are a more efficient mode of transportation. Period. They also are a way to bring jobs back to the US and improve our national security by reducing our dependence on foreign energy. Are they for everyone? No. Are they a way to improve our current situation? Damn straight.

tiger1964

I have not been following closely -- what's the grille in the front for?

whiteflash

The first few seconds reminded me of my dads Ford Lightning SVT. That was a wicked (albeit different) sound.

sparrow

Don't see why a large manufacturer cant produce a simple 2 seat electric plug-in commuter similar to the smart car in size. Would pick one up for commuting to work and around town for sure... this tesla sure looks good though. I wouldn't mind an electric sportscar. Find a way to tune the electric motors sound and i'll be happy.

s2kpdx01

You wouldn't swap your own battery it would be done by some kind of machine. (hell in oregon and another state you can't pump your own gas, so it would be no different in those states) These things weigh hundreds of pounds. it woudn't matter if you were feeble or not a machine would swap it. Just like there are lots of gas stations there would be lots of battery swapping stations no reason they would have to be huge warehouses.

Give me a better plan? Magic superfast recharging batteries and hydrogen that doesn't take more energy to produce then it provides are not options. Like i said it has it's own problems, but every other solution has technical problems that aren't even solved and may never be solved. The other alternative, lets just use gas forever won't work either. People are going to put an end to that soon. I have not heard a better plan then this.

JonBoy

Golf cart?