What kind of car are you going to buy next?

No, my wife has a PRIUS, never again! Electric cars area ruse, a canard, a joke. Being an electrical engineer, I've got some understanding of batteries and watching the 3 year old PRIUS slowly die is exactly what I told my wife would happen. If you have any knowledge of how batteries work, then you know it's really a metallic unplating and replating process applied to the elements of the cells. The trick is that this process doesn't make for consistently uniform surfaces on the materials involved. Eventually the surfaces of two or more plates short out taking those plates out of energy production. As the battery ages thru this discharge, recharge process more plates and finally cells drop out and the energy level steadily falls off. Short of battery replacement there is no fix.

The result of the battery dying off in my wife's PRIUS is that the engine runs more of the time. What I've seen over the past year is a steady decline in gas mileage moving from 48-49 miles a gallon to the current 28-33 over the same commute driven by the same granny. So it is obvious that the battery is contributing less and less energy and the engine more and more toward moving the car.

This is less a situation of battery type than it is a function of batteries. It is not dependent upon the source of a battery's recharge. The battery doesn't know or care that the electrons flowing into it come from a car installed motor/generator, or from converted house current.

Arguments about how much charge can be carried by a battery aside, the problem of a viable electric car is in the molecular structure of how batteries dis and re-charge. The needed technical breakthrough is less of an energy density issue (how much charge you can stuff into a given space and weight) as it is how to unplate and replate materials with both uniform density and dimension. Success in the latter situation is what will lead to long lived batteries which in turn will make for a more viable electric vehicle. Folk's we ain't there, not even close.

There are those who espouse that if we start to build it, the technology to solve these problems will come, they point at computers and such as an example. I'll suggest that battery technology has been around a long time and organizations such as NASA have plowed tons of money and effort into this problem, as yet to find a solution. Battery technology is even the weak spot in computer technology, probably the thing more than anything that keeps your lap top from getting far from its charger. Maybe there is a solution, but after 50 years of beating my head on this problem, I don't see anything in materials that are known or on the horizon that solve the basic deficiencies of rechargeable battery life.

RJH in Seattle 

Road fuel tax for electric powered vehicles could be used to rebuild electric grid system and convert dirty coal to clean coal as well as maintaining existing hiway and bridge infrastructure.

Maybe we should please all of the rabid environmentalists and go back to the horse and buggy----whoops ! They'd @!$%# about the gas that animals leave after they eat then. Airheads can't deal with reality

The evolution of the Electric automobile will follow the same historic lines as all technological innovations. They'll be expensive at first then the price will drop as the new technology is accepted and advances, new manufacturers and suppliers emerge, new brands are created and new technologies emerge.

Just look at the history of PC's, VCR's, Cell phones, CD players, LCD TV's etc.. etc... The first ones to come out are expensive and clunky. When VCR's first came out they were $1000.00 or more. But after only a few years the prices dropped dramatically. Now you can buy a VCR for $50.00, DVD players for $50.00, Cell Phones for $20.00, LCD TV's and monitors for less than $150.00.

VCR’s are being replaced with DVD players, which are now being replaced with Blue Ray and Hi-Definition DVD players. Cathode Ray Tube TV’s were being replaced with flat screen and wide screen TV’s, which are now being replaced with Hi Def LCD and Plasma screen TV’s. I bet your reading this on an LCD monitor!

DSL and Cable have replaced phone modems for PC internet connectivity. Cell phones and VIOP are replacing traditional analog land lines. I-pods and MP3 players have replaced cassette and CD portable music players, and they can store and display videos and pictures… PC hard drives are starting to be replaced with Flash Drives, etc.. etc.. etc…

As much as you love your internal combustion engines, sooner or later your going to have to accept the fact that internal combustion engines for the propulsion system of automobiles is old, outdated, and inefficient technology and bad for the environment and the future of the Earth.

How much Motor oil and Anti Freeze has been dumped into storm drains? How many air filters and oil filters and spark plugs are taking up space in land fills? How many tons of Carbon dioxide and Carbon Monoxide get pumped into the air each year from the millions of automobiles in use today (I believe automobile use contributes 25% of all green house gasses being pumped into our atmosphere each year)?

No one is making the claim that the technology has been perfected. Electric automobiles are an emerging technology and there is much advancement that still needs to be made. But if America doesn’t get out of this mind set of thinking that internal combustion engines are the only way to propel vehicles then pretty soon were going to be paying $10.00 a gallon for gas and $10.00 a gallon for milk.

 I don’t know about you but the idea of driving a car using bio-fuels because we used up all the oil is disgusting. Food should be used to feed people not power cars. How selfish and self centered are we If we have to resort to using food crops to power our cars when there are so many people in this world starving . If giving up my internal combustion engine means someone else in this world will be able to eat then guess what I’m doing…

I will buy a plug-in hybrid, an electric car with an engine, and all wheel drive electric wheels called a "series hybrid" where there is no mechanical connection between the engine and the wheels. This car has NO transmission! The batteries drive the wheels through the electric wires. EACH WHEEL is independently powered by electricity!

The biofueled engine only drives an electrical generator which charges the batteries which drive the wheels. Because the engine only has to run the generator, it runs at only one speed which is its most efficient operating speed. This is an electric vehicle with an engine backup!

Ideally, I would be able to drive to work and back on just batteries without the engine ever kicking in. But when I need to travel farther, the engine then kicks in and generates the electricity needed to complete the journey.

This type of car is NOT science fiction; it is science fact. I first heard of these electric wheels when the MINI-COOPER using PML Flightlink electric wheels beat a Porsche 911. Zero to 60mph in 4.5 seconds! The Volvo Recharge is built on this principle using these wheels.

I believe (outside of pricing) that what I have just described answers everyone elses complaints about the problems with electric/hybrid vehicles.

People who have the skills and the knowledge have been retrofitting Internal Combustion Engin (ICE) cars for YEARS. The battery technology is there now; TOSHIBA makes lithium -manganese batteries that charge to capacity in only 10-minutes, and get 350-mile range, and go from 0-60 in 5 seconds. The electroninc motor-controllers like the GODZILLA are out there. And as far as charging, a 15-minute charge at 5-pm when you get home will not cause any more pllution. You cause more pollution when everyone gets home and turns on their 50-inch plasmas and charge their cellphones and laptops for an hour... And we can alwasy switch to the new high-output Solar Cells, or Windpower (ONE wind-turbine may power over 300-homes). Zero-point-clean energy systems, like Professor John Searl's SEG, are finally beginnig to be mass-produced in Thailand. Electric is the cleanes, and most efficient. Tesla has sold out of their first production run of their Roadster. Next on their agenda is a sedan. And the New Lithium-manganese cells last for 19-years, cost les, and are environmentally-freindly to dispose of (just soak them in Saltwater). No more will we ruin our enviornment, and economy with ICE-powered autos, and the balance of economic-power will switch from Saudi Arabia and the energy cartels, to the common-man! I want an affordable electric. Mass-produced, price of everything comes down. The age of global-warming, cancer-causing refineries, and nuclear-power is OVER, with finality. Sanity now rules. For some history that will make you angry, get the DVD: WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR.

I am already driving a Prius and it is a great car. I want my next car to be an electric car, so my husband can drive the Prius.

We already drive two hybrids (2006 Prius and 2007 Camry hybrid).  We will replace both with either PHEV or fully electric models as soon as such are available.  We owned a 2004 Prius earlier, so we now have over 100,000 cumulative use miles in hybrids.  For the near future,  I want a functional PHEV 4 door with at least 300 miles driving range for one of those vehicles and a more sporty looking at least play car for myself (either PHEV or fully electric could work, since I only need about 100 miles range on any given day).  We already have our home equipped with solar PV panels and solar water heating, and we are looking into also getting a wind turbine system for night time power generation.  It is possible to seriously reduce one's "oil dependence" even now, but the "buy in" costs are high for solar PV (electricity ) generation and a bit less for solar hot water.  However in P G & E areas with their power rates...the payback time for the solar electricity is actually something less than 8 years.

For compairson, if both an electiric car and a gas powered car travel one mile the electric car will produce less carbon (by about 20%), even if the electricity comes from a coal fired power plant.  This is because electric cars are several times more efficient at converting heat energy to locomotion. 

Why is it so cheap to "fill up" with electric.  To purchase 1 million BTUs of energy in the form of coal it costs $1.40.  To purchase the same amount of energy in the form of gasoline, using $3.60 per gallon, the cost of one million BTUs is $32.50!!!!  Gasoline has had a monopoly for many years and we the consumer need an alternate competitive energy source.  

I don't drive more than 50 miles per day. Can't wait for an all electric car and I don't care who make it.

For compairson, if both an electiric car and a gas powered car travel one mile the electric car will produce less carbon (by about 20%), even if the electricity comes from a coal fired power plant.  This is because electric cars are several times more efficient at converting heat energy to locomotion. 

You forget one thing. We also have alternative energy source fo making energy. We don't need to use coal. We should concentrate on the sun, air and rivers. the clean anergy.

Wow there are some real idiots out there. Co2 levels are rising BECAUSE the temperature (0.2 degrees per DECADE) is rising. Also were is this increase in electricity going to come from?We barely produce enough as it. Eh what is the point. Anyone who believes that we are the cause of "global warming" is so close-minded that no matter how many facts they were given it would not make any difference to them. Derrrrr the United Nations and movie stars say it is so it must be. Pull your out once and a while people!!

HA HA HA..these auto companies are funny..who can afford a $40K electric car when they can't find a job or keep their house...the near future is $4k or $5K minimalist cars from India and China..if I were GM or the Japanese...I'd be thinking smaller and cheaper...or I'd be thinking of retirement!!!!

A locomotive-type car may be the best choice.  Like another post stated, the engine runs at it's most efficient RPM constantly and turns the generator to spin the electric motors and charge batteries during high-speed and/or high battery drain/low voltage conditions.  During stop and go low speed driving in pleasant weather, the vehicle could run on charged-up battery power alone.  Plugging in would be done when convenient and available.  A hybrid, yes, but the engine would not be directly connected to the drive wheels.

I'd LOVE an Electric AWD or 4x4. NO Fossil Fuel!! Just Electric .... even a flex Electric coupled with a Biodiesel would be awesome. But make them affordable.... less than $20,000.

Five to ten years after "all-electric" cars are a majority, then people will be able to buy a relatively "cheap" used electric car.  Ten to fifteen years from now, solar panel systems will be cheap enough to install on all homes.  That's the dream!

The only question is whether the politician's can fund their campaigns without contributions from oil and utility companies.  I'm betting the politicians can still be bought.  

We'll just have to wait and see what bills are passed over the next two years.  I hope I am wrong.

We either product our own oil from national resources (putting our people to work) or come up with an all electric car and a electric\gas for extended range. After we reduce our dependency on oil from abroad, we will then be sending aid to those countries to feed their poor because all they have is oil to sell. I may buy a Prius 48 MPG or new model possibly 100 mpg)  but would prefer an American electric \ gas version. American hybrids are not worth the 32 mpg investment. Wake up Detroit, over 30k for a Volt, greed. How many people can afford your car? 

I have an additional wish for my new electric car. I want to be able to plug it into the power grid when I’m not driving it. After the car has finished charging its own batteries from sitting in the sun the extra energy that the solar cells would continue to produce would then be uploaded to the power grid. Imagine 31 million cars sitting in the sun being plugged in and adding a clean source of power to the system.  Imagine the negative carbon footprint that solar powered automobiles could provide if power plants had to burn less fossil fuels because the system is getting power from millions of cars sitting in the sun and pumping electricity into the grid.

There are approximately 62 million cars registered in the US. If half of the cars, 31 million, were solar powered and plugged into the grid and contributed just a half a watt of power to the grid each day that would be 15 million watts of power a day! How much fossil fuel do our power plants burn each day to produce that much power?

Whats with the MPG thing?  Lets get this countrys automobiles OFF of the oil and start talking about miles per AMPERE.  C'mon GM lets get that VOLT out quick - and how about a pickup version!  Ford, you already have a car in Europe that gets 65 mpg - DUH, bring it over here!  Why are we letting the foreign car makers portray us as fools who can't build anything when in reality we have them beat already;  we need to break the love affair between our car manufacturers and the oil conglomerates.   I don't care how low the gas price goes - my next car will be an electric or gas/electric.  They lowere the oil price every time they feel we're beginning to get serious about reducing our oil appetite.  Join with me America, lets walk away from the polluting petro burners and get "clean cheap" transportation.  The infrastructure is already there.  GIVE US THE ELECTRICS DETROIT - we'll buy them!

I voted SUV because I use it for my small business.  I'd love it if I could get a "sport cute" that had at least as much interior space as my present one (2002 Honda CR-V) and was a hybrid as well.  The newer CR-V's have less interior space.