OldCoot

Actually it is on topic. It shows that electric cars ruled for speed UNTIL replaced by the internal combustion cars in the early 1900s. Electric power is not the way of the future. It was the way of the past. GM found it one way to quickly meet the California requirements in the early 1990s. GM changed their mind.

BaronVonBigmeat

While no one can really tell the future, I think it's a bit much to say that electric cars in one form or another are not the way of the future. Whether it's batteries, ultracapacitors, hydrogen, or whatever. There's just too many advantages that electric motor powered cars have over IC cars. It really comes down to one thing, and that is the battery (or fuel cell) performance-to-cost ratio. Big strides in battery tech have been made in just the last 5 years, while gasoline engines are more of a "mature" technology so to speak, with companies spending millions to eke out tiny gains that still put them nowhere near an electric motor. Maybe we'll see some breakthroughs in engine technology that allow them to outpace battery advancements (Scuderi split-cycle? Starrotor?) but I tend to doubt it. I also think the spread between the cost of electricity and gasoline will grow a lot, as China and India become wealthier and use more oil, and as solar shingles and offshore wind turbines come down in price.

globi

Plug-In Hybrids have a high range and can still run as pure electric vehicles around town.

http://www.calcars.org/vehicles.html

sosonic

If you watch “Who killed the electric car” than you need to also rent/watch “An Inconvenient Truth” by former Vice President Al Gore. The 2 movies are very related.

Note- I don’t care what your political persuasion is, Al Gore has 10X the intelligence of Bush. How Bush and crew stole the 2000 election is another story. But, the U.S.A would have been better served with a more intelligent President. At the very least, a President who is actually intelligent and articulate. Every time Bush speaks, it puts the American people to shame and provides more comedy material for comedians everywhere.


Electric cars and hybrid cars are THEE VIABLE alternative

The electric car IS a viable technology that can be implemented TODAY. lithium-ion battery powered electric cars can get up 100 to 200 miles. Many RX-8s, other sport cars, trucks, and SUVs are only getting 200 to 250. Lithium Sulphur Batteries have the potential of delivering 300+ mile range electric cars.

The electric car saves you money in the long term because you don’t need OIL FILTERS, OIL, and numerous other parts necessary for the continual maintenance of combustion engines. Also, a LOT LESS can go wrong with electric cars because they are simpler.

Electric car batteries can do a “Quick Charge”. Allowing you to get up to a 50% charge in 20 to 30 minutes. In 4 hours you would get a 100% charge. Interestingly, the time to charge the batteries keeps falling. The combination of “quick charging” and 200+ mile ranges would be adequate for 75% to 90% of drivers on the road today. The average driver is doing LESS THAN 50 miles a day. Most drivers would have no problem with charging their car's at night and using the electric car during the day.

There are experimental electric cars going 0-60 in 4 seconds. Last I checked, that was way faster than my RX-8.

If electric cars were being mass produced by major car companies, than 95% of any problems with electric cars would be solved in 5 years. Even as it stands now, independent inventors and companies are solving the problems. But, the oil companies are pulling out plenty of dirty tricks, like BUYING PATENTS and COMPANIES to DESTROY/BURY inventions and innovation.

Hydrogen cars are BULLSH*T

Hydrogen cars are “pie in the sky” bullsh*t being offered as part of a “bait and switch” tactic to get people’s mind off of electric cars and WASTE government money.

Electric cars are READY TODAY. Its VERY SIMPLE to build an electric car charging station infrastructure or simple adapters so the electric cars can use regular electric outlets.

Hydrogen cars have very limited range and nobody has quite figured out how to store enough hydrogen on a vehicle to make it practical.

Hydrogen cars require the building of a MASSIVE infrastructure, that NOBODY is sure how to implement, in order to create hydrogen fueling stations. OIL companies want to CONTROL that hydrogen re-fueling infrastructure. With electric cars, you can CHARGE THEM AT YOUR HOME. With hydrogen cars, you need to go to THEIR re-fueling station. Get it? Its about CONTROL.

The reason why OIL COMPANIES like the hydrogen car is that they want to use FOSSIL FUELS to make the hydrogen. Thus the hydrogen car is a SHELL GAME to keep people HOOKED on fossil fuels and the continual destruction of our atmosphere. With Electric cars, you can use nuclear, wind, solar, hydro, etc... to produce the electricity and not just fossil fuels.

Bottom line- Oil companies are “evil corporations” that are perpetuating the polluting of our atmosphere via CO2 for PROFIT. They are BLOCKING any technology, organization, or political efforts that might threaten their profits or stop global warming.

Most consumers are walking around like clueless sleeping oil junkies, thus are falling into the trap of oil companies. More people need to WAKE UP.

If the human race does not NUKE itself or create a biological weapon to exterminate itself, it is now almost a SURE BET that WE WILL DESTROY OURSELVES and many other species of life via GLOBAL WARMING through burning fossil fuels.

Global Warming is not some event 500 to 1000 years in the future, it has been PROVEN to be happening NOW. We are destroying the future of our own children, right NOW.

In the next 50 years, the planet earth will be f*cked if we continue to burn fossil fuels. Our oceans are becoming acidic from all the CO2 in the atmosphere and we are f*cking up the majority of sea life. We are MELTING our glaciers and polar ice caps, thus causing FLOODING and SUPER Hurricanes/Typhoons/Cyclones.

Oil companies have car companies in their “hip pocket”. Government and consumers are going to have to force major car companies to produce ZERO EMISSION electric cars. If not, OIL COMPANIES will bully, buy, or pay off anybody that stands in their way.

Don’t fool yourself. I like a fast sports car like anybody else, but the only viable alternative that will SAVE our planet and children’s future IS THEE ELECTRIC CAR.

If Mazda had any sense, they would have made a hybrid electric RX-8, instead of that worthless hydrogen powered RX-8 ( that will sit around collecting dust to please the "oil people").

When you are going 20 mph or less in traffic, you DO NOT need to be burning fossil fuels and electric power would be more than enough.