I remember recently when one of the magazines went to test a Tesla, the car never made it out of the parking lot under its own power, when it left it was on a tow truck.

Get back to me when they produce those cars in the same numbers as a Honda Civic Hatchback or VW Diesel Sedan.

That was the Fiskar Electric Car if the memory banks serve correct.

That was a Fisker Karma.

So let me break this down so you can clarify:

You drive 17 miles (I'm assuming one way, which makes your total commute 34 miles), which is within the 40 mile range of the Volt. I'm also going to assume that you have electrical service at your place of residence, so you would be able to charge every night. This doesn't work for you why?

Clone of a Prius? They are pretty different operating systems. The only way they are similar is that they have batteries, electric motors and an engine. They way they use those things are very different.

Cost taxpayers $8000? I'm assuming you're referring to the $7500 credit that buyers get. Consider this, anyone who can afford a Volt is paying enough in taxes that they are only getting more of their own money back. As an example, I can't quite afford a Volt, and I pull in near $60k per year. I pay in around $10k (and that's just income tax). So if I put in $10k and get $7500 back, I would have taken exactly how much from other tax payers? Do the math for me, because I'm a little dumb.

Your motorcycle gets 90mpg? What is your motorcycle? A Vespa? Seriously, I have a motorcycle (38MPG - Honda ST1100) and a 2009 Prius that gets me an average of 46MPG. If you can double that on a real motorcycle, please tell me what kind it is, because I just might want to sell my ST and get one!

Your reference to 'environmental damage' is a reference to the Sudbury nickel mine in Canada.... that had major issues DECADES before the Prius hit the market. The problems were also resolved before the Prius existed. And the amount of nickel in every Prius made is nary a fraction of the nickle in many other products. So suddenly becoming concerned about the environment because it gives you pass to denigrate something you don't particularly like is disingenuous. It's bogus.

And since when do we get all of our power from coal? We have no nukes or NG plants, or hydroelectric anywhere??



I like my Prius because it's reliable as hell, the cost of maintenance is low as fuck, I get 46MPG, and I have plenty of space in it for what I need. Fuck, just yesterday, I went up to my sister's house to pick up a used coffee table. Put the back seats down and that bitch fit right up in there. As for the Volt, I fucking hate GM, and they make me want to throw up in my mouth, but I dig the Volt. Not because of how it looks and certainly not because of who makes it... but the idea. Offloading your daily driving duties to cheaper, domestically produced sources, while still having the ability to drive as far as you want on existing fossil fuel infrastructure. What's not to like? Well, the price, of course. That's about the only valid argument against it. PCs back in the 80s cost thousands of dollars and didn't have a fraction of a fraction of the power my freaking PHONE has, and now we can buy them for a few hundred bucks.

Fully electric cars just are not practical yet.

Good article. Interesting that they used the gps to find a customer's car and apparently charge it itch out his permission.

Can we get a pic of one made will 0% oil ?

The Obama administration is stuck on Stupid. They are pursuing the "Prius" crowd in trying to find a battery operated car. The problem is not the electric motors and such; the problem is the fuel source. They have all but abandoned the Direct Hydrogen Fuel Cell. One can only speculate that it is due to it deriving its energy for carbon based fuels. After all in the Polly-Annie world of the Obama-nation, they think that electricity is a clean burning fuel because it is not a fossil-derived fuel energy source. Never mind the fact that the electricity comes mainly from electrical generating plants that use fossil-derived fuels. They lose sight of the fact that efficiency is lost every time you change the state of the energy and do not take into consideration the environmental impact of producing the batteries and the limited resources the batteries are made from. GWB pushed for the Direct Hydrogen Fuel Cell and perhaps this is why the narrow minded minions of Obama don't like it.

because its a 60 thousand dollar car that relies on the Gov't for special privileges.

Also it is the third leading cause of global smugness.

water from municipal...

or if you don't want to use that... pull it out of the sea.

water + electricity = Hydrogen and O2. keep the H, release the O2. Build more Nukes to generate the electricity needed. We need more anyway, no matter what we go to.

Car takes the H and combines it with O2 from the air and releases pure water.



So yeah it takes energy to produce H. It takes energy to produce gasoline too. A tank full of H is capable of generating more energy for the car than we can store in batteries on-board the car. Hydrogen is the most common element in the universe. We can't run out of it.

The few concerns I see are:
1. Fuel cells are made from rare earth elements.
but hey maybe this will finally spur on asteroid mining. One can hope and dream.
2. Fuel cells are rather fragile.
More research will likely solve this. They send them up on the space shuttle... and that's some pretty intense shaking... so it is possible.
3. they are expensive.
Prices will come down as more sources of materials are found and better production methods are found.

$40K to replace the battery is hardly "Covering anyone who has Problems"

Until it Rains..or Snows..or is .10 outside..then you just look foolish. As far as the Prius, The wife rented one for a week while her car was in the shop around 2005 or so..it didnt suck, had decent pickup, leg-room in front was adequate and the cargo area was surprisingly roomy..they actually dont suck all that bad...now that there is a pretty solid amount of use in the real world and most if not all Maint. issues are out in the open, I would consider one if i was in the market for a new car, and wasnt retiring this year..my Fuel costs are around $130 per week with my truck.

Even more interesting that that part hasnt generated the usual FUUUUUUUUUUUUUU Posts i expected it to when i saw that paragraph.

No, Never claimed to be smarter than the Designers..however, it seems that there should be SOME way to keep your Battery, that costs as much as a "Normal" Car from shitting the bed in case of an unforseen emergency, especially since there doesnt seem to be ANY type of Insurance against the Possibility. The comments in the article liken it to changing the Oil in a regular car to keep the engine from siezing..and that's not a bad ananlogy..yet even an Engine and Drive train from a "Normal" car can be replaced for a lot less than that $40K battery.

Will there be a button that makes you disappear and reappear in a different place?

It doesnt take fucking Einstein to figure out that It's a problem that needs to be fixed before very large scale production....

The only way to keep the battery from bricking is to charge it. If there was any way around that, it would have been done already.

That is just one of the limitations of current battery tech. To get the needed energy density, you have to use battery chemistry that is less forgiving.

This is why lead acid batteries will be around for a loooong time. Even though they are heavy and toxic, they are durable, recyclable, and almost stupid proof to operate.

It can't be fixed. The limitations of lithium ion batteries are well known, and the instability at low voltages is a big one. Current lithium ion batts are not ready to be used for large scale motorized transport, at least, not in the traditional sense. The people who buy these cars will either be aware of the limitations beforehand, or be gullible idiots with too much money.

I am buying one, screw the haters, the Model S is a cool, American made, ride.

Arfcom is hilarious. I honestly cannot for the life of me figure out who is worse when it comes to hipocracy the socialists or the tards here


anti electric car tard "they cost 60k what soccer mom is going to buy that? I wouldn't buy anything that's funded with uncle sugars money! it relies on subsidies! and it takes a dirty coal plant to run it and the population etc"

yet the same people drive gas sucking full size trucks and suvs many of which were purchased when the bush administration got a tax break pushed for through congress for full size trucks and suvs! last i checked an f250 super dirty diesel was 45-55k!

So what?

so, to connect the dots for you, using it as a fuel to replace petrol doesn't get you anything.

Wait. You've been here for 11 years and thought arfcom would embrace something different?

I'm sort of tempted to get one, but I don't drive enough to justify spending that much on a car.