Quote:
|
Originally Posted by QuasiMondo
Crash testing is important because when the innards of a Lithium Ion battery are exposed to oxygen, they explode. Until NHTSA runs a few roadsters into a wall at 30 mph and verifies that you won't die a firery death, it's not safe.
|
Crash testing is important because when the innards of a gas tank are exposed to even the smallest spark, they explode. People have driven the car and, as I said, the car is CURRENTLY being tested. Right now. Today.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by QuasiMondo
As far as I know, no outside source has verified the company's claim of 200 miles per charge (250 was too optimistic, so they sent a letter to those who paid for the cars to expect a range closer to 200). This is important because any car that can only run 100 miles (my realistic estimation) and require 3-6 hours (3 on a 90-amp charger, 6 on a 60-amp charger) pretty much handcuffs you to how far you can go while worrying about where you're going to find a 110-volt outlet to plug into if you go a bit too far. |
Where did 100 miles come from? Even the older electric vehicles got more than that 10 years ago. Even if it was your hypothetical 100 miles, how many Americans drive over 100 miles a day? If it is the 200 miles per day, then you're talking about over 90% of the population. Also, where can you NOT find an outlet? Drive 99 miles to work, plug it in, then drive home and plug it in over night.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by QuasiMondo
Keep in mind, it requires 746 watts of energy to generate 1 horsepower. Multiply that by 248 hp, and you have a car that requires over 180 kW of juice to spin that motor. The EV1 required only 102kW, and was only 300 lbs heavier than the estimated weight of the roadster, but only managed 120 miles on a good day. Does 200 miles still seem like a stretch?
|
Of course not. The EVI came out 11 years ago. To assume there have been technological advances in the past 11 years seems intellectually dishonest.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by QuasiMondo
If it works out, then great, but until I see a vehicle on the street and a satisfied customer, I'm not buying into the notion that this is the wave of the future.
|
Your call, but it was the wave of the future 11 years ago before it was killed.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by parahy
Even if the manufacturing process.
Go to Sudbury and look at the nickel mines (Toyota buys about 1000 tons each year) and the 1,250-foot-tall smokestack that spews huge puffs of sulphur dioxide at the Sudbury mine and smelter operation has left a large swath of the surrounding area looking like a surrealistic scene from the depths of hell. The surrounding area is full of skeletons of trees and bushes that will remind you of ghostly sentinels guarding a sprawling wasteland.
Then all 1000 tons are shipped to China where its made into nickel foam, and then to Japan where they get assembled. The entire journey is over 100, 000 miles. Each and every mile is done on ships with dirty, inefficient engines or on diesel locomotives, not some hybrid car.
Even nicke batteries of the size used in cars are hard to replace, since there isn't a system that has been set up to recycle them. And, rechargeable batteries also lose charge slowly as well.
|
Filters already exist to reclaim cadmium from the byproduct of production, before it's released into the air. It takes energy and an investment to implement the filters, so few have done it. It's in the works that Nickel-Cad processing plants will be moving back into Europe once they can demonstrate that they have the necessary filters.