Is 2008/2009 the year of the electric vehicle?

what’s interesting is that battery tech has BEEN around for a while. at least for the past 6 or 7 years.. GM killed the project because they mistakenly thought that there wasn’t a demand for them.. then the Prius took off, and all the other companies ended up miles ahead of GM.. but they were okay because on the same day that the electric car project ended.. HUMMERS went online, which is obviously the opposite direction from electric.

as for the present and beyond.. i think that there’s some hope, but a l ot of people are blinded at the moment by the myth of Ethanol (better for emissions, yes, but really a big joke on the grand scale of “good” environmental practices). Furthermore, there’s a ton of money being pushed into ethanol what w/ the untouchable farm bill, which means more advertising that electric cars will have to compete against..

just quick thoughts, though.. :)

I think alternative fuel including electric vehicles will have a very slow phase in over the next 20–30 years.

Due to economic reasons, this isn’t something that will be done “all at once”.

I agree that the technology is there or nearly there, but it won’t happen quickly.

No, I don’t think it’ll be this year, or even SOON, sadly. I think there’s still a stigma in the buying public about electric cars being less powerful/less reliable. They’re still looked at as an “Epcot Center” type novelty.

I don’t think it has anything to do with public perception or technology. I truly believe it boils down to economics. A very slow phase-in is really the only way to do it.

Like everything in life, it’s about trade offs. Am I willing to trade the amount I currently spend on gasoline for the stigma of driving what really amounts to a really fast golf-cart? (Yes, I think there most definitely is a stigma involved with driving an electric vehicle, as demonstrated by the opinion of several of my female friends that, were I to buy an environmentally-friendly vehicle, I’d “never get another date”).

Can the auto companies develop a battery-powered vehicle that sufficiently overcomes the most common problems and negative perceptions? Probably eventually, but, as of right now, I think most people would still rather pay $3 a gallon than deal with the electric car while the companies iron out the kinks. I think glial is right—I see at least 20 more years until they can truly compete with internal combustion. Perhaps sooner if the price of gas keeps going up.

I’m excited about the prospect of alternative energy. That’s why I like seeing the rising gas prices (much as it pains me at the pump). New energy won’t become economically viable until fossil fuels become economically unviable.

I saw a program a few months ago that had a german made car with a 1.3ltr engine biodiesel I believe? they raced it for 24hrs at 130mph and it got 140 miles per gallon or close to it. I haven’t seen anymore info on it and dont remember who made it, anyone have info on it?

okay seriously.. most of the problem w/ the electric car is indeed just perception. it’s not economics.. and I don’t say this because i don’t understand that economics is what drives it.. but rather because i know for a fact that a hot, sexy, powerful electric car is possible. the only reason that it hasn’t been made yet is because people just don’t believe it. they still think that if it’s electric, it sucks..

the hybrids are going to have fully electric versions fairly soon here, for instance, but all it really would have taken was some advertising on the part of the car companies to demonstrate that the cars had power.

http://www.teslamotors.com/

is just one example of how it can be done.. and there have been multiple other test cases where the same technology has been used for larger cars as well.