<ul><li><a href="http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/01/14/cadillac-converj-revealed-at-detroit-auto-show/">Click...</a></li></ul>

We recently had a discussion on electric cars. They're a solution to gas, for those who use cars solely to get from A to B.

I'd liken it to a stainless steel washer and dryer. Sure, they get your clothes clean, but they just don't put a smile on my face while they do it.

They're not just for people who use their cars to get from A to B. Feel free to read my comments about the Tesla in that discussion you mentioned.

Remember, the modern electric car is in it's infancy. I think they're off to a good start. When they figure out a way to produce the energy on board effectively, look out. Once manufacturers like Porsche and Ferrari start making them (and they will), watch out again.

Koz.

- No doubt, gas powered cars were a biatch to fill when they first came out, but we got over it. It took a concerted effort by gas companies, car manufacturers, and consumers to ensure that gas stations were plentifull.
It'll take the same effort on part of all concerned that we get the same facilities, in due course, for the electric or hydrogen or whatever-powered cars in the future.
Stuff doesn't just happen overnight, particularly when it comes to new technology.

- Lacks power?
For what? Drag racing? So does your Audi!
For the purposes of getting from A to B (to paraphrase you) that 99% of the people do, and to stay within the law (which is a whole 'nother story), it'll be plenty fast.

-Heavy?
Again, so is your Audi compared to the Audis of days-gone-by.
Most of it, btw, is attributable to crashworthiness to save your arse when you hit something.

I'm still waiting for a gas powered car that gets 150mpg, has a top speed of 250km/h, weighs less than 1,000kg, seats four comfortably, costs less than $10,000, has lifetime warranty, and will save my arse if I crash it head-on at 200kph into a brick wall.
In the meantime, we have to give the manufacturers a break.

In the future, I'm sure it'll be better ... for now, it's the black sheep to me, and just another excuse for "environmentalists" to be smug.

I'm jaded on the whole reason for the change. Politicians skew data and use false realities to promote things that are worse than current offerings - hybrids are probably the worst things on the roads for 99% of the population (I've had a fairly advanced discussion on this with another AW member last year). Scientists are left shaking our heads when some d-bag hits your car with a snowball and comments on your gas guzzling when you're trying to fill up at a gas station.

For the record, may be a bad mood, may just be annoyed at the majority of North Americans who are too dead-brained to do their own research.

in the area where the fans on cars already exist. However this fan harnesses the kinetic energy of the wind that flows into the engine bay while driving, transforming it into electrical energy. Thus, the fan recharges the batteries on the electric car while you drive. You basically would have a car that can be driven for a long time before it needs to be plugged in...in theory anyway.

<ul><li><a href="http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/resources/2007/09/tron.jpg">this</a></li></ul>

Plus the weight of that generator wouldn't help with the range of the electric car.

The one problem with the electric car is range and the speed at which the batteries can charge. These are ideal for folks who need nothing more than a car to get around the city and would then rent a car if they need to travel out of town.

Price needs to be REALLY attractive, but until then, the first couple of years will be sold to early adopters, however, costs should come down over time.

Battery technology IMO still needs to improve - both with regards to capacity and weight. Plus batteries don't last forever, so there's the other environmental impact from the manufacturing and handling and recycling of batteries.

I still swear I'm the only good thing that ever came out of them.

The real future will be fuel cell technology that produces electricity on board. In the meantime, the other pieces of the puzzle can be perfected.

Koz.

They should build it NOW!...with a gas engine. Why save nice designs for the future.

<ul><li><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2008/10/10/rufs-electric-porsche-breaks-cover/">Ruf Electric</a></li></ul>

In the interim there is little hope for Detroit if it is banking its future on electric. They need help now, not in 10 years.

Electric cars are expensive.

Electric cars are being legislated and subsidized into production. This did not happen with the gas powered car. It was popular and became the mode of transportation because it was best for the job.

They are heavy.

I'm waiting too, but in the interim I'll enjoy my gas powered car and ask the government not to put my tax money into forcing me to build them. I'm sure that some time in the future they may be an alternative to the gas powered car but then maybe something else will turn out to be much better.

Building what consumers will want is great and all, but when nobody is buying anything right now and the the product isn't going to be selling enough for years to come, they're basically SOL.

Still, I don't think it's feasible yet to produce hydrogen on a large scale, but it's infrastructure that needs to be built so a lot of investment is required to realize this.

I'm thinking - not in my lifetime.

If I recall, all the added weight up front (the batteries add about 1000 lbs) significantly changed the handling of the car, and not necessarily in a bad way. It was a good start. The 911 is the perfect car to develop a system like this on since Porsche has been trying to compensate for the extreme rear weight bias in this car since before most of us were born. I'm sure Porsche is looking closely at this.

Koz.

However, they do have to show the public that they are preparing for the future if they want to regain our confidence. If they had no plans for the future, they would be well and truly dead.

Koz.

<center><img src="http://wheelsnrevs.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/cadillac-cts-coupe2.jpg"></center><p><ul><li><a href="http://www.thetorquereport.com/2008/01/detroit_2008_cadillac_surprise.html">Click for more info...</a></li></ul>

I think as an interim step towards going electric, do what can be done now to significantly improve fuel mileage, and that's diesel. Consumers have been largely not willing to go to diesel because of "legacy" traits - noisy, stinky and meant for farmers. Price of diesel also needs to be adjusted so it's more aligned with gasoline though that might be difficult to do, otherwise, consumers aren't going to buy into diesel if they see the cost per gallon higher than regular gas.

The Prius and hybrids is nothing more than people driving around these things advertising to people around them that they're "thinking" green. There was a good discussion on this elsewhere about this on how people are trying to make a statement.....

still too wacky and impractical to ever see production. Obviously this happens with exteriors too, and there are cars only ever designed for that futuristic concept approach. But most cars that actually make it over to production retain many of their exterior styling cues, but little, if any, of the corresponding interior cues.

of their cars, and rules of good ergonomics and ease of use can only be stretched so far.

Koz.

Speaking of electric cars...<ul><li><a href="http://www.leftlanenews.com/better-place-partners-with-ontario-to-bring-ev-infrastracture-to-toronto.html">Better Place partners with Ontario to bring EV infrastracture to Toronto</a></li></ul>