Should I get a electric car?
By todster88
@todster88 (61)
United States
August 14, 2011 5:57pm CST
I want to get one because of the cheap fuel, less pollution, and less frequent maintenance, but there short range, they have high sticker prices, and battery uncertainty. What do you think and for people who do ave electric cars how do you like it.
1 person likes this
4 responses
@yogohard (79)
• Italy
6 Oct 11
Elctric car are the future, they have more efficiency, need less maintenance and have also higher performance.
First problem is price wich is too high compared to that of a conventional car.
Second problem but not of minor importance is range, where to recharge and how much time required a full charge.
Good solution in my opinion should be the use of an internal combustion engine to charge the batteries on the go.
That solution resolve second problem in one shot !
On the market there are some car that use "range extended" feature, for example: chevy volt http://www.chevrolet.com/volt-electric-car/ or prototype jaguar cx-75 http://www.jaguar.com/gl/en/about_jaguar/project_c-x75/.
@gocsa666 (128)
• Hungary
8 Oct 11
Really? I haven't heard of a fully electric car yet that can match the performance (speed, torque, etc) of a car that runs on gas. I'm not saying it cannot be true or cannot be done, but as you mentioned, there are definitely problems with those kind of cars at the moment.
Also, it's not really about technology or a state of mind, it's about politics and economics. If anybody thinks oil companies would let us use an electric car which is as efficient as a conventional one, you are sadly mistaken. It just takes innovation and they could probably already make an electric car which is cheaper, more environment friendly and maybe even MORe efficient than a conventional if they wanted to, but they won't for a pretty long time. As long as there's oil, we'll use that.
@yogohard (79)
• Italy
8 Oct 11
Sure electric motor have 90% of efficiency compared to 30% of a heat engine and have also maximum torque available at 0 rpm !
The efficiency is so high that an electric car uses 3 times less energy to move, and only components that needs to be replaced are the tires !
Yes, it's a problem of economic interests, for now they are stronger to keep for as long as possible the old technology but in the future will open new markets and economic interests of electric cars will prevail, hopefully.
@salonga (27775)
• Philippines
19 Aug 11
Electric car? Well, I've been hoping the price of electric car would be more affordable. I hope this would happen if more manufacturers would invest in electric car. Competition will bring the price down I supposed. I agree there could be some downside but manufacturers can always make innovations and improvements to make a better one.
@todster88 (61)
• United States
20 Aug 11
Yeah I guess price is another thing and I really hope it goes down sometime soon!
@kris182_2000 (5454)
• Canada
15 Aug 11
It really depends on which one you wanted to buy.
The problem with electric cars is that there are very few charging stations around yet.
The best car to get I think is the Chevrolet Volt. I believe it's like a hybrid and you can charge it at home.
The batteries are quite expensive to replace, I think they are like $800 each.
I think it would be a smart idea to go with a hybrid-electric vehicle if you're doing highway driving, or an electric car if you're going to be in town, as it does well on shorter trips.
The range on most electric vehicles is 150km I believe I've read recently.
Whatever you decide to get, I'm sure you'll make the right decision.
@olliekobra1 (1825)
•
20 Mar 12
I think the idea behind electric cars is brilliant and the way forward but at the moment the technogoly isnt quiet there yet they take to long to recharge and the battery's dont last long enough. I would be tempted to wait untill the technology is more improved but im also looking to get an electric car.
