Move over Chevy Volt....battery powered Mercedes AA !!!

[bassman]

http://sundown.me.uk/technology/mercedes-aa-class.mp4

[cookiedough]

actually the chevy volt is gas and electric a former high school teacher in our town has one and saw it up close not a bad looking vehicle pretty roomy as well.  She said she loves it. 

all batteries though NOT my cup of tea will not go over 100-150 miles per re-charge or so and that means basically a commuter vehicles is all to work.  Madison WI has those FAST charge stations at some workplaces for 2-3 of those all hybrid electric cars, good idea, but until they make them last MORE mileage between charges,  not going to be in my garage.

In WI cold winters if say gets 100 miles between charges, wanna bet it might not make it back home driving say 74 miles total per day.  My neighbor got to borrow a nissan leaf I think and it barely made it home BEFORE dying was almost on zero percent left driving say 80 miles on a full charge that day.

[Hooter]

Has the electric car ever really caught on?

[Robert]

For all the electric talk they are neither eco friendlier than a regular car nor cheap to run at least the hybrids. Just a thought, if you want ac or heat and have no engine or one that only is on for few moments how to you keep cool or warm? Let that sink in for a moment.

[hubcapsc]

Has the electric car ever really caught on?

Everything electric has caught on with me. The chevy Bolt is supposed to
go 200 miles. That's still barely enough to drive across the state (or the county
if you live in Texas?), and then where do you charge it?

I gave away my Huskvarna chainsaw. I have a high powered electric one now (64 volts, I think).
When it poops out, I pop the battery into the charger and put in the other one and keep going.
Can't quite do that with cars yet. But electric motors are awesome, I think.

-Mike

[Romeo]

Has the electric car ever really caught on?

Everything electric has caught on with me. The chevy Bolt is supposed to
go 200 miles. That's still barely enough to drive across the state (or the county
if you live in Texas?), and then where do you charge it?

I gave away my Huskvarna chainsaw. I have a high powered electric one now (64 volts, I think).
When it poops out, I pop the battery into the charger and put in the other one and keep going.
Can't quite do that with cars yet. But electric motors are awesome, I think.

-Mike

totally agree

[Atl-Jerry]

When I leased my Nissan Leaf in Sept 2014, I regarded these cars a golf carts with air conditioners.  I leased it because it was “free” due to federal and state tax incentives.  The lease terminated in Sept 2016 and I walked away with a new perspective on electric cars and I will own one again. These are well made cars and they are built in Tenn.  With a 100 mile range, the Leaf is an errand car that accounts for the vast majority of our driving.  If you turned on the AC or heat, the calculated range would drop about 10%.  Operating costs are nearly zero.  When I installed my 220V charger I planned to add a meter later so I would know what my recharging costs were.  I couldn’t see any difference in my power bill.  I have a smart meter and I can log into my account and see real time power consumption.  I watched it with the charger connected and without, no difference at all.  In Georgia electric power in produced by coal and nuclear, I enjoyed telling tree-huggers it was a coal powered car. 

The Chevy Bolt has a 238 mile range and Tesla will start building a Model 3 this year that is priced about $35K and a 200+ mile range.  The rapid charge port was a pricy option, $600-$800 if I recall correctly.  I read that extensive use of the rapid charging stations would diminish battery life.  On the north side of Atlanta many office building and shopping centers have charging stations and many are free to use. 

I too have opted for the battery operated lawn tools, got the Kobalt from Lowes.  The chain saw, pole saw, hedgers, blower and string trimmer all use the same battery, charge quickly and seem to run forever on a single charge.  The exception is the string trimmer, I can’t do all my weed eating on a single charge, but I do a lot of weedeating.  Since gas tools require regular trips to the shop to keep them running, they will soon be obsolete with most homeowners.   

[Gavin_Sons]

While i like electric motors, the batteries are still a long ways off to keep anything running for any amount of time. Yes you can operate small tools and lawn equipment for extended periods of time but the car batteries are still years in the future. Until they can make a car that can go 800 miles on a single charge then be able to recharge in 1-2 hours i will not own one. Say you want to go on vacation 1000 miles away. it would take you 4 or 5 days only going 200 miles on a charge then recharging for 8 hours. i want to recharge while i'm eating lunch then be on my way again. The government needs to put more money toward making gas cars get better MPG. there is no reason these new cars cant get 50-60 MPG. But the oil companies own the car market and it takes oil to make these things go.

[The emperor has no clothes]

While i like electric motors, the batteries are still a long ways off to keep anything running for any amount of time. Yes you can operate small tools and lawn equipment for extended periods of time but the car batteries are still years in the future. Until they can make a car that can go 800 miles on a single charge then be able to recharge in 1-2 hours i will not own one. Say you want to go on vacation 1000 miles away. it would take you 4 or 5 days only going 200 miles on a charge then recharging for 8 hours. i want to recharge while i'm eating lunch then be on my way again. The government needs to put more money toward making gas cars get better MPG. there is no reason these new cars cant get 50-60 MPG. But the oil companies own the car market and it takes oil to make these things go.

Sounds like socialism.

[Gavin_Sons]

While i like electric motors, the batteries are still a long ways off to keep anything running for any amount of time. Yes you can operate small tools and lawn equipment for extended periods of time but the car batteries are still years in the future. Until they can make a car that can go 800 miles on a single charge then be able to recharge in 1-2 hours i will not own one. Say you want to go on vacation 1000 miles away. it would take you 4 or 5 days only going 200 miles on a charge then recharging for 8 hours. i want to recharge while i'm eating lunch then be on my way again. The government needs to put more money toward making gas cars get better MPG. there is no reason these new cars cant get 50-60 MPG. But the oil companies own the car market and it takes oil to make these things go.

Sounds like socialism.

how so?

[The emperor has no clothes]

While i like electric motors, the batteries are still a long ways off to keep anything running for any amount of time. Yes you can operate small tools and lawn equipment for extended periods of time but the car batteries are still years in the future. Until they can make a car that can go 800 miles on a single charge then be able to recharge in 1-2 hours i will not own one. Say you want to go on vacation 1000 miles away. it would take you 4 or 5 days only going 200 miles on a charge then recharging for 8 hours. i want to recharge while i'm eating lunch then be on my way again. The government needs to put more money toward making gas cars get better MPG. there is no reason these new cars cant get 50-60 MPG. But the oil companies own the car market and it takes oil to make these things go.

Sounds like socialism.

how so?

Having the government intervene in the free market process.

[Firefighter]

The government causes enough trouble with our cars and fuel already, and needs to get out of the way. The government is why cars are so over priced now. As far as battery cars, if they were profitable, companys would be fighting to build them. No one is talking about the maintenace cost of operating these vehicles.

[Gavin_Sons]

While i like electric motors, the batteries are still a long ways off to keep anything running for any amount of time. Yes you can operate small tools and lawn equipment for extended periods of time but the car batteries are still years in the future. Until they can make a car that can go 800 miles on a single charge then be able to recharge in 1-2 hours i will not own one. Say you want to go on vacation 1000 miles away. it would take you 4 or 5 days only going 200 miles on a charge then recharging for 8 hours. i want to recharge while i'm eating lunch then be on my way again. The government needs to put more money toward making gas cars get better MPG. there is no reason these new cars cant get 50-60 MPG. But the oil companies own the car market and it takes oil to make these things go.

Sounds like socialism.

how so?

Having the government intervene in the free market process.

The government has its hands in everything. EPA says cars are causing too much pollution.  You have to meet these standards to be able to sell in America.  It's because of the government we are bit seeing 50-60 mpg or better.  A local company made an engine that would do over 100 mpg in a heavy duty pickup.  The government paid them to get rid of it because it would bankrupt the oil companies.  I know several engineers that worked on this project.  So don't be telling me it sounds like socialism.  Maybe you don't know how much the government is involved in all of this.

[The emperor has no clothes]

While i like electric motors, the batteries are still a long ways off to keep anything running for any amount of time. Yes you can operate small tools and lawn equipment for extended periods of time but the car batteries are still years in the future. Until they can make a car that can go 800 miles on a single charge then be able to recharge in 1-2 hours i will not own one. Say you want to go on vacation 1000 miles away. it would take you 4 or 5 days only going 200 miles on a charge then recharging for 8 hours. i want to recharge while i'm eating lunch then be on my way again. The government needs to put more money toward making gas cars get better MPG. there is no reason these new cars cant get 50-60 MPG. But the oil companies own the car market and it takes oil to make these things go.

Sounds like socialism.

how so?

Having the government intervene in the free market process.

The government has its hands in everything. EPA says cars are causing too much pollution.  You have to meet these standards to be able to sell in America.  It's because of the government we are bit seeing 50-60 mpg or better.  A local company made an engine that would do over 100 mpg in a heavy duty pickup.  The government paid them to get rid of it because it would bankrupt the oil companies.  I know several engineers that worked on this project.  So don't be telling me it sounds like socialism.  Maybe you don't know how much the government is involved in all of this.

Gavin, I'm in favor of the government intervening for the good of the people. It sounds like you are too. I'm glad you are finally seeing the benefits of Social Democracy.

[cookiedough]

  In Georgia electric power in produced by coal and nuclear, I enjoyed telling tree-huggers it was a coal powered car. 

  The exception is the string trimmer, I can’t do all my weed eating on a single charge, but I do a lot of weedeating.  Since gas tools require regular trips to the shop to keep them running, they will soon be obsolete with most homeowners.   

I have an electric plug in with cord string trimmer had a 5.0 amp weed eater brand that ended its useful life after 10 years or so use actually took it apart once and cleaned the bristles/copper wiring and got another 2-3 years out of it for in-town city lot use.  I have a black and decker grass hog electrical cord plug in now some 8+ years and going fine.  I only do my city lot 100x110' 5-6 times per year but when I do I go to town and do it really low cut to the dirt.  I say for 40 bucks each or so is money well spent.  Now, if I lived in the country,  need a gas string trimmer for sure.  I am 99.99% sure gas tools like string trimmers and roto-tillers will never go obsolete need them for sure for a garden and larger country acreage. 

I doubt a battery operated lawn mower will take off very much ever, need gas to get it done for sure. 

[Gavin_Sons]

While i like electric motors, the batteries are still a long ways off to keep anything running for any amount of time. Yes you can operate small tools and lawn equipment for extended periods of time but the car batteries are still years in the future. Until they can make a car that can go 800 miles on a single charge then be able to recharge in 1-2 hours i will not own one. Say you want to go on vacation 1000 miles away. it would take you 4 or 5 days only going 200 miles on a charge then recharging for 8 hours. i want to recharge while i'm eating lunch then be on my way again. The government needs to put more money toward making gas cars get better MPG. there is no reason these new cars cant get 50-60 MPG. But the oil companies own the car market and it takes oil to make these things go.

Sounds like socialism.

how so?

Having the government intervene in the free market process.

The government has its hands in everything. EPA says cars are causing too much pollution.  You have to meet these standards to be able to sell in America.  It's because of the government we are bit seeing 50-60 mpg or better.  A local company made an engine that would do over 100 mpg in a heavy duty pickup.  The government paid them to get rid of it because it would bankrupt the oil companies.  I know several engineers that worked on this project.  So don't be telling me it sounds like socialism.  Maybe you don't know how much the government is involved in all of this.

Gavin, I'm in favor of the government intervening for the good of the people. It sounds like you are too. I'm glad you are finally seeing the benefits of Social Democracy.

I'm  generally in favor of the government staying the hell out of my life, but if they insist then it should be helping in these areas we discussed. Every car manufacturer  knows they could build cars with great mpg but the government ties their hands

[The emperor has no clothes]

While i like electric motors, the batteries are still a long ways off to keep anything running for any amount of time. Yes you can operate small tools and lawn equipment for extended periods of time but the car batteries are still years in the future. Until they can make a car that can go 800 miles on a single charge then be able to recharge in 1-2 hours i will not own one. Say you want to go on vacation 1000 miles away. it would take you 4 or 5 days only going 200 miles on a charge then recharging for 8 hours. i want to recharge while i'm eating lunch then be on my way again. The government needs to put more money toward making gas cars get better MPG. there is no reason these new cars cant get 50-60 MPG. But the oil companies own the car market and it takes oil to make these things go.

Sounds like socialism.

how so?

Having the government intervene in the free market process.

The government has its hands in everything. EPA says cars are causing too much pollution.  You have to meet these standards to be able to sell in America.  It's because of the government we are bit seeing 50-60 mpg or better.  A local company made an engine that would do over 100 mpg in a heavy duty pickup.  The government paid them to get rid of it because it would bankrupt the oil companies.  I know several engineers that worked on this project.  So don't be telling me it sounds like socialism.  Maybe you don't know how much the government is involved in all of this.

Gavin, I'm in favor of the government intervening for the good of the people. It sounds like you are too. I'm glad you are finally seeing the benefits of Social Democracy.

I'm  generally in favor of the government staying the hell out of my life, but if they insist then it should be helping in these areas we discussed. Every car manufacturer  knows they could build cars with great mpg but the government ties their hands

You may be too young to remember. But there was a time that cars had lousy mpg, polluted like hell, and were unsafe (compared to cars nowadays). It wasn't the government tieing their hands that changed all of that. It was government mandates that changed it. In a perfect world, I'm for the government not getting involved in such things. We are not in a perfect world.