WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR? ——- by Steve Nadis
Around 25 years ago, I wrote a book that argued we needed to rely on renewable energy sources plus conservation to keep the human contribution to global warming to a minimum. The book analyzed transportation options and concluded that electric vehicles were, ultimately, the way to go, being more efficient than hydrogen-fueled vehicles. A decade later, I wrote a book on transportation that perhaps not surprisingly reached a similar conclusion. Around that time, GM was just introducing its flashy new electric vehicle (EV), the Impact, which showed that electric cars could offer very high “performance.”
Last night I saw an interesting documentary, “Who Killed the Electric Car?,” which followed up on this story. GM not only pulled the plug on its EV program, it made a concerted effort to destroy every single Impact ever made, having them all (except for perhaps one that’s now in a museum) crushed and put in a landfill. The movie makes a very convincing case that the automakers, with the help of “big oil,” colluded to kill electric vehicles in the U.S. Instead, Bush and others are now promoting hydrogen vehicles. Why hydrogen, you might ask? The movie concludes that hydrogen is preferable to the industry because it is farther in the future–and ultimately less practical–which makes it less threatening to the powers that be. If this argument is correct, and there is much evidence to support it, one has to conclude that we live in a very sick country indeed.
THAT MOVIE WAS SLICK BULLSHIT PROPOGANDA!!! I saw it. I’ve been part of the Electric Vehicle Society here in New England since 1977. Many companies have offered ‘ground-up’ EVs & EV-modified “Big-3″ & Import gas models over the years, SINCE THE 20s & esp since ~74, and they ALWAYS go out of buisness. Why?
Nobody buys ‘em (or hardly anyone).
WE WOULD HAVE elecric cars all OVER the place IF- they handled, could be speedily “refueled” & had a range even CLOSELY comparable to current gas cars.
They don’t.
Current EVs are like driving around in a car w/ 2 invisible adult passengers in the back seat, a 2X4 under the gas pedal and a TWO gallon gas tank…that has to be filled at Home w/ a straw siphon [s-l-o-w].
Why? ONE word. Batteries.
These chemical/metal hunks are heavy, expensive, environmentally taxing(esp. all the exotic types), & will NEVER (I contend) find their home in any viable widely used electric car of the future.
The solution? Capacitors. Not grandad’s condensors, mind you, but the new super capacitors & their technology being developed right HERE in Boston (M.I.T.) using “nano-tube technology” that promises to easily cram 50 times TODAY’s capacity in the same-size caps of the future.
Wouldn’t it be cool that some HiTech cap Co- like EPCOS- would call the new nano-tube line the “Flux Capacitor”??
Honeycombing & indep. fusing each cell, w/ addressable SCR or MOSFET charge/discharge would keep the pack from blowing itself up..along w/ the occupants. ;)~
And of course, DC-DC conversion would keep the pwr to the motor constant.
But this idea that it’s all a goddamn conspiracy is typical for people, ESP. Americans, it seems. You’d think the Black Helicopters were gonna swoop down & make you hand your registartion over, & Swoosh! off it’s hauled!! Want to go electric yourSELF, Snake? Clik on my link to go to the Homepage of the most popular EV hardware supplying Co. in the U.S.- for MANY years running. The batts are best bought locally (by the pallette) or from Sam’s Club. Typ 6V Golfcart batts X 16 or 20. NickleHydride prices ARE coming down FINALLY, but still much more $$.
By the way- in terms of pennies/mile, it’s less than 1/2 the cost of a gas car(+$50/yr extra tax @ Registration time here in NH- like the olde diesel tax setup).
GM had great hopes, but the needed mass market never materialized. Now there’s a Mtn of used PbAcid batteries in warehouses in the Chicago area from when they were desperatly buying old 1s up a few years back for premium $. & so it goes.
(sorry’boutTheLength)
OK MP, we’ll have to agree to disagree on this one. It’s true, one can debate about whether EVs are or were commercially viable in the current marketplace. But that still doesn’t explain GM’s very suspicious activities — they would not sell the car to people who wanted to buy it. They made everyone who leased the car return it or face prosecution. And then they destroyed every last one of them. Is that how you go about building a market for a car?
Snake, LOLOL
(C last post).
:( Solar Eletric Car Corp. of Melbourne, FL.
Sometimes you amuse me. I always get people riled whove “seen” this movie, when I present the “other info”. FIRST, take all you heard in the movie with a shaker-full of salt. I heard a dozen inaccuracies in the 1st 1/2 of the movie, then I stopped counting. A lot of items presented as fact…WEREN’T.
1st, let me say, I am an advocate for EVs-for a portion of the driving society, typically the short commuter traveller. I am also purchasing an electric motorbike this summer- used- which I hope to convert to NiHydride “D-cell” packs. I am also not a big fan of ANY of the ‘large American car Co.s’(read that TWO ways).
That said, let me counter-argue w/ points you brought up.
GM would of LOVED to have sold 10’s of thousands of the EV1’s. Problem is, very few who were interested in the EV1 were willing to poy up the lease $ once they knew it’s inherent limitations. As Karl Brauer of Edmunds.com wrote,
“There were 5,000 people who expressed interest in an EV1, but when GM called them back and explained that the car cost $299-plus a month to lease, went between 60 and 80 miles on a full charge, and took between 45 minutes and 15 hours to re-charge, very few would commit to leasing one (not too surprising, is it?)”
GM would be shooting themselves in the foot selling a handful, what with the potential to be reverse-engineered for the proprietary tech., esp since they’d spent ~$1 BILlion developing the thing [I concede partly at taxpayer's expense]. I agree they shouldn’t have been crushed, but then I think the PHONE co. crushing all their old equip,incl test equip,is a crying shame.
The movie spoke of “promising new battery technologies.”
Snake, they’ve been promising a breakthru battery since I can REMEMBER & that was the mid ’60s. IT AIN’T GONNA HAPPEN! Atleast nothing environmentally safe enough & Cheap enough production-wise
If you don’t believe me that the general public is not willing to accept the limitations of a current-technology EV, I’ll connect you up with a Dr. Adams of the now defunct
NO connection to the big car co.s & a great guy. Almost worked for him, but they had to file bankrupcy. He has a sad tale I’ve heard WAY too often.
Put some of the blame on all the TV ads touting +200HP & BIG, FAST & RUGGED. (U might use 3 HP pushing a Corrolla @ a constant 50 mph)
And remember, Snake,you can’t walk back to an EV dead on the highway & pour in a can of electricity! :/
Verdict… *BATTERIES —- Guilty
{you Conspiratorial kooks}
MARK MY WORDS> ‘CAPACITOR POWER IN 10-15 years.’
‘Marko Polo’ CET Sr. (BSME 19800, on April 2, 2007.
I wanted to buy a Prius until I got up close and personal with one. Way too small, especially the “hatch” in back. No way I could fit my recycling or my christmas tree in there. Sure you can flatten the backseats, but do I really want a tree or leaf bags in the cabin with me? No, I want them in my trunk! And I hated the way it drove. No acceleration (important here in NJ, Land of The Crazy Drivers). And it handled like one of those peddle cars we had as kids. So I got another Camry. There’s a hybrid Camry but it’s out of my price range. When the prices come down and the design and mechanics improve maybe I’ll reconsider buying a hybird or electric car.
Netscape NEWS FLASH: (well, I’ll BE…)
HIGH COURT REBUKES BUSH ON CAR POLLUTION
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court rebuked the Bush administration Monday for its inaction on global warming in a decision that could lead to more fuel-efficient cars as early as next year. The court, in a 5-4 ruling in its first case on climate change, declared that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are air pollutants under the Clean Air Act. …
**Looks like Bush’ll have t’see t’it that the EPA gets on the ball & cuts dem tailpipe e-mishee-unz!(Chock 1 up for the green States.)
The ruling does not force EPA to take action; let’s hope that comes next. And Roses I too hope the costs of hybrids/EVs come down to more affordable levels.
I’m sure Bush’s EPA is wrangling their hands right about now, under the frustrated scrutiny of the Admin.
Hybrid prices are already starting to tumble, OR :). Wait ’til Sept. They’re currently the best answer, besides auto size/weight reduction recommends from Rocky Mtn Institute (AND Europe!)
EVs are a specific application solution, at best, Snake. Not a panacea for fossil fuel consumption. Just puts the burden on another energy infrastructure (namely, the Grid).
Re:”The Movie”, Please read [y'all!]: <http://blogs.edmunds.com/karl/239>