Quote:
Originally Posted by Cbrenthus
I'm not "against" electric, I just think that it is the result of propaganda rather than actual facts. The issues I have with electric cars are:
1. How much energy does it take to charge? I really haven't been able to find this out, but wouldn't want to replace $200 in gas with $300 in electric bills
2. Electricity comes from energy, just like gas. Except for a few wind, solar, nuclear, or water plants, most electricity still comes from carbon based energy, so even though the car may be clean during use, its still creating pollution.
3. What do replacement batteries cost?
4. For the Volt in particular, whatever happened to it being an electric vehicle? I heard all along that it was all electric, but at the last minute, it turns out its a hybrid all along.
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1. I don't have exact figures, but I've heard that - generally speaking - it will be cheaper to use electricity rather than gas. Plus if you have off peak billing from the power company, you can program the Volt to charge when electricity is cheapest. Of course, if everyone goes to electric cars then the cost of electricity will go up...
2. Agreed and people don't seem to realize that 57% of the electricity in the country is coal which is more than any other single source. So yes, you are just moving where the pollutants come out when you use an electric car.
3. I don't know what the batteries for the Volt cost, but for a Civic Hybrid (my friend just had to replace his) it was $20,000. Yes, $20k for a replacement battery. However, the government has mandated that batteries have to be covered by a 10 year warranty from the manufacturer, regardless of use so he did get his free but if you are out of warranty... YIKES
4. I've never heard of the Volt ever being slated to be strictly electric but just because it's a hybrid doesn't mean it is a traditional hybrid. The Volt is 100% electric for the first 40 miles before it kicks on its generator to charge up the battery. So basically it's a series hybrid rather than parallel like the Prius is. This has some obvious advantages, one being that if you commute less than that every day, you won't use a drop of gasoline.