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Wednesday, July 27, 2011

The problems with electric cars

...are summed up magnificently (and, I might add, hilariously) here at Confederate Yankee:

Several of the biggest obstacles to the wide-spread proliferation of all-electric vehicles—which circa July, 2011 means the Nissan Leaf--are these simple facts:
(1) Battery technology limits range to a maximum of about 50 miles which virtually requires drivers to adopt unrealistic techniques, such as carrying only a driver, little or no cargo, using no accessories—such as air conditioning, radio, turn signals, headlights—that drain electrical power, and accelerating and driving very slowly. Absent such methods, less range is a certainty.
(2) Charging times are excessive. A full charge takes as long as 12 hours, and virtually never less than eight with a fast charger which costs $2000.00, not including installation. And charging times are variable. It's not always exactly eight hours, but virtually never less.
  Read more here. 

2 comments:

  1. You wouldn't want to drive one if you lived in West Virginia because there isn't a single county that isn't hilly and hills would reduce driving range. And you wouldn't want to drive on in even moderate northern Ohio in the winter because they don't have heaters just heated seats and the cold would cut your driving range. They're to damn expensive anyway.

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  2. I didn't realize ALL this. I knew about the under 50 thing, but GEEZ. No heater? No a/c? What states COULD you use them?

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