Detroit Goes for Electric Cars, but Will Drivers? | Hacker News Reader

Detroit Goes for Electric Cars, but Will Drivers?

nytimes.com

2 pointsechair5 comments

Electric cars aren't really worth it until the gas hits the $4-5 mark. Look at the stats, the second the gas prices came down, everyone started buying up the SUVs again

It's only a matter of time until gas goes back up in price. Let's not wait until then to figure out how to make good, efficient cars at a price that people can pay. Even if oil were to stay cheap for years to come, this isn't a problem we can solve at the drop of a hat.

Once the government gets involved in companies, every interest group gets a say in what gets done except for this interest group: the customer.

I see hybrids and diesels as the next step. Most people can afford only one car, and not a $40,000 one at that. A lot of their trips are under 40 miles, but not all, and those that aren't are not always predictable, particularly not with today's hectic schedules.

A hybrid provides some advantage without removing "conveniece" -- which I would argue most consider necessary features. If it is a plug-in hybrid, all the better. Diesel provides higher fuel efficiency and the ability to use a better biofuel than ethanol.

Small cars would provide greater fuel efficiency with existing designs, but I think that, in the absence of STRONG pressure, there is only so small that U.S. drivers will go.

Electric battery exchange would require an entire infrastructure that doesn't exist. And if there is not a single standard, there is no way "gas" stations would manage it. Further, it would be more labor intensive than pulling up to a pump as swiping your card through an electronic reader.

From the U.S. manufacturers in the U.S. market, the hybrid Ford Fusion (I think that is the right model line) is the only viable next-generation vehicle I've seen. Perhaps the hybrid Ford Escape belongs in the grouping, too, although it's absolute fuel economy is not that great. (But if you still insist on something that big and SUV...)

There will always be niche markets. To me, right now it appears the Volt fits into that category, at best. Although the article does mention a small gasoline engine for extended range. This seems to contradict the "all electric" descriptions I've been hearing. Perhaps that changes the game, for the Volt?

The game changer for an all-electric vehicle may be a successful ultra-capacitor design or an electric battery with very rapid recharge. Progress on those things certainly seems to be being made in research.

But pending delivery of that technology, all-electric is NOT the next step. And you need to produce and sell what is the next step; prototypes aren't going to save the company.

I do think all-electric fits very well into a renewable energy, energy independent, environment-preserving future. But we're not there, yet.

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