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We had a debate over this topic. I have been getting very interested in tesla and actually feel as though this is a revolution of some kind. I told him it'd be great when we no longer depend on oil from Arab nations. Less politics, less hatred, better future.
His reply was "but where does the electricity come from?" It comes from coal which is an even worse fossil fuel than oil". So in a way you are using more energy than any fossil fuel run vehicle. I didn't say anything.
Sure, you can see an immediate savings at the pump, and your electric bill may not rise to offset that cashflow, but when you consider the other social costs involved as well as the practical limitations they carry with regards to functionality; they are not ready for prime time yet. I hope the technology improves fast, because I think they could be very cool. They just have to be able to compete head to head with the alternatives in all aspects first.
lol @ Social Costs? WTF are you talking about? It isn't like someone looks at your EV and charges you twice as much to park or something.
His reply was "but where does the electricity come from?" It comes from coal which is an even worse fossil fuel than oil". So in a way you are using more energy than any fossil fuel run vehicle. I didn't say anything.
Where I live, 44.8% of our electricity comes from coal followed by 39.9% from nuclear energy.
I agree, it definitely varies by location and there are probably places that use an even greater percentage of coal. It would be interesting to see how the breakdown is trending by location. Is the percentage of electricity generated by coal increasing or decreasing?
Fiat Chrysler CEO doesn't want you to buy its 500e electric car: Here's why
By Joseph Mayton, Tech Times | May 26, 7:44 AMSHARE(41 )TWEET(4 ) 1 COMMENT
Fiat 500e is costing the company too much and their CEO says don't buy it. Based on numbers, he might have a very good reason for such appeal.
(Photo : Fiat)
Electric cars are the thing of the future and Fiat's 500e series has received a lot of hype over the past few months, but the Fiat Chrysler CEO has a different idea and surprisingly isn't interested in people buying the vehicle at the moment. It is a strange happening at Fiat, which has come into the American market on a positive note with solid sellings.
Apparently, despite the positive media coverage of the 500e, the company continues to lose money on the vehicles, prompting CEO Sergio Marchionne to ask people to stop purchasing the vehicle in order for the company to turn the corner on revenue.
He was speaking in Washington and revealed that only California-based electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors is on the profitable side, claiming that state and federal rules* have put a damper on many companies able to compete in the electric market at the present.
"I hope you don't buy it because every time I sell one it costs me $14,000," he said to the audience at the Brookings Institution about the 500e. "I'm honest enough to tell you that."
It appears customers are ready to dole out more money for the car, and even at its over $32,000 price tag is not enough to cover costs. It is not a luxury car like Tesla's and that has made the high price tag for many shy away. It's gasoline run Fiat 500 has excellent gas mileage and is nearly half the electric version at $17,300.
Sales for Fiat Chrysler are down some 15 percent when compared to the previous year, although the company does not reveal the 500e breakdown.
"I will sell the (minimum) of what I need to sell and not one more," Marchionne said of the 500e.
Chrysler received a 2009 financial bailout from the United States after it filed for bankruptcy. And Marchionne argued that if the trends and high cost of electric cars are continued to be pushed upon companies without the market coming around, he warned that another round of bailouts for the auto industry may be needed.
"If we just build those vehicles, we'll be back asking ... in Washington for a second bailout because we'll be bankrupt," Marchionne said of electric cars.
My wife and I discussed buying a EV. She normally stays well within the ranges of those types of vehicles. And I can easily put a solar system in to charge the vehicle
Electric cars are great for certain applications.but the infrastructure for charging them needs to be vastly improved and expanded. At the moment it takes me about 3 minutes to fill my car with gas pay for it and be on my way, electric cars will have to be somewhere under 10 minutes to accomplish a fill up if they are to gain popularity.
I drive less than 10 miles a day so an electric car would be perfect for me,problem is living in an urban environment and relegated to street parking i have no where to plug an electric car.
Also from what i've seen electric cars can be quite expensive to buy.
Electric cars are great for certain applications.but the infrastructure for charging them needs to be vastly improved and expanded. At the moment it takes me about 3 minutes to fill my car with gas pay for it and be on my way, electric cars will have to be somewhere under 10 minutes to accomplish a fill up if they are to gain popularity.
I drive less than 10 miles a day so an electric car would be perfect for me,problem is living in an urban environment and relegated to street parking i have no where to plug an electric car.
Also from what i've seen electric cars can be quite expensive to buy.
In an ICE car you need rapid refill times because you're not refilling at home and you dont' want to refill on a daily basis, so you fill then drive for aweek or two. In an EV you have a "full tank" every morning and don't need to carry a weeks worth of fuel with you to run your 30-40 miles a day.
Now, those without adequate charging at home or at their apartment/condo are definitely left out, but that doesn't make EVS bad to produce for the rest of the people. It's like saying that F350 diesel duallys are bad to produce because not everyone has a need to tow a 6 horse trailer or race car trailer every weekend.
The other week I saw a Nissan Leaf parked out in front of a house with on street parking and he had a long extension cord going from the house out to the car...
Teslas are expensive to buy, but most everything else is leasing in the $199-300 a month range, which is about where normal similarly equipped (or well equipped) compact and mid size sedans are at. So it's not expensive to get into one to commute and run errands with as a primary car, with a gas powered, say, CUV as a second car for bigger errands or longer trips.
Sorry, he's wrong. On many levels. I'm not a liberal, for one, and I have a mostly electric car. Electricity does partially come from coal in many locations, but you use MUCH less energy to run an EV than an ICE, and the EVs are more efficient at using that energy. Plus, electricity also comes from wind, solar, hydro, and nuclear, and many of the coal plants are being converted to run on natural gas.
Centralizing the pollutant source is also much cleaner for the environemtn than burning gasoline in a few million sindividual point locations (individual cars) where the cars are getting dirtier as they get used and get older. EVs tend to get "cleaner" as they age and newer technology comes on line to generate the electricity.
In fact, come to think of it, your landlord is a raging moron. And you can tell him that for me.
So, do you drive an EV?
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