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So all the electric cars plug in and need energy from coal power plants?and we have enough of a problem with not having enough energy and ive read where theyre shutting down some coal plants.So tell me what is the upside of electric cars?
Hmm...I dunno: they say that the manufacturing of those batteries actually leaves a worse carbon and toxic footprint (acid! plastics! Lead! Oh my!) ) than do those gas-powered autos.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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I'll stick with my StealthRabbit
50 mpg since 1976, no OPEC, Dinosaurs, or toxic batteries required
Check your neighbor's Brier patch, Rabbits are Everywhere this time of yr. I have fetched most of mine for under $100 (yes, no-one can have just ONE rabbit )
We made some dandy full electric cars in the 1970's and had a row in the parking lot for recharging...
For designing and manufacturing a cost effective electric OR hybrid vehicle, they ought to ONLY use commercial applications like Taxis' and delivery trucks. Stuff that runs 20 + hrs / day, not 20 minutes
FORGET all these cars..We need to cut spending on military and use that money to RE-design INFRASTRUCTURE !!!
You guys are only tackling SYMPTOMS !...No one likes a sprawl ! No onw wants to be a slave to car insurance, gas and maintenance. No one wants the fatal dangers and accidents that come with a Automobile centered society.
The ROOT of this EVIL is being dependent on CARS and OIL. We need to focus on an infrastructure DESIGNED AROUND WALKING AND BICYCLING PERIOD.
think about how great it would be if you were walking distance from YOUR WORK, YOUR GROCERY and a NICE PARK, plus getting to know your fellow human beings that make up your community.
Even at that their is the battery problems and then the fact that its not a affordable vehicle for the masses. Look at the number of Volts even sheduled to be produced at 40K.
We have a Volt. You can lease a base model for 350 bucks a month. That's an average car payment. We got a loaded one for 450 a month. Hardly breaking the old piggy bank over here.
Our Volt weighs over 3000 lbs and if the electric charge is out and it is running in hybrid mode, we get about 40mpg on the highway.
Not too shabby for a heavy car.
Never tested to see the average mpg in town as we pretty much always run on electric in town.
Our lifetime average (we've had it for a month and a half now) is 101mpg, and that's only so low because we drove it from NJ to NC without charging it.
FORGET all these cars..We need to cut spending on military and use that money to RE-design INFRASTRUCTURE !!!
You guys are only tackling SYMPTOMS !...No one likes a sprawl ! No onw wants to be a slave to car insurance, gas and maintenance. No one wants the fatal dangers and accidents that come with a Automobile centered society.
The ROOT of this EVIL is being dependent on CARS and OIL. We need to focus on an infrastructure DESIGNED AROUND WALKING AND BICYCLING PERIOD.
think about how great it would be if you were walking distance from YOUR WORK, YOUR GROCERY and a NICE PARK, plus getting to know your fellow human beings that make up your community.
That just isn't really going to be a complete solution. I would dare to say most average people LOVE our cars- the freedom and independence they provide is great. And quite frankly our metro areas are not set up to be fully serviced by trains or fully travelled by bicycles because of the fact that they are too spread out- the horse is already out of the barn, you can't just tear down parts of the area and infill all of those people and businesses into the remaining parts. Sure we need that stuff for those that are close enough to be able to do so, but the vast majority of us do need energy solutions for cars- the next fuel, whether it be electric, or something else- because we love our cars and they will never be done away with.
FORGET all these cars..We need to cut spending on military and use that money to RE-design INFRASTRUCTURE !!!
You guys are only tackling SYMPTOMS !...No one likes a sprawl ! No onw wants to be a slave to car insurance, gas and maintenance. No one wants the fatal dangers and accidents that come with a Automobile centered society.
The ROOT of this EVIL is being dependent on CARS and OIL. We need to focus on an infrastructure DESIGNED AROUND WALKING AND BICYCLING PERIOD.
think about how great it would be if you were walking distance from YOUR WORK, YOUR GROCERY and a NICE PARK, plus getting to know your fellow human beings that make up your community.
Maybe "no one wants to be a slave" to things, but if we have freely chosen something which is easily affordable to us and which we deem to be worthwhile to our quality of life, why then we are not a slave to that thing at all. Evil? Oh my goodness! Your ideology concerning a pure way to live and the holier-than-thou attitude make me want to puke. There will always be "fatal dangers and accidents" in life; you can have a fatal accident on a bicycle without even being involved in a collision with a car.
Just to be clear, I do see advantages, both to the individual and to society, to living within walking distance of work and groceries, and I have nothing but respect for those who have re-arranged their lives in order to do that. But the way you have elevated that choice to a moral imperative is more than slightly absurd. As someone else said, after a certain point we can't turn back the clock but must seek small ways to make things better, and that's what this thread is debating (whether electric cars are, or are not, a way to make things better).
think about how great it would be if you were walking distance from YOUR WORK, YOUR GROCERY and a NICE PARK, plus getting to know your fellow human beings that make up your community.
I live in semi rural area and could truthfully say I have 3 of the 4 things you suggest. I work at home so no commute, I have 1.5 acres of nicely cleared land and acres of woods behind my house so I have my own park and there is certainly no nitwit telling me what I can or cannot do in my park. Here's my front yard:
There is about 5 neighbors in walking distance we're friendly with.
Only thing I don't have covered is the groceries but since I have room for nice garden I can provide a lot of vegatables in the summer/fall so in fact I probably have less impact than yourself if you're buying all your groceries.
Anyone ever thought of designing some new roads where an electric car picks the current up from contact points in the pavement?
Sort of like a heavy-duty version of a bumper-car and the road could also be used by normal vehicles as well.
A little on the pricey side, but the investment could pay off some time.
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Spoken like a true zealot!
