Recent Comments:
Aptera has some questions for you {Autoblog Green}
Oct 12th 2008 3:18PM IMHO, this is a great new business opportunity; Valet Charging!
For a monthly charge, charging service picks up your car at night while you're snoozing, recharges it, and returns it before you wake up. For extra fee(s), they can even wash and vac it once a week, take it in for service for you, offer you a loaner when yours is in the shop, etc. Maybe even provide you an ICE loaner car when you need to take a long trip.
All it takes is some quantity of BEVs on the road to get it started.
Johnson Controls: electric cars will eventually win out {Autoblog Green}
Oct 10th 2008 5:49AM That was strange, I never clicked on "Add Comment". I was just typing and suddenly the screen refreshed and my comment had added itself!
Any one else experience that?
Johnson Controls: electric cars will eventually win out {Autoblog Green}
Oct 10th 2008 5:47AM New technology batteries can be recharged in 10 minutes, so I don't see why everyone argues that the recharge times are too long. You can't wait for 10 lousy minutes? Maybe you need to slow down the pace of your life a little bit!
AltCar 2008: Details on the MIIN-AER compressed air Porsche Boxster {Autoblog Green}
Sep 28th 2008 2:18AM Using compressed air sounds great at first, but the thermodynamics are all wrong. When you compress a gas it gets hot. You would think the pressure represents the stored energy, and it does, but much of the energy gets lost as heat.
Then, when you release the pressure, it gets cold, losing more energy in the process. It's an easy way to store small amounts of energy, but doesn't work well when you try to store larger amounts. You wind up needing a large air tank, and high pressure, which makes the tank heavy. Also, to charge it up without dedicated "air stations" you need an on board compressor, and to do fast charges you need a very large, heavy compressor. Unlike batteries, which produce nearly constant voltage as they run down, the air pressure changes dramatically as the tank is discharged, making speed control difficult.
So, there are lots of problems with making this work. It is interesting to see people try to solve those problems. The concept is deceptively simple, but the implementation is much more difficult than it first seems.
AltCar 2008: Chris Paine talks "Who Killed?" sequel, coming in 2010 {Autoblog Green}
Sep 27th 2008 2:11PM Toyota sold it's REV4EVs and they don't stock replacement parts for it. Toyota has not gone bankrupt or been thrown into a pit of fire, the world has not stopped turning...
Yet, this argument is always, ALWAYS pulled out as an excuse why GM could not have avoided crushing the EV1s.
BS!
Also, as a first electric car, the whole point was not to make money on it, but to start the process and begin building a market. The first cell phones that cost $1500 didn't make money either, neither did the first big screen TVs that cost $10,000, or the first of just about any new technology. That didn't mean that cell phones were a bad idea, only that further development was needed!
It's only when you get to at least the third generation product in any new technology that you get the volumes up and prices down enough to start making profit.
Toyota Sustainable Mobility Seminar explains where we're at, and it ain't pretty {Autoblog Green}
Sep 24th 2008 6:44AM Peak Oil is here right now.
By 2020, oil consumption in the US will be 30% less than it is now. That will be achieved not by one single silver bullet, but by a combination of changes.
People will drive less. They will drive smaller vehicles. All new vehicles, large and small will get better mileage. Alternative fuels will replace an increasing portion of oil based fuels. Electric vehicles will replace an increasing number of fuel burners. None of these alone can do it, but when combined they will make it happen.
All of these things are achievable. I don't understand people who say it can't be done when we haven't even tried yet!
POLL: Buy a more efficient car to save money or the environment? {Autoblog Green}
Sep 14th 2008 3:07AM How about to save the US Economy? Ok, that falls under "Other Reasons".
The fact is we can drill everywhere in the entire US and we still won't be able to replace all that imported oil. It's a huge transfer of wealth, and we're on the wrong end of it. I'd prefer the future US to be richer, not poorer.
VIDEO: While Top Gear waits, Fifth Gear runs Tesla at Goodwood {Autoblog Green}
Sep 11th 2008 7:01AM You should take your Prius into your local Toyota dealer and ask them to install the horn. It should be covered under warranty because it's supposed to be standard equipment.
Tesla finishes development of new drivetrain, ready to start building real cars {Autoblog Green}
Sep 10th 2008 5:37AM I had contacted the EPA about the fueleconomy.gov site some time ago to ask them why they didn't list the Tesla Roadster.
They replied that it was up to Tesla to send them the information and give them permission to add it, and Tesla hadn't done that.
From the EPA: "It is my understandings that the Tesla Roadster has been certified by the EPA, however, it is up to Tesla to decide when to release the estimates to the public if they intend to release them before the car arrives in showrooms."
I assumed that Tesla wanted to wait because the range/mileage would change slightly with the new drivetrain. Tesla has already had to change their range number several times, with some loss of credibility, so I'm sure they wanted to wait until they had the final numbers.
Now it seems the new drivetrain is finished and higher production numbers are being ramped up, so maybe Tesla will finally post it up on fueleconomy.gov.
How much it will cost to run your electric car {Autoblog Green}
Sep 6th 2008 7:30PM People are comparing the cost of the Tesla with that of a Prius?
Wow, the Prius can do 0-60 in under 4 seconds now? They have made HUGE improvements in performance! I guess I'll have to take another look at Toyota's "supercar".
A Porsche 911 Turbo Convertible costs about $170,000, costs much more in fuel, and much, MUCH more to service. It's a bit closer to the Tesla than the Prius in performance.
