Good New Small Car

[bizorky]

Re: Warranty

Problem with electric cars is that they don’t operate well in cold conditions.

A gasoline fueled car uses a battery and an electric motor to start, otherwise they would have to be hand-cranked.

The truth of the matter is that contemporary automobile technology is senile. There is really nothing new or particularly "advanced" to it all.

As for the hydrogen infrastructure, remember that hydrogen has to be stored under extreme pressure to be viable as a transportable fuel source. Also, to be a viable source of energy, hydrogen has to be extracted by a means that does not use more energy than it will net. Presently, one potential source for hydrogen is natural gas, which is not exactly increasing in availability. And fuel cells themselves will have to be improved considerably before they can find there way into cars.

As for batteries, why is there a persistent belief that somehow this technology just can't be improved when, in fact, battery technology has been advanced?

 

[BrianHawkins1]

Re: Warranty

"As for batteries, why is there a persistent belief that somehow this technology just can't be improved"

I would love to know the answer to this question, as well.

 

[afransen TO]

Re: Warranty

Batteries will improve, but they aren't magic. They can't be quickly "refueled" simply by the nature of the beast... Batteries will always be somewhat heavy.

Oh, and as far as a Prius that can drive 60 km on 30 cents of electricity, sign me up for a billion. It's the world's new miracle car.

 

[cdl42]

Re: Warranty

Hmm... reading in to it on the net, it seems that it's not quite as simple. I was working from memory when I wrote that last post. Apparently the gas engine on a Prius has to kick in at speeds over 35mph, but I wasn't far off with the first 60km running on batteries figure (actually 35mi, which is 56km). It apparently costs 1-2cents per mile to charge, which is more than the 30 cents I stated, but still less than a dollar a day. So you could drive the first 56km of the day (keeping the speed below 56km/h) for less than a buck. Still pretty damn good, if you ask me. With the extra batteries, even at higher speeds and longer distances the "Plug-in Prius" gets over 100 MPG.

It might not be a miracle, but there's no doubt in this mind that this is simply a logical extension of existing technology and something that we might see on the roads in the coming years. Do a Google search, there's a bunch of webpages on the topic. I'm sure one of them would be happy to build a billion of 'em.

 

[bizorky]

Re: Warranty

There is certainly nothing miraculous concerning contemporary gasoline powered vehicles. I don't see why battery powered cars must achieve miracle status to be useful. There are probably a whole range of fleet vehicle uses that could do just fine with battery power.


Following cdl's suggestion, this was my first hit on google:

www.pluginamerica.com/

 

[BuildTO]

More problems cropping up in a car's first model year has been an auto industry certainty for decades. And while overall auto quality has improved immensely, first-model-year glitches remain. You'll get a higher quality vehicle when you wait for a hot, new design to enter its second model year.

The Honda Fit was introduced in June, 2001.