Why They Try Killing the Electric Car - USA
Posted by admin | Under News Saturday May 15, 2010Sep 2006 Did General Motors deliberately sabotage the marketing of electric cars because they threatened the motor industry? That’s the allegation made in a controversial new documentary. Ten years ago, GM unveiled the EV1 — the first electric car for the mass market. “The EV1 was really special because it was cool and fast and fun to drive,” states former GM marketer Chelsea Sexton. “These cars were so good, they would challenge the status quo of the oil industry.” But despite their popularity among owners, GM quickly pulled the plug on its new product. It claims there was simply no mass market. “You could only go 100 miles before you had to recharge it so had to adapt your lifestyle to meet the needs of the vehicle,” states spokesman Dave Barthmuss. But other workers believe GM never intended the EV1s to work and were more interested in promoting Hummers. “We got indications along the way that they weren’t as sincere as they would have people believe,” states Sexton. All the EV1s had been leased, instead of sold, to their owners. When the leases expired, GM refused to renew them and sent the cars to be crushed. But demand for electric cars keeps on growing. Some enthusiasts have converted their own cars to run on electricity and claim they have invented a battery that will last for 500km. Produced by SBS/Dateline Distributed by Journeyman Pictures
the presidents of gm had dinner with the guy who invented the electric car and diliberately poisoned his food
“USA has some of the largest public transit systems in the world ” … Where????
@joaquinveyron are you kidding… USA has some of the largest public transit systems in the world
GM was worried about being so good that it dumped the EV1?! That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard.
Yeah, I failed that math test because I didn’t want to be too successful in the future. I aspire to file for bankruptcy in the future. Yay.
this woman is annoying and just sounds like a maniac
@TakayaFreeman Who said car companies do not do their research on alternative technologies. Diamler, Honda (who else) did research already in the 80s on fuel cells. (and fuel cells are, of course, no new thing either, as they are now advertised to ignorant customers).
@TakayaFreeman Nothing is easier than fitting an electric engine into a car instead of an ICE. You also save a lot of complex mechanical components such as gearboxes, differentials, transmission systems, etc. but at the risk of repeating myself. The concept of EVs stands and falls with the battery. The point is, they can make a lot of advancements by 100 %, by 200, 300, 400 percent, but then still gasoline will have an advantage of a factor of 50, 30, or 20. compared to batteries.
@TakayaFreeman Regarding the average miles a person uses a car, thyat you indicated with 40 miles a day, is not at all applicable in my case, for instance. For daily commuting I use public means of transportation. (I know this must be an unknown word in the US
). For inter-city trips I use the car (200 miles upwards).
@joaquinveyron C300 = V6, twin turbo-ed Mercedes Benz. European car. That said, I’ll repeat myself again; It’s all dependent upon how a person drives. Some have a lead foot, consuming more gas/electricity, and some really know how to get as many miles out of a gallon/kilowatt.
@joaquinveyron Whoever said electric or hydrogen cars are new obviously have not done their research either. Electric cars have been around a very long time. About around the same time as the gas-powered cars. It’s the advancements that matters. Just because the technology failed due to unmeetable demands last time doesn’t mean it can’t be revisited when the demands can be satisfied.
As for hydrogen, I don’t like the idea. Replacing gasoline with hydrogen is like replacing dynamite with C4
@TakayaFreeman I don’t know what a C300 is. Neither am I interested in what an Australian sheep shagger had done or not, what matters is how a car is driven by an average person under an average condition. I also can drive an Audi A4 TDI for 1400 km with one tank, if I drive very carefully. If I drive my BMW 330d at an average speed of 200 km/h the consumption is 8 l/100 km . Thats ca. 29 mpg.
I would trust VW over GM, considering that most American cars tend to have frequent mechanical failures… As for the Model S, indeed I look forward to see it in action on the streets. What makes it amazing isn’t the range, but a combination of the range and carrying capacity.
@joaquinveyron Is that why someone in Australia was able to go 321 miles on a full charge? Like I said, it’s all about driving habit. For example, when I drive my C300 in a leisurely manner, I can go beyond the quoted mpg. But, if I drive it hurriedly or I decide to race some idiot down a highway, I can knock the mileage to 10-15 less than its quoted mpg. Same idea goes for electric cars, but instead of gas, you’re expending electricity.
@TakayaFreeman Of course, I am pompous, and very righteously. :-). No, just kidding. But I find it very funny that people think that electric or hydrogen cars are completely new inventions. BMW, for instance, already produced in the 90s a hydrogen powered 7 series BMW that had a top speed of 242 km/h. But this didn’t save the world either, as H2 has to be produced by using lots of energy in the first place.
@TakayaFreeman Well, let’s wait when the Model S comes out, and which values it really achieves. I otherwise admire the Tesla company for showing that more progress can be achieved, but yet it is a HUGE diffewrence if you just build a couple of 1000 cars for selected customers or if you are mass manufacturer like GM or VW that produce cars for Mr. Miller and Mr. Smith that must not have malfunctions and have to work under real everyday conditions.
@TakayaFreeman I admit that Top Gear is really not an objective test either, but the actual range of the Tesla is significantly below the range indicated by Tesla. My facts are not outdated In particular, the physical value for the energy/weight ratio for batteries (that’s why the Tesla’s batteries weight 500 kg!!).
@joaquinveyron I’m actually located near China, so importing the batteries from those areas is not as costly. And I do agree that it’s a lot easier to produce an electric car. Or in my case, convert to one. Not to mention that you no longer have to worry about leaks and frequent maintenance.
@joaquinveyron That’s the plan. Tesla Motors has also expressed the desire to build another electric car that’s even cheaper, making it more competitive to a gasoline-powered car.
@joaquinveyron I hope you’re telling the truth regarding not being against the electric car. I also dislike the fact that people talk about topics without knowledge, especially when it’s obvious the research they’re basing their discussion on is from the ’90s. I also agree that the car and oil industries are responsible for hindering the advancements of car technology, as well as customers being the decision makers.
@TakayaFreeman By the way, if you really want to make the electric car happen, then you have to emigrate to China, where the world’s largest battery manufacturer is located (BYD). The whole concept stands and falls with the battteriesThe rest is pretty simple. It is much easier to develop and produce an electric car than a normal gas-powered car with all its complex mechanical components.
@joaquinveyron lol. Pompous, aren’t we? Since you’ve said it yourself, then you are well aware how much nicer it is to start relying on renewable energy.
@TakayaFreeman , And if the Model S is really coming with the advertised features then I indeed say that this will be a real competitor to normal cars. but I still have doubts regarding the indicated range of it. After all a Li-ion-battery has a energy/weight density of ca. 160-180 Wh/kg, whereas gasoline has a density of 18 kWh/kg. Combined with the current high price of batteries, this is the real reasons why it is so difficult to power a mobile electric system.
@joaquinveyron I never said anything about the government, though the statistics did come from one of their departments. As for your coal plants having the same amount of emissions, then it’s sad to hear that. We don’t suffer the same problem. Here in the US, we are strict with emissions as well. In fact, any vehicle imported from other countries MUST pass our tests, but unfortunately, most of them do not.
@TakayaFreeman I am not an enemy of the electric car, but I hate people babbling about this topic without knowledge or any facts. It is not the government or the oil industry that probihite or faciltate the upcoming of electric cars, bubut the car industry and ultimately its customers who decide about a bundle of factors, such as price, looks, consumption, performance, safety, etc.
@joaquinveyron Top Gear has also been proven wrong many times. I love the show. Richard, James and Jeremy are quite entertaining. But, it’s a TV show. They’re not infallible, though they try their best to give good reviews. It doesn’t prevent them from having classing reviews from Top Gear of Australia.