CBO: electric cars a waste of money

[DJofSD]

Title says it all.

Read about it here (http://www.businessinsider.com/cbo-electric-cars-are-a-waste-of-money-2012-9)

[HUSKER55]

i don't think government should get involved in business,...of anykind. That definitely includeds the auto industry. They also have no business spending taxpayers dollars on research of any kind either. The little guy nevers sees the benefit.

[DJofSD]

It used to be the business of America was business.

The little guy always sees the benefit. Your life is filled with them.

[ArlJim78]

and Toyota pretty much puts the last nail in the electric car coffin. this guy Takeshi knows what he's talking about. Of course that won't stop our visionary car designers like Obama and Harry Reid from dumping more tax dollars into an empty pit.

Toyota drops plan for widespread sales of electric car (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/toyota-drops-plan-widespread-sales-100914465.html)


"Two years later, there are many difficulties," Takeshi Uchiyamada, Toyota's
vice chairman and the engineer who oversees vehicle development, told reporters on Monday.

By dropping plans for a second electric vehicle in its line-up, Toyota cast
more doubt on an alternative to the combustion engine that has been both lauded
for its oil-saving potential and criticized for its heavy reliance on government
subsidies in key markets like the United States.

"The current capabilities of electric vehicles do not meet society's needs,
whether it may be the distance the cars can run, or the costs, or how it takes a long time to charge," said, Uchiyamada, who spearheaded Toyota's development of the Prius hybrid in the 1990s.

[barn32]

Once electric vehicles are able to achieve ~700 miles to the charge, the electric car becomes a viable transportation alternative.

It seems it's all about the battery. Why aren't the world's most intelligent minds working on this problem? People like Dean Kamen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Kamen) and others of his ilk.

Not only must the electic car achieve a high number of miles to the charge, but it also must come in at around $25,000. Electric cars would also need a "quick charge" feature. In other words, if you are low on power, you could pull into a charging station and in 20 or 30 minutes get 20, 30, 40 or a 50 mile quick charge to get you home. Once these kinds of things are done the electic car begins to take over. The transportation world as we know it would really start to change.

We'll still need gasoline for trucks, planes and trains, etc, but now gas stations would also become "quick charge" stations for those who are low on battery power and need a quick boost (or even a long boost) in order to get back on the road.

In my opinion this is all possible and we just need the right people working on the problem until it's solved. However, it's possible I'm wrong. I had a very bright fellow tell me that it might not be possible. The reason is physics. He didn't have time to elaborate fully, but he implied that because of physics it just might not be possible to generate enough energy from batteries to get the kind of MPC that I'm talking about.

That being said, a friend of mine loves her Prius. She gets 49 miles to the gallon.

[HUSKER55]

THEY ARE NOT FOR EVERYONE. ELECTRIC CARS ARE NOT GOING TO REPLACE GAS POWERED AUTOS. AT LEAST NOT FOR AWHILE. HOWEVER, IF YOU DRIVE LESS THAN 100 MILES A DAY YOU COULD PROBABLY BENEFIT FROM ONE.

[Actor]

THEY ARE NOT FOR EVERYONE. ELECTRIC CARS ARE NOT GOING TO REPLACE GAS POWERED AUTOS. AT LEAST NOT FOR AWHILE. HOWEVER, IF YOU DRIVE LESS THAN 100 MILES A DAY YOU COULD PROBABLY BENEFIT FROM ONE.
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