Chode

OK, let's have another go at the concept of the EV1's practicality again, Heinz, yeah, I'm aware of California's solar recharging stations. So what? Just how practical do you think they were? How many cars could they charge in a day? Once again, demonstrating that a given technology is possible is not the same thing as demonstrating that it is practical.

All right, on to batteries. Are there any states left that don't charge a disposal fee when you buy a car battery? Just like a deposit on a pop bottle, you get a refund when you bring the old battery in for proper disposal. You can't buy any device powered by rechargeable batteries that don't include instructions to dispose of them by recycling instead of dumping them in the trash. Finally, there already are companies that do commercial battery recycling, just as there are companies that make a profit scavenging gold and other metals from old computers and electronic equipment.

Heinz, I admire your devotion to solar power, but a discussion of contemporary battery and solar technology isn't relevant to the EV1. It's like saying that the Romans could have built much better ballistas if they had just gone down to the local junkyard and gotten some truck leaf springs to replace the twisted ropes they used for power.

And bry, I have to say I'm forced to disagree on the cat litter issue. I put mine down any gopher or prairie dog hole I find in my yard.

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Sweet!

bruiser

For those who want an electric car, here is one that is on the way.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/auto...html?series=19

heinz57

Chode, I was discussing Solar Power because it is a very promissing energy source. Especially with NanoSolar's new technology. With this kind of technology someone could go to walmart and plug their car in while shopping so that it can charge off of solar panels on the store's roof. If that isn`t practical or efficient... I must not know the definition of those two words.
Exactly! Recycling does exist. Actually, I found some statistics... I cannot seem to remember where, but I can find them for you. They showed how even with COAL POWERPLANTS producing the electricity, the electric car would produce LESS polution than a standard gasoline vehicle.

Monty Python

Pracitcality is not black and white. Too many simple-minded economists believe that if a product is not profitable in a wide-open economic market, it is therefore "impractical".

The entire art of economics is about taking MANY variables into account when making decisions and charting directions into the future.

There are ways to achieve economic viability on products that would otherwise be non-profitable. It happens constantly, all the time in areas such as crop subsidies.

Too many so-called "economic conservatives" get a "PASS" when making simple-minded statements about what the market will and will not bear, as if "the market" were some wild, independent and self-sufficient entity that functins best when left completely alone, when if fact it is actually CREATED by legislation.

Property Rights mean absolutely nothing when you do not imprison those that do not respect them, and a product is worth nothing when a person can kill you for it as easily as pay you. All markets are the result of government intervention.

Most corporate business is the result of another kind of government action as well. The price of oil can fluctuate dramatically based on what the US military does and does not do. How about we allow Iran & Venezuela acquire nuclear weaponry, after all the free market system will eventually sort it all out, right ?

There are numerous ways in which alternative energy and other related technolgoies can develop, and the biggest obstacle to that development are simple-minded conservatives with sophmoric understandings of economic pricipals. That, and they unwillingness of more intelligent people to stick a finger in their face and call them stupid in public.

Chode

Thanks, Monty, for that rambling and largely incoherent and pointless post. Heinz, I'm certainly not saying I'm opposed to the idea of electric vehicles. However, the technologies used in the EV1 weren't practical for mass production from either an economic or technical standpoint. EV1's were two seaters with limited range, low top speed, small cargo capacity, long recharge times, poor reliability, etc. The EV1 just wasn't ever going to be the vehicle to make electric cars a viable means of transport.

And, once again, discussions of current solar power technologies, or any other alternative energy schemes in use now have no relation to the viability of the EV1.

How can I put this simply and succinctly? Hmm. EV1 SUCK. Newer electric vehicle technologies promising, still need work.

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Sweet!

bry623

Thread closed.

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When you fear Sarah, you attack her and try destroy her