Revving up electric cars

Kenny,warwick,ri — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 01:26:20 GMT

Who cares about the money prize....think of your children / grand children of the future.....that is the reward......do you see any other planets like this in our solar system?

Revving up electric cars

John C. , Bethlehem, PA — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 01:38:58 GMT

I predict a $30-40,000 electric car will not be a marketing success. And has anyone figured out how to quench a lithium fire yet? If I had the big dollars, I would go with research on advanced NiMH batteries and get a city electric car on the market pronto. If you could produce one for $12,000 even with a limited speed of 45 mph (not 25 mph like NEVs)you would sell zillions immediately.

Revving up electric cars

J Quinlan — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 01:42:41 GMT

How quickly they all change their minds when the " Political Gun " is put to their heads. McCain wanted no part of alternative energy source funding. Now he's on the band wagon. How convenient. And Obama is apparently held in the pockets of the powerful wrongway, Ethanol Gang !

Revving up electric cars

Tom Swan, Reno,NV — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 01:45:42 GMT

Electric is highly efficient with the right batteries or ultracapacitors. Biofuels still pollute! Hybrids still pollute! Charging an electric at night in your garage sounds awfully inexpensive, and it sounds doable.

Revving up electric cars

Rob Putnam — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 01:47:45 GMT

I'm for Obama, but I like that about McCain. Almost enough to think about voting for him. Energy Security is a HUGE issue that has been ignored by our government for way too long.

Revving up electric cars

Jonathan Williams, Boston, MA — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 01:49:23 GMT

This is an absurd waste of money. The company that develops the "prize winning" technology will be making 100x that amount marketing and selling it. It would make far better sense putting this money into up-front spending for research and development projects (ie. funding innovative research with higher impact potential).

Revving up electric cars

Raymond Curtis, Wartburg, Tn. — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 01:55:47 GMT

I think the government needs to follow the example of Israel on electric cars, - manage the building of a standard car, build the intrastucture and get us out of the gas car business. We have been held hostage to that too long. Israel is doing it. others are following suit. Why can't we?

Revving up electric cars

Doug Fingles, Warner Robins, Georgia — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 01:59:33 GMT

Frankly, I'm willing to put out the $$ if it gets us off of foreign, especially Venezuelan, oil, and get our economy off of the oil speculation rollercoaster. I'm tired of sending our money to dictators so they can hire thugs and buy weapons.

Revving up electric cars

Dale W, Altanta, GA — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 01:59:50 GMT

"If the prize is established, the government might be tying up money without knowing exactly when (or if) it would be paid out."

That's funny. Like the government has a fixed budget that it follows to the penny, never spending more than it has.

Revving up electric cars

Luke — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 02:01:55 GMT

I would rather see this money put to funding research into various green technologies. Electric cars sound great, but if their electricity is coming mostly from coal-fired power plants they aren't exactly "zero emission". The same is true of hydrogen cell technology-- the hydrogen would be generated by electrolysis from water, a process which requires electricity and hence emissios. I am happy to see McCain addressing the issue, but his proposal isn't much good. I'd like to see more details on his proposed cap and trade system-- how high will the cap be? Will he give away free credits to coal and oil companies? Until McCain has answered these questions, Obama retains the edge on this issue (despite his support for ethanol at a time when corn is in great shortage) because of his proposal to double federal funding for green-technology related research.

Revving up electric cars

Winter, Albuquerque, NM — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 02:02:32 GMT

First, if the Volt will cost $40K to make, then it's no wonder GM is in the shape it's in.
Frank may well be right about Li-ion batteries, especially if any of the new manufacturing methods, i.e. nanowire or thin-film, for silicon anodes proves commercially doable.
Ultracapacitors (i.e. electrochemical v. electrolytic, which If I had my druthers would be thetarget technology since they charge quickly and can dump tons of juice into the power train on demand) are largely the fruit of research by Standard Oil dating back to the 60s (golly, wonder whey they didn't work harder to commercialize them? You'd almost think they had a stake in some OTHER energy source.) I don't think they really qualify as "radically new technology", but then nobody's asking me.
As far as the prize goes, who will determine who wins it? If it's going to be some Congressional committee, we might as well burn the money, we'll get more energy out of it.

Revving up electric cars

SJ, Oregon City,OR — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 02:02:49 GMT

CEO of A123 batteries had private meet with George Bush last year to show lithium battery pack that fits in Prius spare tire space and gives it 400 mile @ 60mph range (google A123, killicycle,etc.). What ever happened to that? The techno is HERE, the big boys are covering it up and manuevering to capitalize on it

Revving up electric cars

J. DuPree ,TN — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 02:11:08 GMT

Think of a new way to tie a knot in a string. You get a lot of fancy loops... but it's still just a string with a knot in it. Isn't it time to think beyond the string. Mass transit doesn't have to mean moving a mass of people in the same container to the same place. Don't change the knot ... change the string.

Revving up electric cars

kerry beahrt — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 02:12:00 GMT

GM is NOT developing auto batteries. They are USING them in their upcoming Chevy Volt. The batteries are being developed and will be manufactured by the competitor who wins the battery contract, NOT GM.
GM is an AUTOMOBILE manufacturer, not a battery company. Savvy?? JEEZ!!

Revving up electric cars

Just my thoughts — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 02:12:55 GMT

My thoughts. It took the United States with the direction of Kennedy and the theoretical brawn of NASA to put men in space and on the moon and that was in no way shape or form as important for the United States or the entire planet as getting us off the dependency of oil. We split atoms in the 40's to save thousands of US and Japanese lives. We landed two pieces of machinery on a plant 35 million miles away from Earth and they have surpassed their life expectancy many times over. So to have Mccain give away a prize is to say idiotic. Currently the FCX is built and ready to roll. What needs to be done is the infrastructure for hydrogen needs to be started and started now. Also an air powered car has been invented in France. If we truly truly wanted to. The US has the resources as well as the know how to make this happen. It amazes me that all Congress has done is bring in the heads of the oil company making record profits and just asking them questions. Ok in the Exxon board room the discussion is..you know we are going to get hammered by congress right? The answer yes but that is all that is going to happen. By the time they get the backbone to do anything we will have made an incredible amount of money before it comes to a head, the writing is on the wall for alternative fuels is there lets get as much as we can while we can. It does not take a genius.

Revving up electric cars

Tom , Cameron , Texas — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 02:15:11 GMT

It is past time to move off the standard we have accepeted as OK. The greatest inventions and discoveries have been the result of trying something better or finding a cure. We as a people owe more to mankind and its future. It would be helful, but not neccasary to have a political arena that supports this.

Revving up electric cars

arrfff — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 02:18:35 GMT

toss 'em a bone and let's see what they do with it...it works with packs of dogs, don't it?

Revving up electric cars

Marty, Carson City, NV — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 02:19:20 GMT

Corporations and politicians for some reason don't think of their grandchildren that way. McCain is talking to them in their own language. He is a major party sell-out though, so everything he says to us is meaningless, of course.

Revving up electric cars

Michael, Portland, Oregon — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 02:22:52 GMT

Coming from a Republican? Gimmick...

Revving up electric cars

Eugene, Los Angeles, CA — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 02:30:23 GMT

How can I apply for a government position that will oversee the putting together of a system where electric cars will be the norm? I want to apply for that job, and I can make it happen. It's very easy. Just use common sense and make sure to not get influenced by oil company lobbyists...

Revving up electric cars

Alias Kept, Riverside, Ca — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 02:38:30 GMT

Why doesn't the publishers of these stories do a little home work and find out about the companies like Valence Technology, Austin, Texas, that has off the shelf safe LiPo4 ready to go? They're shipping to commercial fleet manufactures in Europe. There are others too. Do some home work and tell the battery companies stories which are the heart of any hybrid.

Revving up electric cars

Alan Boyle — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 03:00:40 GMT

Yes, Kerry, you're right ... I misspoke when I said that the car companies are scrambling to create better batteries. They're scrambling along with other companies to create better battery systems. For example, there's the (earlier) partnership between GM and A123 to create the Volt's battery system:

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2007/08/gm-and-a123syst.html

Here's an update on the battery issue that indicates GM is still looking at suppliers for the actual production model:

http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=592065

In contrast, Toyota's batteries are said to be made by a company subsidiary, Panasonic EV Energy:

http://www.smartmoney.com/breaking-news/ON/index.cfm?story=ON-20080611-000008-0024

Ford is involved in a joint venture with Johnson Controls-Saft (and several other entities) for the batteries to be used in its test fleet of Escape PHEVs:

http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2008/06/10/089529.html

Chrysler has teamed up with GE for its latest PHEV venture:

http://www.nema.org/media/ind/20080623a.cfm

I rather doubt that any carmaker would simply buy batteries from a supplier for use in a plug-in vehicle. To my mind, it's more likely that there would be a subsidiary relationship (a la Toyota) or a joint venture. However, I have to admit that this isn't my beat ... it's just a "cosmic" interest of mine that I indulge every once in a while. So you probably know more than I do about how these things work.

Revving up electric cars

Ron Schoenherr, Reno , NV — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 03:00:58 GMT

Altairnano has built the siver bullet battery already. They are just waiting for inverstors or the government to recognize what McCain is now articulating and let the economy of scale kick in. Here is a link to their website:
http://www.altairnano.com/markets_energy_systems.html

Revving up electric cars

MJMullinII, Wilburton, OK — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 03:05:32 GMT

Agreed.

It is far easier to clean up a few hundred Power Plants powering a nation full of electric vehicles than it is a few MILLION individual automobiles burning gasoline.

This is not even considering the cost of petroleum.

Revving up electric cars

Rich Horn, Tacoma, WA — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 03:14:53 GMT

GM killed the electric car in California in the 1990s even though the owners loved them because gas was too cheap. No one was allowed to keep a single one. They were destroyed by GM. Now they should call back all the Humvees, Yukons, and other guzzlers to save the planet.

Revving up electric cars

Bart Siegel, Temple Terrace, FL — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 03:15:30 GMT

I like competition. McCain has truly changed the debate. True the potential profit is there, but generally the government is the impediment to real progress. For instance, do you really think it was the car companies, or the government, that makes new products so expensive to bring to market? What about the lawsuits that every manufacturer has to take into consideration with innovation? What about the money companies spend to obtain protectionist laws from politicians? I would love to see a $300,000,000 competition. What a great experiment? At least its a novel approach!

Revving up electric cars

Wayne, Chicago — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 03:25:58 GMT

Where is it in the Constitution that the Federal government has the power to run contests and give away money from the public treasury for prizes? The 10th makes plain that the individual States retained, and so only have, that power.

Revving up electric cars

Alan Boyle — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 03:29:51 GMT

Wayne, that bridge has already been crossed with the DARPA Grand (and Urban) Challenge...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21625291/

... and the NASA Centennial Challenge:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18474732/

I'm not a constitutional lawyer, so I can't help you further on this one.

Revving up electric cars

Charles Biddlecom, Boulder, CO — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 03:31:41 GMT

36 years after the last "oil crisis", US car manufacturers are barely further along at improving fuel efficiency than in 1972. This is the crowd we want to throw subsidies at in order to innovate? I thought GM pretty much put the nail in that coffin with their EV1 debacle. 10 years after the US Prius launch, GM is still studying concepts. I say let business fend for itself. Economic Darwinism is a beautiful thing. Since when should we force any company to innovate? Where is the corporate self-interest in economic survival? Before we start bailing out companies with blank checks and interfering with free market forces, we should take a look at whether these firms are disadvantaged in the marketplace or not. A failed business model is no reason to provide assistance.

Revving up electric cars

Wayne, Chicago — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 03:41:02 GMT

Alan, just because it has been done does not make it constitutional -- to wit, since when are the fundamentals of "true" law based on whatever the Federal government can get away with; and, so, may be used as a precedence to somehow make legitimate that which was not legitimate to begin with?

Revving up electric cars

Will, Chicago IL — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 03:50:02 GMT

Just because it's been done, doesn't mean it's constitutional. If it did, the consitution would be 20,000 pages long and sound suspiciously like a communist manifesto. Most politicians are bad men spending your money. Every dollar they spend costs the people two dollars and the poor much more(inflation tax). Food for thought.

Revving up electric cars

Amy of Illinois — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 03:57:25 GMT

Watch "who killed the electric car". GM had a plug in hybrid in California when the state was mandating a zero emissions car by a date certain. GM put some of these on the market until the automobile dealers could get the emissions mandate overturned at which time each of the plug in hybrids were required to be returned to the dealer or risk penatly of law and destroyed. People who leased the cars begged to buy them but GM wouldn't sell them for any price and wanted to basically erase that the vehicle ever existed. Call me a conspiracy nut but when the oil, insurance and auto industry wants anything done it gets done despite the will of the people. This isn't anything new people. It's just the same old money makers putting the same old carrots in front of us to let us think they are working on the problem while they are really working on ways to squash enthusiasm for changing the way things have been done in their industry. They don't want to change and you can bet if McCain gets elected there won't be any change. Where were these grand ideas of his before today? He's been in government for decades and hasn't effected any real change so why would we think he could as President? Didn't McCain have enough leadership skills to get anyone to follow him? He is a war hero but he is not a leader.

Dont' support the GOP (GAS AND OIL PARTY) for a third consecutive term of "stick it to the people". Get a clue!!!!

Revving up electric cars

J.MANGANO SR. — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 04:07:35 GMT

I THOUGHT GAS WAS CHEAPER THEN ELECTRIC..HOW LONG DOES A NUC.SUB RUN ON ONE CHARGE..MAYBE COME UP WITH SOMETHING IN THAT CAT..SOMETHING THE SIZE OF A SMALL PELLET COULD PROB. FUEL A CAR A LONG TIME..MAKE IT SO YOU CAN TRANSFERE THE PELLET FROM ONE VEHICLE TO ANOTHER WHEN YOU GET RID OF IT..MAYBE IT'S TIME TO WATCH THE "JETSONS"

Revving up electric cars

Mel dallas, TX — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 04:10:01 GMT

a prize for battery innovation?? the innovation isn't the problem its getting car companies to listen. take the 300 mill and put up more alternative energy. if it is 1 mill to put up a windmill for wind energy that's 300 more in the country and that much less coal in the air. we don't need more studies or research. The KNOWLEDGE is there.... use it!!
simple little things that cost little help. for every car bought plant 2 trees. if its a suv plant 10! successful ev trials were 10 years ago...we should have had all that time to perfect the concept instead of crushing the cars. How do we get the car companies to believe we do want evs on the road? I am afraid what happened then will happen again... promised cars will roll out in 2010 lease only the be abruptly "recalled" and crushed.

Revving up electric cars

Jonathan Cohen, Texas City, TX. — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 04:13:12 GMT

the car is already made; it's technology already here..All it needs is my idea to install generators to capture energy from the rotation of the tires, instead of using the small gasoline engine to recharge the batteries...I has 160 horsepower permanant magnet electric motors in each wheel, giving it 640 combined horsepower eliminating internal combustion engine , transmission and bracking system. This car should resupply it's own energy by it's own motion down the road...a small gasoline engine might still be needed to keep power supplied when at stops..

Revving up electric cars

Alan, Palo Alto, CA — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 04:17:06 GMT

I like McCain specifically for this reason. When necessary he will break out of the mold of "Republican vs. Democrat". It should be "America as a country before party" that is something McCain understands in his core. After nearly being killed for this country and being a prisoner for 5 years I think "country before party" is in his bones.

Obama's recent broken-pledge on presidential spending limits. I'm afraid many will be disappointed when they find out thist is just the first of many broken promises from him. The reason Obama is running now is he doesn't have a voting record and he can say what ever he wants on the issues. He is a blank slate, but once you pull back that carefully worded speech and slick presentation to you really know him.

Revving up electric cars

Lisa Meyer, St. Charles, MO — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 04:20:29 GMT

I'm probably way off base here, and as interesting as a concept that this is, I have 6 year old triplets that I drive around in a minivan to have enough space for them and all their gear for sports and dance. What am I and all the other "soccer moms" supposed to do - strap them onto the roof of these tiny little vehicles? I'd love a hybrid or other alternative fuel vehicle in order to do my part to help the environment, but the size of most available isn't feasible for a larger family, and the cost of the ones that are large enough is too prohibitive to even consider. What solution do the politicians have for that?

Revving up electric cars

sammy, toronto, ontario — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 04:43:43 GMT

if government put a 50th of the money they did into hydrogen into batteries we would already have a viable technology. plug ins are exactly what we need fuelled by nuclear power.
its about time for politicians to wake up. great job mccain.
and everyone knows that ethanol is garbage. especially when you look over the live of it, it usually has even greater carbon emissions.

Revving up electric cars

Johnny, Newark, NJ — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 04:48:04 GMT

In order to do these things and stop out dependency on oil, we need to get rid of the oil lobbyists. They are the ones who are holding us back from cutting our dependency on oil.

Revving up electric cars

Ron, Los Angeles — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 04:56:32 GMT

Who is advising John McCain ? Really... all you can do to solve our energy crisis is to offer a 300 million dollar prize. Every day he comes up with a doozy.

Revving up electric cars

Raymond Belanger,lasvegas, NV. — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 05:24:37 GMT

What a can of worms this change-over to battery powered cars is. It's going to cost the The heaviest hitters with the most money to LOSE to come out swinging, It's going to be ugly, and they are already trying to cover their asses with higher then neccessary cost estimates for what it's going to cost you and me, They will try to turn this into a bonanza, like the gold rush, heaven help us, U.S. A.

Revving up electric cars

Delmar Fairchild, Barron, WI — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 05:36:06 GMT

Just some thoughts... There may be some politics in here as I see there are some above who also are critizing politicians and or parties.
1. We need to have a program of getting more oil to the consumer to bring the price down so people can keep the economy going. Keeping the economy going, means we have to have a way to go to work cheaply enough that we can afford to go to work. Why work if it takes a good portion of your pay check to buy gas?
2. As Mr. Obama travels in style -by Jet - (using more fuel on one trip than most people will in their adult life with their car), just to get your vote, he wants "US" to "cut back" on "OUR" use. That means, you will not be able to go on vacation, go visiting grammy if she lives out of town and you might just as well walk to the grocery store with your little red wagon. (and not a station wagon or SUV). While he continues to travel to get your vote and buy his wife those purrty dresses. Oh ya, we can't say anything about her. He will get mad. Sorry.
3. We need more oil for gas and diesel, (FOR NOW), then we need to keep up the alternative fuel R & D process. Mr McCain at least has some type of program to get us to the alternative fuels without breaking our backs.
4. If you think $4.00 gas is high, most countries like China, Iran, Iraq, etc., subsidize gas to their consumers. When we cut back as Mr Obama wants, do you think we will have a surplus of gasoline? I doubt it. If we cut back, the refineries that are overseas and make up a majority of our gas suppliers will either cut back in production, or sell to the other countries willing to spend the subsidized money.
5. Alternative fuels. To use alternative fuels, you will need to "BUY" a vehicle that will use it. Do you think you can convert my ole 1996 Silverado into an electric Hybrid? I think not. Or at least I can't. Bio-Diesel is coming to the neighborhood, but my 1996 truck (20 MPH) and wife's 2005 car (30 MPH) run on gas. To purchase both vehicles that wouldn't get much more milage per gallon than what I get now on Biodiesel, will cost about $50,000. My whole house didn't even cost that much 8 years ago.
A battery-gas hybrid Silverado cost $25,000 today and gets a whopping 20 MPG. Plus I would have to put my snow plow on it and use the electric cut out to run on gas in the winter months while plowing.
6. So if you are a politician that wants my vote, give me enough gas to keep me working (employers too).
Give me more Nuclear power to warm my house and read emails by. Give me solar power (every roof in the west and south should have a panel on it). Give me more wind power.

Here is what Mr. Obama wants to do to change us: Change we can really believe in!!
A. Increase my taxes on my Dividends and from my 401K and IRAs. I don't need them anyway. Give them to someone in the city that wants to take a train to work. I can't have a bus or train in the country anyway.
B. Increase the FICA taxes to 50% so I can't afford to buy fuel, food or clothing and my employer can't afford to keep me working. That way, the people that are going on SSI in 25 years will have something to spend while Mr Obama increases the taxes on the SSI I will get in a few years.
C. Make a two tiered class system. Tax the 2 % rich and give to the 10% poor so the rich pull up stakes and move to a cheaper country. Make sure they take their companies too, so I as a middle class person, I can lose my job and sit on my porch all day and whittle while it falls around my head. Maybe I can qualify for some of that rich man's money. While you're at it, tax the profits of all oil companies. Oh by the way, Coke made more than some oil companies last quarter, so tax them too. They make way too much. Damn greedy Capitalists! How dare they take the risk and get all the gains. Buggers!!!
D. Start using the Race card today, so people pay attention to that and not to the agenda for the America we will be burdened with if he becomes POTUS.

Revving up electric cars

MDH Sacramento California — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 05:58:16 GMT

I agree with Charles in Boulder, Co. to a point. You're right, US automakers have been stepping deeper and deeper into the quickly drying concrete beneath their feet; However, $300M is NOTHING to the US government. (How much did the USS New Hampshire, just launched, cost us?, how much has Iraq cost this nation?) Any "little" incentive helps, and $300M is alot of money to a troubled company like GM or Ford. I think it can only help the task laid at their feet.

Electric is the way to go for many reasons. 1. Infrastructure. Every house/garage has an outlet, and if they don't, they can be installed very cheaply. Apartment parking spaces could have them installed as well. 2. Batteries are (for the most part) cheap, and if millions are made en-masse, they will become even cheaper as free-market forces cause competition. 3. Renewable, free, and clean source of electricity right over our heads. If even 10% of the homes in America installed photovoltaic cell panels on their homes to charge these cars, imagine the savings to not only for the families, but to the enviroment! It would definitely cut down (some) of the need for coal-fired generators. I would support massive gov't subsidies on solar panels (and solar farms in sunny climates) in addition to tax credits for purchasing electric cars.

Hydrogen power is not the answer -not yet anyway; a viable economic version is still decades away (like fusion power) We need something NOW! Even if the technology WAS ready, billions would have to be spent on creating a Hydrogen fueling network across the country, not to mention the fact that gallon for gallon, hydrogen is horribly ineffecient compared to gasoline. Finally, anyone remember the Hindenburg? All those cars with hyrdogen in a big pile-up on I-5? Hazmat teams would have kittens before they would even approach the scene of that accident!

Don't even get me started on this whole ethanol nonsense! What a load of crap! Lets drive the cost of food up EVEN MORE! I would love to see a grain elevator topple onto the knucklehead who came up with that idea! Talk about sticking a knife in an already wounded economy!

Electric car technology is within our grasp. We have the know-how, the reason ($4/gal gas) and now the financial incentive (if its real; i'll believe it when i see it, etc,etc..)We don't have to wait 10-15 years for this hydrogen fantasy! Electric Now!

-this coming from a guy who owns muscle cars from the 60's and 70's -but who would love to drive something daily that cost next to nothing to operate!

Revving up electric cars

Oscar Stilley — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 06:27:15 GMT

Unfortunately, we have a mostly criminal government the principals of which flout the constitution with virtually no threat of punishment. Spending public funds on this project violates the constitution. McCain is just pandering for votes. If we wanted a man who knew and loved the Constitution we should have nominated Ron Paul. Also, $300M is a laughably small sum for the wonderful technology McCain describes. Yes, I am a constitutional lawyer, with more than a few battle scars for the trouble.

Revving up electric cars

Harold D. L. Nixon, Kingston, Ohio — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 10:15:01 GMT

Talk, talk, talk. That's is all we do about the problem. Stop talking and act. Nothing gets done by talking. If I'm not mistaken, either Toyota or Honda just announced they have a small device that extracts hydrogen from water and will move a car along at 30 miles to the gallon of water. The consummer needs to buckle down also and change their transportation habits. It is every bodies problem and everybody has to share the blame for the mess we're in. Stop talking and act.

Revving up electric cars

Melvin Snodgrass — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 10:20:57 GMT

The auto makers can produce a 200 mph car tomorrow with today's technology. Batteries are completely unecessary when you can use carbon fiber flywheels to store the electricity generated by an onboard fuel cell. Make a streamlined body of the car out of carbon fiber, like the military does with jets, and you've get an ultralight, ultra fast, ultra aerodynamic auto. See http://rmi.org and read some of Amory Lovins' white papers if you don't believe me. He had this figured out 10 years ago, when the climate crisis was supposedly debatable. I say keep the powerplant running when the car is parked, sending extra electricity into the parking meter which pays you instead of charging you, and oh look, you've got a decentralized renewable energy grid. Wow, what a lot less pollution. Why didn't idiot John McCain propose that? He'd rather give handouts to the big automakers who are heavily invested in producing rolling oil-burning smokestacks and who finance his campaign. Vote McCain, kill the environment!

Revving up electric cars

G Wood, Windsor, VA — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:27:07 GMT

ZERO emission car? Sounds nice, but right now it does NOT exist in ANY form. At least for now. Plug in electrics still emit carbon and other nasty pollutants and waste byproducts, just not when your using it. When you are charging it where do you think the power comes from? Right now the majority of it comes from a coal burning power plant. Same for hydrogen. How do you think they seperate the hydrogen from the oxygen, with electricity. And every time you make an energy conversion such as burning coal, or separating (making hydrogen), the combining of molecules as in a fuel to make electricity, and the converting of the electricity into motion through a motor, you have waste in the form of heat, which is THE greenhouse issue isn't it? That seems to make hydrogen fuel cells the moste wasteful of all since you have at least 4 energy conversions before the wheels on the car will turn. My personal opinion is that we should be putting the money into solar power and energy storage. The sun will last a lot longer than supplies of coal, oil, or natural gas. And the energy is there for the using, if the big 3, big oil and D.C. will let us. Or will they see to it that we wring out every last drop of petroleum before that happens?

Revving up electric cars

Jim Stewart, Wesley Chapel, FL — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:55:56 GMT

What are we waiting for? Is there a more logical solution to breaking our oil habit? It also puts corn back where it belongs, on the table, world wide.

Revving up electric cars

Mike Shaw Jackson, Michigan — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:14:28 GMT

Prize for batteries doesn't seem good. Tax credit for buying cleaner vehicles is a good plan. If it wasn't for the tax credit I wouldn't be so interested in compressed natural gas vehicles. Please look at CNG combined with a hybrid vehicle. No one sells a hybrid combined with CNG But Honda could combine its Civic hybrid with its Civic cnx and have one now. Compressed natural gas is the answer, not plug in hybrids. Regenerative brakes and shutting off the motor while stopped are good uses for better batteries.

Revving up electric cars

Sam, Atlanta, GA — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:51:54 GMT

GM already has the ability to build affordable electric cars as shown by the EV-1 built in 1997 and showcased in documentary movie "Who Killed The Electric Car?".

Revving up electric cars

Mike, Nashville, TN — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:04:16 GMT

There are probably lots of great technologies already available, but the oil companies are sitting on the patents. This is just a new political tactic to give more money to big oil.

I can hardly wait to see what the big oil companies are going to charge us for refining of hyrogen fuel. If we are already paying $4 for gas, why not charge the same for water.

Revving up electric cars

Barry Hanson, Jacksonville, NC — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:28:48 GMT

You question the constitutionality of the idea, but is it constitutional to take money away from someone who earned it and then give it to someone who didn't? No it is not, but it happens every payday for the working and every 1st and 15th for the lazy.

Revving up electric cars

Rich Cottingham, Toronto — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:43:58 GMT

"Plug-in" electric cars? "Cheap electricity"? LOL
Only if you build more power plants. And when was the last one, exactly?
Oh, and btw, don't build them in *my backyard!

ps: and I just *love the way this brings out the conspiracy nuts!

Revving up electric cars

Conspiracy Theorist, Unknown Location — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:50:13 GMT

Do you think, in fifteen years when we're all driving electric cars, that the U.S. will still be spending hundreds of billion dollars protecting someone else's oil interests on the other side of the world?

The problem with energy independence is that it would be a disaster for the military-industrial-congressional complex. For their profits' sake, we need to be afraid of dictators and lunatics disrupting the global oil supply.

If we let guys like Hugo and Mahmoud become irrelevant, we're not going to need to buy new aircraft carriers to park around every hole in the ground through which we suck crude.

U.S. taxpayers win, but defense contractors lose. And they always have greater lobbying power, so don't expect the whole battery thing to work out anytime soon.

Revving up electric cars

James Jackson, New York — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:57:02 GMT

Nice read. The website your list www.ultracapacitors.org is an interesting read. I never knew this technology was out there. Thanks for letting me know about it.

I also agree that these high oil prices will force the world to rethink vehicles.
JJ

Revving up electric cars

Mike, Amherst NY — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:09:22 GMT

I'm switching from Obama to McCain... we have to stop importing oil, completely. We should export oil, make it worthless and destroy OPEC. Obama just wants to punish companies and investors instead of coming up with ideas to solves this problem once and for all.

Revving up electric cars

James Stepp, Orlando — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:34:43 GMT

I have long believed in the government setting up large cash prizes to direct the market along cleaner lines, as long as it isn't full of loopholes big enough to drive a gas guzzler through. Government is the only entity large enough to have the size of the cash rewards necessary to accomplish these large goals. Use of these prizes will allow the government to steer our country along better paths than would be followed by pure capitalism.

The truth is that with incentives companies are more willing to take these large risks. The auto market is HUGE! It takes a lot of money to provide this kind of market incentive but it moves us as a country towards our common interest goal, the freedom of the automobile without the problems associated with the IC engine.

I think we need to use this concept on other things as well. Have our government set the goal and monetary award for things we need like electric power storage, cleaning the carbon dioxide out of coal stacks cheaply, fresh water retention and utilization efficiency, lowering the cost of Earth to orbit, aging reversal, etc. These are all doable technological bottlenecks that, once solved, will make huge impacts in our lives. Many of these things should be bought outright by the government and the technologies open sourced to the world. This will build good will towards us and will help us by eliminating problems produced in other countries but effect us here, like pollution from coal plants.

Heck, even the government setting national standards designed to make us more energy efficient, simple things like mandating insulation levels in new homes, will go a long way. Anything that makes us more efficient makes us stronger as a country.

Revving up electric cars

Rebecca, Indianapolis, IN — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:01:20 GMT

The technologies we need to free ourselves from fossil fuels have already been invented! We could have started this process 20 or more years ago! Don't kid yourselves! The U.S. invented the technology for the Prius-then sold it for a song to the Japanese! GM invented the EV1-then crushed them- and for what reason? More efficent battery technology has been invented-then sold to the oil industry and SHELVED!!!
The day of the electric automobile is here-powered with wind & solar!! Goodbye coal & oil!

Revving up electric cars

Bubba, Georgia — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:23:54 GMT

McCain's an idiot, and I apply that just to this one issue: does he seriously think no one is working on this problem, and does he think he can force a new breakthrough by throwing money at it? Wow, no wonder they call him the Democrat publican. You can't bribe a rose to bloom or pay a chicken to lay an egg; they come when they are ready.

Revving up electric cars

John Priller — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:26:07 GMT

The reason we have $4.00 a gallon gas in not that we don't have enough oil; its because we don't have enough refining capacity. There hasn't been a new refinery built in this country in over 30 years. Every refinery in the country is working at capacity. If we are to lower the price of gas we must expand our ability to refine trhe oil that we already have.

Revving up electric cars

Patrick, Minneapolis, MN — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:28:24 GMT

Is anyone thinking about how these "plug in" cars are going to get their electricity. It has to come from somewhere. If these types of cars become very popular we are going to have to up the amount of energy that we produce for electricity. Nuclear is the clear choice because it is the cleanest energy source that we currenly can access.

Revving up electric cars

Bill Upland, CA — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:47:47 GMT

The oil companies are trying very hard, at the moment, to hold off Congress' push for "greener" technology, because they're in a pretty tough spot. They have literally billions of dollars invested in exploration R&D, they're preparing to put new production on line, in which they've invested millions. If there is green technology out there that would ultimately obsolesce the oil companies' investments, they're going to want some time to shift their obscenely excessive profits into diversified investments to make sure they're "on board" by the time the green technology "takes off". It would be a shameful catastrophe, after all, if Exxon-Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell and BP were to disappear, due to a lack of customer base for their products. The airline industry and the Air Force should keep them going for awhile. Once green technology has been successfully implemented in land-based vehicles (yes, including 18-wheelers), about the only thing that may still need refined petroleum products will be aircraft. And we may still be using greases, hydraulic fluids and other petroleum-based lubricants. But it won't be at near the volume that we are, currently. And that should bring down the cost of "Jet A" fuel. . . . .at least for awhile.

Revving up electric cars

Rocky Rodrigo, West Babylon, NY — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:52:51 GMT

GM is closing 4 of their plants and gas is over $4/gal for regular. They (GM) had an opportunity to corner a new market for electric cars and they blew it. They didn't allow people to own the cars (EV1) and then tried to destroy the evidence. Their excuse was that they ran ads and there was no consumer demand. Well based on the ads they showed in the late 90's in you could hardly see the car and descriptions were very abstract and vague. Now people are looking for alternatives and turning toward foreign companies for hybrid cars. Good job, GM, way to show good long term business sense

Revving up electric cars

Steve Russell — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:56:32 GMT

Since the only ideas that count are McCain's or Obama's, McCain's idea is the best one so far. Remember, Obama said the Gas Tax Holiday was a gimmick that didn't solve the long term problem, then he said that offshore drilling did not solve the short term problem. Sounds like he is for the status quo -- What a change. Maybe I won't vote Democrat this year.

Revving up electric cars

EGP — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:57:41 GMT

Somebody explain me why in Japan a hybrid car gives you 98 miles per gallon? The same car in USA gives you 46 miles per gallon.

If the Bush family were into the solar power business everything would be way different.

I just want to thank all the people who voted for Bush (twice). Thanks to you guys we are in this mess!!

Revving up electric cars

MARC DORAN TASCOSA, TEXAS — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:32:32 GMT

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO THE "LUXURY TAX." WE COULD USE THE LUXURY TAX ON GAS GUZZLERS, HIGH PRICED CARS, BOATS, PRIVATE PLANES, SUV's, ETC. THEN USE THE TAX MONEY TO DEVELOP PLUG IN CARS OR RETROFIT SERVICE STATIONS, HOME CHARGE SYSTEMS FOR ELECTRIC CARS. THE FINANCING AND IDEAS ARE LIMITLESS.

Revving up electric cars

Edward Campbell, Stae Road, NC — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:39:06 GMT

I really like the idea of rewarding the electric car progress. I believe it is the best thing we can do. Ethanol is just a really bad idea, it makes everything go up in price. I also think fuel cells and storing electricity is the answer.

Revving up electric cars

steve smyth — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:46:15 GMT

to EGP...RE Bush's in the Solar Biz...right on, Dude!Bubbya as Solar Power Ambassador after his escape from the Presidency...whatta concept.
But, first, he's gotta escape from President Daddy's view of OilMantality...neva gonna happen...remember, Howdy Doody was a puppet, and Alfred E. Newman's a grinning idiot...consider the resemblance...
McCain is 'new boss, same as the ol' boss'...no matter what he proposes now!
C'mon, Kids...sharpen up!
Forge Ahead...

Revving up electric cars

Paul Blanchard, Methuen, MA — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:49:00 GMT

There is a technology called Thermal Conversion Process, by a company called Changing World Technologies - www.changingworldtech.com - they can take trash and bio waste and convert it to oil. It is a carbon neutral technology… meaning they recycle carbon from plants and organic waste. While we are all waiting for the plug-ins to get ready, we can reduce foreign use of oil and clean up our dumps at the same time and have the oil we need to continue with our current life style.

Revving up electric cars

David, Seattle, Wash — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:54:37 GMT

SJ, Oregon City,OR asked where A123 is.

A123 is very much alive and well. They are providing the battery and charging systems for the Chevrolet Volt and offering add on kits today for the Prius that up performance to 100 MPG and make it a plug in. The add on kit on the Prius is $10,000 before installation however because economy of scale in production remains a HUGE issue. The system is being test muled right now in King County Washington in a fleet of 13 vehicles. A123 remains a private company funded by a number of different enterprises and will be the exclusive provider of battery technology for General Motors hybrids. Toyota is working with MEI (Panasonic for those in the states) on their lithium-ion battery systems. There is a massive race to deal with scale. The heat/fire risk issue has largely been solved, but it is damn expensive to make the batteries.

Revving up electric cars

Sam, Toledo, Ohio — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:59:22 GMT

We already have the technology for a zero emissions car.

Cut a hole in the floor under the driver's side. Put your bare feet through. Start running.

Yabba-dabba-dooooo!!!

Revving up electric cars

Chevy Volt Fan, NYC, NY — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 17:11:06 GMT

Wow, if 640 miles on a full tank (http://www.chevy-volt.net) does not seal the deal, I don't know what will! Between this and elimination of SUVs from the lineup Chevy might be in good shape by 2010?

Revving up electric cars

HJS, Springfield, IL — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 17:37:18 GMT

I remember the Carter administration pushing almost every week to conserve energy. Turn down the thermostat and put on a sweater. He was lambasted for that. To tell American consumers not to consume is just un-American. Now consumption is an even greater proportion of our economy than in Carter's days, so our government is even less inclined to talk about conservation. After all, it is a personal virtue.

Our politicians talk about the plug in hybrid, the electric car, biofuels, and the such, but all that does is invite people to continue sitting on their hands waiting for the 60, 80, or 100 MPG vehicle. What is not talked about is the fact that 30 MPG would be a vast improvement over what we as a nation are at right now. There are many choices in vehicles that get 30 MPG, it would be a simple thing to cut your gas bill in half by trading in your 15 MPG Yukon or Suburban.

Our average mileage has gone down since the oil shocks of the 70's doubled our average mileage. 20 years of ultra-cheap gas has done this. Consumers were rushing in to buy the biggest and the loudest, and the most intimidating vehicles they could find because mileage was no impediment. And the auto companies gave them exactly what they wanted. But that is what they are supposed to do. Now at $4 per gallon, surprise of all surprises, higher mileage sedans are making a comeback. And the car companies are changing to meet the new demand, just like it should.

If you are one who bought one of those new fangled SUV's in the last 20 years because it was "safer" or "roomier", or it gave you a "better view of the road", or some other PR BS, then YOU are part of the problem, and YOU have to fix it.

Don't like $4 gas? Use less. The government can't make it cheaper, the oil companies can't make it cheaper, OPEC can't make it cheaper, and your local gas station can't make it cheaper. Only YOU can by using less of it. The only reason speculative investing is involved so heavily in oil right now is because it is highly valuable, and in strong demand by YOU. No different than investing in a Babe Ruth baseball card. Hmm...High demand and limited supply = high prices? No, you don't say!

Revving up electric cars

Phil Parmelee, hummelstown, PA — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 17:45:57 GMT

Batteries, fine. But how does the battery disposal function? We seem to be quite good at making messes, but we've proven to be lousy on cleanup. The complete recycle process must be put in place first.

Revving up electric cars

Thomas Jefferson — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 17:48:37 GMT

Here's a waste of money: Iraq.

Revving up electric cars

Dave Roberts — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:01:58 GMT

Forget hybrids and alternative fuel vehicles, all-electric is the smart way to go, even with current battery technology.

We don't have to wait until battery technology is improved or standardized. Right now, even with current battery technology, you could plug-in and recharge your batteries at home or anywhere there is an outlet.

Right now many cities already have electric trolly service with overhead power lines, just put a meter and contacts on an electric car. You could drive around the city and charge your batteries at the same time.

We won't need to build expensive alternative fuel manufacturing and delivery systems (hydrogen, bio-fuel etc.), just greener power plants (nuclear) to deliver electricity to overhead or in-road power lines (power roads) and charging stations for your electric car. You would only need the batteries for off-grid travel.

Revving up electric cars

James Felder, Cleveland Ohio — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:04:53 GMT

I don't get the push for hydrogen fuel cell cars. I heard a review of the new Honda and how wonderful they are since they are zero emission and just make 'a little water'. What a load of crap. Fuel cells aren't zero emission unless all the electricity to make the Hydrogen came from a zero-CO2 source. In this country that simply isn't the case. Alternately you can get Hydrogen using steam reformation of Methane (CH4 + 2 H2O -> 4 H2 + CO2), but is still producing CO2 and you loose some of the energy in the Methane.
And Hydrogen fuel cells are at best 50% efficient, so you are throwing away half of the energy in the Hydrogen so that you can turn the other half back into electicity to turn the electric motor propelling the car.
Basically a Hydrogen fuel cell powered electric car is a great way to take a 100 units of electrical energy and turn it into 75 units of waste heat and 25 units of electricity!
Oh, and you can't carry much Hydrogen because it is such low density, we don't have any infrastructure to deliver it and Hydrogen isn't the safest stuff in the world (though to be fair neither is gasoline).
Going from a petro to hydrogen based transportation system sound like going from the frying pan into the fire situation to me.
Much better, IMHO, is battery electric. Electrical transmission, battery recharging/dischargin and electric motor efficiencies are all in the 90+ range, meaning that once you have generated the electricity little of it is wasted in getting that energy to where it actually makes the wheels go round and round (the real point of the whole process after all). Plus a battery electric car doesn't care what the original power source was. Sure it could have been coal, but it also could have been solar or nuclear or wave power. Once we decouple the energy use from the energy generation, we have freedom to explore and build out different generation technologies. With gas or diesel/biodiesel or ethanol you are stuck with the one energy source for the life of the vehicle.

Revving up electric cars

James Felder, Cleveland Ohio — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:17:15 GMT

Phil from Hummelstown says - "Batteries, fine. But how does the battery disposal function? We seem to be quite good at making messes, but we've proven to be lousy on cleanup. The complete recycle process must be put in place first."

These battery packs aren't just 4 dead AAs that just get pitched into the trash because it is way to much effort to try to recycle them. The Lithium and other materials in these batteries are still just as good and just as valuable as ever. It is just that the internal structure has broken down so they won't hold a charge. You see it already with lead-acid car batteries. None of these are thrown in the trash. The lead in this is simply to valuable to do something that dumb. Sears isn't doing you any favors when they take your old dead Diehard off your hands.

Revving up electric cars

Ted — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:51:33 GMT

Instead of having to pioneer electric cars, why don't we begin converting our gasoline engines to natural gas, propane. The conversion from a normal gas engine is minimal and we sit on the largest reserves of natural gas in the world if you believe our scientists. Manufactures would only have to change the carborators and gas tanks and not much else of their production lines so they should be able to produce them in a short period of time. Performance is the same as a gasoline engines. Lets start by mandating all city, state and federal vehicles to convert as a starter to prove the concept.

Revving up electric cars

Jerry, Carthage, MO — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:30:49 GMT

I don't understand why we don't already have solar/hydrogen hybrid vehicles. How hard would it be to make a hydrogen fuel cell and create the hydrogen onboard from a solar panel and some water. Solar panels are coming way down in price and becoming evermore efficient.

Just think, your car would be recharging in the sun while you are at work, plus you would have the solar energy to use while driving in addition to the hydrogen.

I am convinced that the entire solution to our energy woes is solar power. Every last bit of energy on earth can be traced back to the sun, so why not just capture it before it goes through all of the other crap and make efficient use of it immediately.

The problem with most batteries is that the materials used to make them will eventually become scarce, while hydrogen will likely never become scarce. And, since hydrogen is an energy carrier, ie a battery, we should start using it immediately and in so doing work to perfect our use of it.

Revving up electric cars

George, Hazlet, New Jersey — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:40:13 GMT

I am sick and tired about all of the hype of electric motors, hydrogen powered cars, air cars, etc. 30 years ago during the last oil crisis, I sat down and invented and electric motor that operated on dc from car batteries. The motor eliminated back EMF and captured return energy from the coils in the motor. Back then, this motor would allow a car using old fashioned lead acid batteries to travel over 300 miles. Well to make a long story short, I filed for a patent for the new motor and controller. I was sure that every american would be driving an electric car that could go 300 miles or more on a charge. After one year, I received a letter for the patent office that contained a patent issued one year before my submission. This patent was so similiar to mine I gave up and sued the patent attorney. My idea used a electronic controller, the motor size was to be 20HP, with a splined drive so they could be manufactured very cheaply and ganged for more horspower. In this manner you could have anywhere from 20 to 100HP to drive the car. I did sue the attotney and won my case in court because the attorney failed to properly search the patent office. I must say when I invented the motor, I alos applied for a government grant and was 2/3rds the way through and was told that a Japanese motor was more promising. Well, here it is 30 years later and no has still to come up with my idea, if fact, the other motor is still in the patent office. I think instead of investing in so many forms of research, the companies would do a lot better in spending some time in the patent office. The inventions are there for the waiting.I would bet the energy saving motor applied to todays batteries would probably have a range closer to 500 miles. oh, by the way, when i recieved the other man's patent copy, I called his home. He died the day before and did leave three working motors in his garage. I did not follow up. The Government had a shot at it 30 years ago for a song.

Revving up electric cars

Mike, Summerland, CA — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:01:26 GMT

People need to pay better attention to what's going on out there. Chrysler already demonstrated three concept vehicles that get a minimum of 125 mpg (or the equivalent). Google the Jeep Renegade and you can find the video of the concepts. The technology is already there, they just need to do it.

Revving up electric cars

Luke — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:49:06 GMT

Plug-in's are the future. Can't wait to get my first plug-in prius. We should use the money we save in health care costs from less pollution in our cities (10 billion?) to give rebates to electric car buyers. Or how bout the money we save from not having to attack companies for oil. We could be totatally sustainalbe and self-sufficient in 10 years if we would just direct our war funds into energy independance and renewable R&D!

Revving up electric cars

John, Council Bluffs, IA — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:55:31 GMT

I don't think the "prize" is going to do a darn thing. Car manufacturers build cars and trucks optimized for making them money, and until standards are changed, they will continue doing the minimum they can. Iceland is going Hydrogen --- totally, the whole country! Hydrogen is much safer than gasoline in an accident. I know someone said it was dangerous, but the people who died in the Hindenburg FELL to their deaths, and didn't burn up in the flames. Hydrogen can be easily produced, somewhat cheaply from water, even in your own home. The only downside is the control of the water vapor freezing on the road, but that can be prevented with a recovery gizmo. Now that storage vessels for Hydrogen have been developed, I don't see why there is not more of a move by the govenment to do a few studies on how we could convert the country to Hydrogen - perhaps by financing refueling stations and making some plans on how it could be done. Simply saying we "need a solution" isn't going to help if the people voting on technology in congress, don't even understand that spam should be illegal, let alone face the obvious truth that scientists more than they do.
We could effectively convert to Hydrogen in less than 5 years, but it will take congress at least 10 years to figure out that this is the fate of the world we are playing with, and if they don't fix it NOW, you are looking at climatic disaster of a scale that cannot be reversed.

Revving up electric cars

Shawn Adamick, The Woodlands, TX — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:25:19 GMT

A combo electric/hydrogen economy is the way to go. You can generate hydrogen using solar generated eletricity to crack the hydrogen from water. You could do this at home or a fueling station could do it on site. The hydrogen becomes the storage mechanism instead of batteries. Contrary to popular belief Hydrogen does not explode like you might think it's lighter than air and flames head straight up if there's a leak. Think about the old flaming Hindenberg footage -- it did not go up like a A-bomb and level everything on the ground below it (and that was a LOT of hydrogen). Gasoline/ethanol is way more explosive. The Honda folks are trying to set the hydrogen safety record straight with their training video for the Clarity.

Revving up electric cars

Delmar Fairchild, Barron, WI — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:48:09 GMT

1. LUXURY TAX: Carter had the Luxury tax and put millions of people out of work when the consumer wouldn't buy the product anymore due to the higher price. The company I work for lost almost a million dollars to a customer that couldn't pay their debt. When Reagan got in he put everyone back to work with tax cuts, we recovered a good portion of the lost revenue. That was the year I turned Republican. I had a new wife and couple of baby boys to worry about and lived off the land as there were no good jobs available.
2. BATTERY OPERATED CARS: Batteries need to be charged with electricity. Most places, especially in California have brown outs due to not enough juice to supply just the ordinary home and business, especially during peak demands. We need more Nuclear, Coal and Natural gas fired plants on line to allow battery operated cars.
3. LEADERSHIP: There is no leadership in Washington. Washington is broken down into two elements fighting each other for power. (Wrong kind of power, nothing we can plug our cars into). Those that want to control your life from cradle to grave and those that believe you can do a lot on your own. (Just give us a job and good pay). Mr. McCain is the only one that can get the business people to work together with the government for the common good. He has shown to work both sides of the aisle and can do a good job. Incentives are great, tax reduction is great, but we need a leader that believes in keeping the economy going strong with cheap fuel and then put in alternative fuel goals and acccountability to achieve those goals. We need to declare an ENERGY WAR and get more fuel on the market in one (1) year. He can do that. Our country can do that. This would create more jobs.
4. SELF SUFFICIENCY: We need to be self sufficient in our energy. However and this is a big however, as someone above suggested otherwise, we can not have our oil producing enemies be irrelevant to us. Once we think our enemies are irrelevant, we will find a mushroom cloud where the sun should be some morning. We won't have to fight for the oil anymore, but we would need to keep a close eye on people hell bent to destroy us. This war with Radical Islamist extremism is far from over. If you think it is over when we leave Iraq and Afganistan, you are in for a rude awakening.
5. CHINA: We must work closely with China and keep a close eye on her. They and Japan own most of our debt. After the Summer Olympics, China will take away some of the growth in their country and could create a world wide depression. That is why we need to keep Americans working with more oil products today and work on getting the alternatives on line in the shortest possible time. Now is not the time to cut back on oil consumption and go into a recession. It is too hard to come out of one.
6. ENVIRONMENT: Ole Mother Earth will take care of herself in the long run. We are coming out of an Ice Age which means we are in a warming period. This happens periodically over many centuries and we will be going back into an Ice Age again. She will be alright even if we put more Carbon into the air, as long as we find alternative non carbon fuels along the way. Why is it that we think that we can control nature? We can only live with nature. If she over produces water, we need to move to higher ground or build on stilts. We could be gone for no reason of our own in a matter of days if we had a super volcano (Yellowstone), a meteor of comet stike (Dinosaurs), or even a direct sun burst in our direction from 8,000 light years away as suggested in an article in these web sites.
The bottom line is fuel. Let's get more of it. Any kind as long as it is fuel and less expensive than it is now.

Revving up electric cars

william, Panama City Florida — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:34:59 GMT

Ok at the risk of making everyone angry who wants to jump on the soap box and complain about which politician is doing what and how wrong it is. Let’s get to the point people of this country can’t afford to fuel their vehicles and do other things like vacations pay rent and or say eat. There is no big silver bullet that’s going to fix this we need a short term fix and a long term solution.

1st we need to address the cost of fuel in this country, and for the record I could care less how much it costs in Europe or china I don’t live their and nothing personal to those who do I am sure it’s a nice place to live. But a year ago the cost of fuel was half of what it is today give or take a few pennies so in one year the price of fuel has doubled in a normal world most of us live in, if something we bought all the time doubled in price we would look for something else to replace it. Sadly with Gas theirs nothing to replace it so the normal rules of a capitalist society don’t apply. Why go after the Oil Company’s did they force us to buy the SUV’s and trucks that get 15mpg’s no they did not. Sure are they crooks I would say so but did they do anything illegal I don’t see any laws broken and if making huge sum’s of money by selling a product that everyone wants is wrong then we better start arresting lots of people.

So now here is the tuff question do we sacrifice the future to protect the present? I would say next time you run across a small child say around the age of 2 or 3 years old and say sorry bud no clean air or water for you when you’re my age and don’t worry about driving to work the water level from the oceans will be so high you can take a boat but you might need a ore because the price of gas will be 50$ a gallon. For those of you that laughed at that statement just now you really need to take a good long look around at the state of things and ask how long until what I just said will come to pass.

2nd generating cheap clean energy is very easy in this country. There are so many different ways and if we as a whole nation put our minds and hearts into it we could build a national grid using nuclear, solar, wind, hydro, and clean burning coal power sources to make a power grid for electric vehicles that would easily give us a dollar to mile rate of 30 cent.

The goal of our nation should be to make an electric car that can recharge in 5 to 10 min’s and have a travel range of no less then 500 miles per charge. With a top speed of 120mph with the option to sit 4 adults with leg room and a 350-400 mile range for a vehicle that could seat up to 6 adults for those big families. The power grid should be placed under ground as to limit the effects of weather where it can be. Imagine a city or town with no over head lines any where.

It is time we as a nation told out leadership this is what we want and if you don’t start working toward this goal then next year you will be standing next to us in the unemployment line.

Thank you for letting me stand on your soap box for a little bit. God bless and good luck at the pumps we will all need it.

Revving up electric cars

Cliff, New Mexico — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 23:21:42 GMT

I love that Melvin Snodgrass use flywheels. ha that is funny. Flywheels is a fairytale created by geeks in there parents basements. You can say their technology out there, but have absolutely no prof. Ever watch that funny show called Mythbusters (I think they even tried to create a flywheel), But what they prove is dont believe everything you hear

Revving up electric cars

Thomas Ashby, Calgary — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 01:25:13 GMT

In reality it will be LONG time before this technology has any real positive effect on the environment. Take a good look around, the average age of a vehicle is like 8 years old. This eans most can't afford new efficient cars in any way shape or form. Companies too just want the bottom line which makes diesel efficency something akin to science fiction.

Revving up electric cars

john doe, Reno — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 01:34:38 GMT

Prizes for invention? Have we abandoned free market capitalism that allows people to make money from inventing and selling things? How about not punishing people who get rich with high taxes, and instead allow people to keep what they earn when they provide something, like batteries, that the market needs.

Revving up electric cars

Leo K. Reed sr, Medford, Oregon — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 05:22:44 GMT

The electric car concept has been around for a long time. It is the extension cord that perplexed them.
Some people can't think very deep. Like the corporations that have so much to gain ...or lose. This is not about "how to influence your congressmen in short college course dot nature". Everyone knows how that works. And everyone has to have money. It is just that it is so ... Easy ... to want more ... even more than we need. Especially when no one is looking. We have gone through Several types of dynasties. And it seems like that is beside the issue at hand. People have to universally grasp that. The Corporation is nothing more that of Kings at one time ... or comunism ... or England's Religous method's or France or China or any of the other historical methods of managing people and you getting the proceeds. Politics and Economics can not be seen as separate kinds of government. Religion is the 3rd part of philosophy and that is being tossed around very much lately. Philosophy 101 can straighten that out for everyone. Pol + Eco + Rel = Ph. You can not talk at length about one w/o the other two. You cannot!
When you take away transportation devices ... you are taking the candy out of the babies mouth. Corporations will adjust as much as possible as long as money is still flowing in their direction. The general populace will go along with it as long as it is rationally sweet to them. Even if it does not make sense. But what we are leaving out is that our political figures lives are at stake here. So we have been going around in circles long enough to topple a dynasty. The republicans said that there was no Green issue. And they have exponetially more money than democrats do any time of the day.
Here is the problem: How do you turn around a World wide Civilization concept and stay on your feet. It is not going to happen. There will be world wide war ultimately. And we are not talking about one like anyone has already experienced.
Having a credible concept that will change the cards in people's hands so that everyone wins is not acceptable.
Even I knew how to run a car on Hydrogen decades ago. The Proton and the Electron work together. Thinking about and ... indeed, fighting about it ... is a childhood image.
Hydrogen is the fuel (proton) that we need. Good morning to those who have not known that since the 50's. Gasolene is the proton stuff. So is all the other things talked about ... like corn or any other plant life. Hydrogen is almost what life is made of. And where H+ is ... there goes the electron ... pulling through the coils of the wheels of Industry or Travel Toys. Everyone is talking "Electrons" and not seeing the Hydrogen half of the picture. Stop it!! Harnesing Hydrogen (the proton) has been the study of scientists back to the 50's as said. Storing subzero temp hydrogen molecules was a critical problem and that too has been resolved.
Finding a realistic source of Hydrogen has been answered in the last 40 or so years. And it has been suppressed by the existing political entities who get "funds" for this or that. And we know where funds come from. Everyone in the Stock Market. Some of that money trail extends through the economical parties to the political people.
But the good news could not be suppressed forever ... even though vilens have done so all the way through their lives.
Thanks to the world wide effort ... there is a selection of methods that will work for the electron part.
Thanks to the world wide effort ... and to God there is a tool that will provide free hydrogen. Two plant forms, the alderwood tree and the clover plant. No doubt there are many others. Genetic engineering will double and redouble the output of free hydrogen). We have Frankia alni from the Alder and from the legumes we have rhyzobium. There are others for sure. But these 2 absorb nitrogen and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and combine them to make Nitrate (which the plant needs) and free oxygen molecules ... releasing three hydrogen molecules (a hydrogen molecule = 2 hydrogen atoms) with every reaction. Plants need the carbon and the oxygen and not the hydrogen.
Indeed, much the same way that cars need gasolene and only take out the hydrogen and expell the Carbon via carbon monoxide and other poisons.
We can also thank the Japanese (and others ... even right here in America) for the development of cars that will take hydrogen and developing methods of STORAGE (very technical) and conversion to make electricity for the motor/generator in the wheels move the car. The storage is a story in itself... as is the kind of metals and other materials used to handle extreme subzero temperatures.
Then there is the issue of where are you going to find a hydrogen station like you find a gas station. The "you can't have one without the other" song plays a big part in the success of conversion. That is why Calif mandated such a development. Fact is, that if those stations do not get into the picture ... they are going to be out of pictures altogether.
Genetic Engineering is going to be the factor that makes it all possible. When Hydrogen production plants are redeveloped to give twice as much or 4 times as much by just changing or "tweeking the chromosomes" as such and then turning lose again ... we may have too much hydrogen (which will imediately rise to the outer atmosphere).
Science has been there with the answers. Politics and Economic Special Interests are the only things holding up the program. Where is your stock plan. It might be good to move it from the oil companies and put it into this obvious program where Hydrogen will be bought for 29 cents a gallon. Well maybe 39 cents a gallon. Hydrogen is the most available gas of the Universe ...and that is a big place. We are not going to run out of Hydrogen.
I won't get started on the electric side of this equation. There are marvelous things happening there too. All things have been happening for several decades and just as much ignored as the rest to support things as they are ... rather than change as soon as possible. Beautiful things and potentials we use to only dream possible.
Unfortunately, people want to know how to invest in this rather than work into it. Investors are the biggest obstacle of this dispensation. They do more to stand in the way than to roll up their sleeves and ask what they can do. Now if they came up and asked "How can I help" ... that would be different. We would all be driving pollution free, virtual cost free, state of the art, attractive vehicles that are silent, smooth and problem free with fuel found flowing from the faucet. That is not a dream. The dream was had almost a century ago. Energy is and always has been the issue of everyone. We have to have it to survive. We need to stop trying to corner it to ourselves to make us each independently wealthy. If it weren't for the obstacle of the Stock Market ... it would have been done already a century ago. People need to work with each other ... not against each other showing who has the most money.

Revving up electric cars

CM, Modesto, CA — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 08:31:38 GMT

The Progressive Automotive X Prize has great promise, as it sets a goal of high efficiency cars that are practical and can be mass produced at a reasonable cost. To win, the contestants have to show a business plan for production as well as demonstrate high efficiency and reasonable performance, but they can use any technology that works to meet their goal. Best of all, it isn't government funded, thus no political manipulations involved.

The H Prize, on the other hand, insists that Hydrogen must be the answer, in spite of the high cost of H2 fuel, the higher cost of H2 storage, and the absurdly high price of H2 fuel cells. H2 is also less efficient than batteries, the overall combined efficiency of electrolysis, compression for storage, and fuel cell is only 24%. Compare that with 85% efficiency for charger and batteries - battery electric cars use 1/3 the electricity to drive the same distance as a H2 fuel cell car. So why is the government pushing the more expensive less efficient option? Because the oil companies are the biggest producers of H2, they have the cheapest sources of H2, and they intend to sell you expensive H2 fuel when the oil runs low.

McCain can only propose a federal funded prize program to congress, all spending and revenue bills must originate in the House of Representatives. But anyone can propose a similar program to their Representative, if you have a better idea, feel free to tell your congressman. Congress can spend money on whatever it wants, as long as the bill authorizing the expenditure originates in the House and is approved by the Senate and the President, it is constitutional. I'm afraid some people haven't read the constitution but base their constitutional opinion on rumors and punditry.

John C: We put out lithium fires the same way we put out any metal fire, using dry chemical or CO2 extinguishers. Of course, it is better to prevent fires in the first place, and several companies have been developing ways to keep LiIon batteries safe.

SJ: A123 has merged with HyMotion to make plug-in upgrades for certain hybrids, including the Prius and the Ford Escape hybrid. They are available now, though currently the price is still high.

Ron Schoenherr: The Altairnano battery is high powered, very durable and long lived, but it is also very expensive and has a lower energy density (watthours per Kg) than the more common LiIon cells. Unless Altairnano can bring manufacturing costs down, it will be limited in use.

J.Mangano Sr.: Driving on electricity costs much less than driving on gasoline, due to the high efficiency of electric drive systems and the low efficiency of gas engines. Fuel costs for electrics is 1 to 3 cents per mile, fuel costs for gassers is 6 to 50 cents per mile, and rising. Driving electric is about 1/5 the cost of driving gassers.

Jonathan Cohen: your idea isn't new or original. Most hybrids and electrics already have a generator attached to the wheel, and when it produces electricity for the batteries it slows the car down - that is known as "Regenerative Braking". We shouldn't drive around with the brakes on, regenerative or not, as it makes the engine or motor work harder and use more "fuel". Regenerative braking is great for stopping, but worse than useless for driving. Sorry, your idea can't work, and it would decrease the driving range.

Delmar Fairchild: Obama flies for the same reason McCain and a lot of other people fly - it is what we do when we have lots of travelling to do and not much time. Unfortunately, campaigning for the Presidency always means a lot of travelling. Presidents of either party cannot raise or lower taxes, they can only propose tax law changes to congress and hope they act on it. You can do the same by writing to your congressman.

Harold D. L. Nixon: There are devices that can produce H2 from water, but they require either electrical energy or chemical energy. If you have that energy available in a car, it would be more efficient and less expensive to use that energy directly, rather than use it to make H2, then use the H2 to make energy to power the car.

Melvin Snodgrass: Carbon fiber flywheels are more expensive and store less energy per pound than batteries. Hydrogen fuel cell cars are unaffordable to anyone except the ultra-rich, and government sponsored research programs.

John Priller: It's both supply and demand. There isn't much we can do about supply, even if we opened up all of Alaska and offshore areas to drilling, it would still not be enough, we'd still be importing oil. So, we have to work on reducing the demand.

EGP: The Japanese government fuel economy test is different than the US EPA test, and that accounts for the difference in the "official MPG". The actual MPG in the real world rarely matches either government test. And don't blame me, I didn't vote for the idiot.

Jerry in Carthage: Solar cells are expensive, and with limited space on a car and the modest efficiency of electrolysis and fuel cells, a full day in the sun would only net a mile or two of driving. Moreover, H2 storage and fuel cells are very expensive, a solar/hydrogen car would cost over a million dollars.

John in Council Bluffs: We could all convert to Hydrogen cars, if we were all billionaires. Thanks to the high cost of H2 storage and the insanely high cost of H2 fuel cells (platinum catalyst isn't cheap) a H2 FC car costs a half million dollars each. Oh, but mass production could bring it down to a quarter million each! LOL!

Revving up electric cars

Vanessa Naubinway, MI — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 12:15:11 GMT

I think this yet again a waste of our tax dollars, the fact that americans are no longer buying "gas guzzlers" is plenty of incentive to the car company's. They have made big bucks off of us consumers in the past. They should have been exploring these areas then, but gas was cheap and they didn't care about the environment etc. Now they are hurting, consumers are demanding a more fuel/environmentally efficient type of vehicle. I bet the CEO of GM and FORD are both making big bucks. Maybe they should take a paycut. If they had focused more on the future in the first place there would be a more economical vehicle to purchase now. Why should we have to contribute our tax dollars for companies that made too many Hummers and F150's? The incentive for them is already there, no one is buying these vehicles anymore. Let them do it on their own, and if they can't well then let them go out of business...a new company will buy their factories and take their place with a smarter technology that they (GM, FORD, etc) should have been working on in the first place.

Revving up electric cars

Chris, Bridgewater, VA — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:45:14 GMT

Hey does anybody stop to think about the price of electricity? I know many in our larger cities are already feeling the crunch, just plugging in the car sounds simple but it is still going to be a monetary hindrance. I cannot understand why we are not moving toward the Hydrogen fuel cell at a much faster pace! Way to go Honda!

Revving up electric cars

Marc in RP, CA — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:58:18 GMT

While I agree that something needs to be done immeadiately to make electric cars more viable, we should not take our eye off the future of cars...fuel cell vehicles. It is also important to couple this with bio-fuels, not necessarily for cars but for power plants. When you plug in that car at night that electricity comes from a fossil fuel burning plant. I realize that bio-fuels still pollutes, but what would you rather have? I think what we all really want is a "Green Revolution". To accomplish that we need to make upgrades in construction of buildings, cars, appliances etc. Much like retrofitting for earthquakes, governments need to pass minimum standards in building code, for solar panels, tankless water heaters, hot water floor heating, energy efficient windows etc., on every new home consruction. In the urban areas, retrofitting new small wind turbines, like in the Netherlands, ontop of buildings and skyscrapers would take advantage of the ever present wind that travels up milti stories buildings. These turbines are highly efficient and quite stylish, definately not an eyesore. If these types of ideas were incorperated across the country, we'd get a great short term jump on our sustainable energy future.

Revving up electric cars

Greg, Columbia, Maryland — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:11:21 GMT

It's better to reward concrete accomplishment with prize money than to have politicians in the government pick winners and losers. The $10 million X prize led to $100 million in investment and private manned spacecraft. Imagine what a $300 million prize can do. If you simply fund research there is no guarantee that anything will be accomplished. We should be rewarding innovation, not political connections.

Revving up electric cars

Leprechaun, Delray Beach, FL — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:39:16 GMT

I'm flabbergasted!! i actually agree to some extent with something a Republican, namely McCain suggests. Brilliant, I say!!
Put the "X-Prize" out there to develop the highly efficient, low cost, batteries and a car that is safe, and most importantly affordable to the masses. Then, provide an incentive to auto manufacturers to produce these affordable cars and get them on the market ASAP.
Now, there's one last hurdle to get over.... Ok, maybe two. Offer consumers a tax incentive of some kind, maybe a tax credit off income taxes, for purchasing these new electric, efficient autos. Then, to juice things up and goose things along, institute a dis-incentive to own a gas guzzler at first, and later on, any gas powered vehicle. Do this by adding a gas guzzler tax to the yearly registration of the guzzlers, of say $1,000 per year, above and beyond usual registration fees. This money can either be given to the state that the car is registered in or the federal government. The money is used to help improve infrastructure like recharging stations, roads, bridges, and so on. I think this plan will get things off and running quite quickly.
As a final fair the well to our oil producing pigs in Venezuela and Saudi Arabia, lets pass a farewell card around to all who have these new gas free cars, sign it and bid those [people] a fond farewell!!! Kiss my butt, we don't need your stinkin' oil anymore.

Revving up electric cars

Wyo — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:53:02 GMT

The "winner" of this battery contest is already established. Whenever the government provides incentives for particular technologies rather than result-oriented goals for a variety of technologies, beware. The mystery-battery-maker has already approached McCain and Bush about this idea, and if the idea goes through, the same company will draft the standards for the competition in order to tailor the competition to the battery manufactured by McCain's supporter. Does this sound anything like the Boeing/France/REfueling contract "Bid"? The simple solution is to mandate very stringent CAFE standards, which could be met by any number of technologies. Ahh, but lobbying persists, on both sides of the isle.

Revving up electric cars

Tim — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 19:20:53 GMT

I`m glad to see there are others who are not so easily fooled by our so called leaders. Mainstream consumers are clueless. Keep passing the word.

Revving up electric cars

Eric, NY — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:20:15 GMT

Buy one of these, aptera.com , and you will have your freedom. Better batteries will come along but getting the cars into production so the R&D can get covered is primary. Then larger transporters of the same type can be brought into being for the soccer moms. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the political hacks refuse to admit that they, the john q. public, are responsible for voting with their arses and buying these ethanol vehicles which hurt the environment, cost us huge subsidies in taxes as well as drive up the cost of the food supply.

Revving up electric cars

C P Calgary Canada — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 05:57:01 GMT

McCain's idea works. Competition motivates. And if the $300M is a lot, that's OK. There's a lot stupider money spent. This will win him votes. The ethanol thing doesn't work. When wheat and corn are cheap, it's great, but now that they're record high, people would rather eat. They always follow oil very directly on the commodity charts, so will never be low when oil is high. Ethanol does help the farmers though.

Revving up electric cars

Lon Smith, Lexington, KY — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 13:04:20 GMT

Charles B. of Boulder--You got that right!!!!! Our government--and the auto companies--are not in this thing to help anybody but themselves. Meanwhile, we wait and foot the bill!

Revving up electric cars

Chris, jacksonville, Fl — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:27:08 GMT

i like how the nay sayers dont offer a better solution... his idea for more nuclear plants and electric vehicles is right on time... even though some of our power comes from coal at least its mined from our vast domestic supply and not dependent on third world thugs... the idea for more offshore drilling is a good one too because even though were weaning ourselves from oil you can still gather natural gases from these oil wells so it will benefit us in more ways than one...

Revving up electric cars

america — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:29:53 GMT

electric vehicles are the best idea for us since they wont need an infrastucture built to support them... like hydrogen gas stations etc. i'd buy the Volt now if it was for sale

Revving up electric cars

Keith V — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 21:41:05 GMT

Humankind as been burning sh** since the beginning of time (> 100,000 years) we simply need to stop. I have adopted the mantra "We gotta stop burning sh**" we should all do it... I put my money on nanoscale batteries, quick charge, 200+ mile range plug ins, all jacked into T-1000's from Westinghouse (check'em out) Open Yucca flats and let's get building them nukes....

Revving up electric cars

Dave, Kanasa — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 04:51:20 GMT

When just looking at the cost of energy of gasoline verses coal you get roughly $2 per mmbtu for coal and $32 per mmbtu for gasoline (calculated at $3.89 per gallon). Since coal is used for electricity, and the system for converting btu’s to miles traveled is two to three times more efficient than a gasoline powered automobile you can see that the cost of electrical transportation is less. Roughly 1 cent per mile for electric verses 15 to 25 cents for gas.
With using current solar cells on the roof, hood and trunk setting in sunlight for 8 hours while you work, enough electricity would be collected to supply up to a 30 mile daily commute without ever plugging in.
But I still have to buy $4 gasoline. I guess that the batteries are still too expensive, but so were quartz watches when they first came out.

Revving up electric cars

Dave, KS — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 05:04:00 GMT

Does anyone realize that oil companies own controling interest in the auto industry? It will take a new auto company to make electric cars, which will probably get squashed like the Tucker car did 40 year ago.

Revving up electric cars

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 20:46:14 GMT

Solar powered ultra cap can do the job...we could if we wanted to or had to...the choice is ours...wait till the oil runs out or do it now?
We could discover the force that controls gravity tomorrow and all this would be muted.

Revving up electric cars

mike , Cincinnati Oh — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 23:03:28 GMT

This issue needs to be given more attention than it already has, oil prices will hit 200+ a barrel by 2010 (141 today) so THE WORLD needs to stop guzzling gas and move to a better solution. How much electricity does it take to charge a battery for the use in a vehicle? how much will that cost? what about charging while you are at the store/running errands/ROAD TRIP? these are questions that need to be worked on. Many people are foolish enough to think that all people use there cars for is to drive to and from work... this is not true.

it's impractical to think that we as a country or planet even only use our vehicles for such uses.

The volt and cars that are like it are still going to be using oil... granted "not as much" but when will humans be able to migrate from oil to another product? you can't honestly tell me that Hydrogen fuel cells are more or less the same as gas when prices are at 4-5 dollars...

The issue isn't to be placed on anyone government or manufactors feet, it's to be placed on everyone. Western civilization depends on oil for just about everything. We as a poeple need to change.

Revving up electric cars

Dick Kolklayshr — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 01:29:20 GMT

Let me think this through. Electric cars take electricity from your house and puts it in your car. You drive your electric car to and fro and back home again to recharge it an put more home electricity in your car and enjoy the fact that your car does not pollute. However, your home electricity is supplied by an electric company burning coal to produce electricity. Coal fired electrical plants pollute. The overall net effect is your electric car creates coal pollution. Goal number two would be to make non-polluting coal burning electric producing power plants.

Revving up electric cars

Barry Bernsten, Philadelphia, Pa — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 19:28:04 GMT

Please check out the affordable EV ($15,995), assembled in the USA. A real 4 door hatch back for 5 passengers made of steel (NOT PLASTIC). All the luxuries/features we are use to (ie. air conditioning, sunroof, AM/FM/CD,dual airbags, etc. etc.)

www.BGelectricCars.com

Revving up electric cars

Barry Bernsten — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 21:10:44 GMT

America needs to stay FOCUSED, AWARE and EDUCATED.

History reminds us that every time oil prices peak and the North American market/consumers start to discuss alternative energy sources, the oil exporting countries start to trim down their prices. History also tells us that the oil exporting nations have been very successful in the past and in fact, we have lost our enthusiasm and dropped many of our alternative energy initiatives after oil prices are reduced.

WE need to stay focused this time.

1) Al Gore and his energy initiative is on course.
2) T. Boone Pickens and his wind power initiative is on course.
3) BG Automotive Group’s mass production electric vehicle program is on
course.
4) Richard Branson from the UK is on course.
5) The Gas Reduction Act of 2008 might not be the most environmentally sound
solution, but yet it shows that Congress has finally realized that we have an
energy crisis (again), and a real threat to our national security.

The continued dependence on foreign oil is a threat to our long term democratic values. We must become an energy independent nation, and with this, some sacrifices will have to be made by the American consumer.

Be aware!!
We are exporting approximately USD $700 Billion dollars per year of U.S. currency. The majority of this money is being transferred to the Trillion dollar “sovereign wealth funds”. This is USD $700 Billion not being spent on America’s educational system, health care and security.

The “sovereign wealth funds” are directly buying major interests (large blocks of stock) in U.S. companies, including most of the major banks. Also, billions of dollars of “sovereign wealth fund” money is being invested in our hedge funds, private equity firms, and the investment banking industry. A few of these firms are directly and indirectly investing large sums of money into our “gas combustion” automobile industry. Do we want our auto industry in the direct or indirect control of the firms that are supplying us oil? This is an interesting topic for an investigative reporter.

There are automotive consulting companies in Michigan (heart of our auto industry), lobbying States and our Federal Government, NOT to subsidize the Electric Vehicle industry. The latter seems to be contradictory to what the American public would like to see from our automobile industry. After the billions (excess of $20 billion) the automotive companies have lost in the past 6 months producing gas combustion vehicles, you would think they too would change course. Changing course is not adding 2-4 miles per gallon w/Hybrids. Drastic measures in our auto industry must take place and NOW!

Do not let the temporary reduction in oil prices push us off course….AGAIN.

Read, Read, Read- Stay on top of the issues. Let’s not be fooled again.

STAY FOCUSED, AWARE and EDUCATED!

Revving up electric cars

David S. Fuchs, Lexington Park, MD — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 22:57:02 GMT

Returning to the moon to prepare for a trip to Mars is not the right path to follow. It will take an enormous logistics effort to bring to the moon the equipment required for a trip to the red planet. We would be several steps ahead (and years) if we designed a re-useable shuttle type vehicle and continued with the development of the International Space Station. From there we could travel beyond a Low Eart Orbit (LEO) and depart for a trip to Mars. Position an empty vehicle at the ISS and use several shuttle trips to load it with supplies for the trip.