Who Killed the Electric Car?

Joerg wrote in news:L5DXj.337$ snipped-for-privacy@nlpi066.nbdc.sbc.com:

but didn't Germany(and Europe) have rather loose emissions specs compared to the US,particularly California?(which oftens ends up setting the US standard) ISTR that Euro cars were often blocked from importation because of emissions.

Then there's bumper height,safety equipment,lighting.

Yes, at least in California it's much more strict. I think they just didn't want to go through all that engineering effort on a product that was already in production for over 40 years.

That could be fixed. However, I wouldn't want to be a dummy during a crash test on one of those.

They already exist and have been deployed in California for many years.

Old tech, it will be replaced by and by.

That is likely to become a recommisioning surcharge soon.

Car?:

Not the bean counters, the "executives".

Silly boy. The conversion cannot happen quickly because of generation and distribution issues. That kind of huge infrastructure changes require major long term capital investment. Where is that going to come from?

I know. I worked on a system of block-by-block radio links for such a purpose.

...Jim Thompson

So what. The EULA states the jurisdiction and it is not CA.

Not really. The A123 Systems batteries are HD Nanophosphate technology which is allegedly better than conventional Li-Ion and LiPO batteries. Although commonly used in overpriced battery operated power tools, there's really not enough field experience to predict reliability and lifetime.

"Thousands and thousands" of charge cycles lifetime:

Sounds a bit vague to me.

Fast Charging:

That's high luxury compared to taking a shower with a rooftop solar water heater. I got introduced to those in the 1970's in Israel. Israel has lots of sun, lots of rooftops, and isn't insterested in wasting power heating what water it pulls out of the Jordan River. Haifa was literally covered with apartment buildings. The ground floor was reserved for businesses. The rest were apartments which were sold, not rented. Every apartment had its solar water heater on the roof (along with multiple TV antennas at the time) which made things rather crowded.

Anyway, when you first turn on the water, you get the somewhat warm water that was sitting in the pipes. About 15 seconds later, you get scalded by maximumly hot, near boiling, water directly from the solar water heater. That slowly tapers off in temperature as the rooftop heater slowly empties. I learned to take a shower with one hand on the valves.

I've done the same with flash water heaters. They do a somewhat better job of temperature regulation, but without a ballast tank, constant adjustment is required. Still, it's more energy efficient than a tank type water heater. Sacrifices must be made.

Well, the assumption was made that the used car came from a "reputable used car dealer" (a classic oxymoron) who checked out the vehicle, prerformed any required maintenance, and offered some semblance of a warranty. For used car buyers that buy their vehicles without running the VIN number through CarFax, checking the DMV history, or having it checked out by a mechanic, I suspect there will be problems. Todays OBD-II diagnostics will often uncover signs of drive train abuse, damage, and neglect. Many other things are obvious after driving a few miles.

Slow down for speed bumps? My paved dirt road is nothing but speed bumps.

Good name. I suspect the next step will be a true wearable automobile. LIPO electric powered. You sit down on the drive train and wheel platform, wrap the fenders, cowling, and roof around you, and drive away merilly. Maybe an inflatable body for light weight and crash resistance. When done driving, pack it back in it's case, attach a handle to one ond of the wheel platform, and carry it away like a hand truck.

They also oxygenated diesel in the early 1990's using 15% ethanol. That raise the head temperature on my Dodge/Mitsubishi diesel sufficiently to crack the head. What was interesting was that I was driving it for about 6 months with a cracked head. There was no obvious deterioration in performance other than a slight drop in diesel mileage, and the mysterious disappearance of radiator water to no obvious destination. I eventually figured I had a problem when I ran the engine with the radiator cap removed, which simulated a volcanic eruption of exhaust gasses belching from the radiator.

Welding the aluminium head was problematic so I opted for a factory new replacement head. Those arrive a few thousands thicker than stock which lowered the compression ratio slightly. The result was the diesel milage dropped from about 30mpg to 28mpg, but the engine stayed quite cool using the new diesel formulation.

Yep. I must admit that I haven't tried to economize very much. The best I've done is bum rides from friends and customers. I'm still somewhat in the service and repair biz doing service calls to customers. That works out to about 12,000 miles per year for business (i.e. deductable) and 5,000 miles per year for personal use. I can probably cut both in half, but then I would have to juggle appointments and errands by location. It's easier for me to just buy a smaller economy car and not carry a warehouse full of parts with me.

Yep. That's the one. However, this was in the 1970's, before 1984 when Toyota saved GM's ass by literally taking over the plant on GM's behalf.

Sorry, it's not in Milpitas but Fremont. Anyway, across the street from the parking lot was an excellent Chinese restaurant that we frequented as often as practical. The only problem was that the drive went by a cattle stock yard. The smell would ruin any lunch. The yard was also very close to Altos Computers, which may explain their premature demise.

The common observation is that American buyers are nearly clueless. I guess the same applies to Australian buyers. See:

"Large car sales on the increase"

This is from June 2007, but still interesting.

It?s encouraging to see a consolidation in the Large and Upper Large segments which reflects both the introduction of exciting new product and the response of brands to the competitive challenges of the market. The resurgence in sales of SUVs and Large cars demonstrates that family-sized vehicles continue to meet the preferences of a significant number of Australian consumers because they suit their lifestyles and transport requirements,? said FCAI Chief Executive Andrew McKellar.

Yep. Lifestyle and image is everything.

Too much competition from the energy industry. Nobody is going to pay politicians to make it difficult to heat water. However, if you attempt to gain energy independence, the politicians and government will respond with the usual "we're the government and we're here to help".

Home nuclear has to be done in small steps as overly ambitious goals and promises tend to make established monopolies rather nervous. Start with hot water. Next, go for clean water. Maybe home heating by resurrecting the boiler and steam radiator. Once established, power generation can be added as a bolt on option (voiding the warranty).

Not Metricom, by chance?

John

Non-competitive paradises like Cuba and North Korea? They certainly aren't suffering from glutted super-highways or packed shopping-center parking lots. And they have excellent energy conservation techniques: the power is only on a few hours a day.

John

That is a bit more than presumptuous.

And that is near the a reasonable objective.

Typical.

Also typical.

Typical.

Maybe you could be starting to get it.

Been so long ago I don't remember the company name, but they were in Canada.

...Jim Thompson

-- | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: "skypeanalog" | | | Voice:(480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat | | E-mail Icon at

Most of the stuff sold for residential use is so incredibly crude. I mean, what would it take to design an automatic mixer between hot and cold? It ain't rocket science and has been done before.

There is no design needed. You can buy just such a valve already.

There's a used one.

I know those, they also come within single-lever shower/bathtub control valves where you just set a temperture instead of a percentage. I think Grohe makes them. But most aren't fast and when you have the situation that Jeff saw in Israel the water coming through the pipes can turn from barely warm to scalding in milliseconds. Unless you have a point-of-use recirc but most houses are not that modern.

But isn't that jurisdiction similar, at least from a political perspective?