[OGNorCal707]

I know a lot of people hate on electric cars, but I think there is finally one that is cool, the new Tesla model S, a 100% electric car built in Fremont, CA.

http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/T...706414.php

If money were no object I would buy this car, good for the environment, no money to spend on gasoline, it looks cool, futuristic technology, and built here in the good ole US of A.

The only downside I could see is outside of the SF bay area it might be a bitch to get work done on the car if problems arise.

[polymath]

Battery tech and power infrastructure are on the cusp of exploding. Once that happens, EVs will be competitive enough to facilitate their own improvement (when something is in demand, companies invest more in research and development). I am a big believer in an electric vehicle future.

As for the Tesla model S, I think it's a sexy car and I wish I had the money for one.

[porscheguy]

You might not have to spend money on gasoline, but your electric bill will go up. And if those things ever do take off, electricity rates will skyrocket and then bounce up and down just like gas prices. And just because there are no emissions from your tailpipe doesn't mean there is no environmental impact. Chances are, the electricity used to charge the batteries was produced in a coal burning plant. Those generate emissions. Then there's the inconvenience of having to wait for batteries to charge. Or what happens if you run out of power while on the road? No more getting a jerry can to get you to the next gas station. The car will have to be towed, or you'll have to sit there for a few hours while you're charged up on the side of the road.

Then there's the other environmental impact. There's a reason why most modern batteries aren't made in the US. And the labor is only part of the equation. The other part is the toxicity of the shit put into modern high output, long lasting batteries. I'd rather have someone set up a fracking operation next door, than have a battery plant anywhere near me. There's more than one way to calculate emissions, environmental impact, carbon footprint, and of course, the economics of it all. Wait until the batteries die unexpectedly when the thing gets just out of warranty.

[malc]

The energy efficiency of electrics, even counting transmission and power plant inefficiencies are more efficient than gas powered vehicles. Also pollution is far easier to manage at a single power plant vs millions of cars. Power generation with large power plants is also significantly more efficient compared to a car engine. On top of that with electric vehicles, it's significantly easier to change your power source vs changing the power plant of millions of cars. The effort required lets say to switch from a bunch of coal power plants 100s of miles away to a bunch of thorium reactors is significantly less. As new energy innovations come into play, like the recent natural gas price drop from fracking the cost savings will transfer over to the rest of society significantly faster. Electrics and self driving cars are going to revolutionize personal transportation. America's car obsession might just not be a huge mistake after all.

[malc]

This is what I want for living in a city with no parking: http://litmotors.com/c-1/

[Hotwheels]

A pure electric car will never be practical for the vast majority of the driving public as they are range limited.

If I didn't need/prefer trucks I'd seriously consider a Chevy Volt, as it has no range limitation and is actually about the highest tech car on the road. It's really a pretty amazing drive. Definitely no shitcan like most of it's competition.

As far as America's "dopest" car? I'd nominate;



I'll take horsepower over electrons any day.

[SVK]

Once the self driving car technology finally takes off I imagine electric cars would start becoming really popular - car drives to a station charges itself up while you are about your business. As for cost - even now the plug-in electric vehicles are about 4-5 times cheaper per mile than even the most efficient non-pluggable hybrids.
Sadly, the cheapest way to produce electricity is by burning coal, the emissions, however, can be managed (look up 'Clean coal'). And of course many ways to produce electricity from renewable sources - with technological progress they could be more and more competitive.