i heard from SCI today that next year smartusa will bring a fleet of smart'ev's (electric vehicle) to California for testing purposes only, much like the ones in Great Britain this year.
i hope they get alot of positive feedback and work out all the bugs so we can get one by 2010!!!
From various posts, it look like the EV is a pretty sure thing and the MHD is even more of a sure thing. Either one can only help, although the EV will definitely be a town car only, due to limited range and recharging time.
i posted this somewhere else, but i should have done it here.
SCI tells me that a fleet of 'ev's will be in CA in 2009 for TESTING PURPOSES ONLY, much like they are in Great Britain THIS year.
with any luck, they will come through with flying colors and be available here in 2010!!
just show me where to sign the papers.......
P.S. 'ev' range is approximately 68-72 miles on a full charge, which is 8 hours. on a 3 hour charge, it is at 80%.....meaning it can still go about 55 miles......not bad for a start.
i posted this somewhere else, but i should have done it here.
SCI tells me that a fleet of 'ev's will be in CA in 2009 for TESTING PURPOSES ONLY, much like they are in Great Britain THIS year.
with any luck, they will come through with flying colors and be available here in 2010!!
just show me where to sign the papers.......
P.S. 'ev' range is approximately 68-72 miles on a full charge, which is 8 hours. on a 3 hour charge, it is at 80%.....meaning it can still go about 55 miles......not bad for a start.
May be in 2010 we can get 100+ out of them ! Where do I sign up coach?
I don't 'get it.' The EV attraction. Not being sarcastic at all, just want to be enlightened. As I see it, this just moves the pollution from the tailpipe to the power plant. That would be beneficial if you lived in a city where air pollution was a problem and the power plant was located away from the urban area. But, aside from that case ... what is the benefit?
If EVs become commonplace, won't the increased demand for electricity result in higher power bills? Or is the enthusiasm based on a hope of wider implementation of non-fossil generated electricity? If so, that promise might not come to pass until today's smarts are antiques. Explain it to me.
I /think/ the benefit is greater efficiency with the power produced in a power plant rather than the engine. So for a given unit of fuel, even including transmission, it's less overall pollution to generate it at a power plant. I also suppose it's a consistent interface, they can have coal/nuclear/wind/wave/hydro/pedal power at a power station but you still only ever need to plug in a charger your end. Gas/propane/ethanol/farts in a car will need differering fuel connectors/engines all the time.
Although I love the idea of a plug in Electric Vehicle..for sake of practicality, I think they MUST include a gas engine of some type to be used for LIMPING home when you run out of charge. Without it, we'll see tons of these cars parked beside the road having run out of charge waiting to be towed. You also know, after a couple months of use, as the batteries get used, the promised 60 mile range will begin to decrease to 50, 40, 30, etc. In order to be truly practical, they need a backup.
I don't 'get it.' The EV attraction. Not being sarcastic at all, just want to be enlightened. As I see it, this just moves the pollution from the tailpipe to the power plant. That would be beneficial if you lived in a city where air pollution was a problem and the power plant was located away from the urban area. But, aside from that case ... what is the benefit?
If EVs become commonplace, won't the increased demand for electricity result in higher power bills? Or is the enthusiasm based on a hope of wider implementation of non-fossil generated electricity? If so, that promise might not come to pass until today's smarts are antiques. Explain it to me.
Most of the cars will be plugged in and charged at night during off peak hours when the billing rate is lower, but yes, I worry about the same thing regarding the transfer of pollution. I'd also like to see the things be more efficient than the internal combustion engine with regard to power in/power out. And I'd also like to see a range of more than my daily commute. When you take in the scene it's difficult to believe that all those things will ever be a reality. It's kind of neat to think about, but still a little bit out there for me.
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1976 Rover Mini
2003 Chevrolet Corvette Z06
2007 Mercedes-Benz E320 Bluetec (SOLD)
2009 smart Passion (Gone)
2011 smart Passion
Red Pearl
RV
The White Knight
! Where do I sign up coach? 
smart - aka Smurf
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