Why do we not have a practical electric vehicle available here is US?

1. 62

   curleyjoeposted 11 years ago

   Why do we not have a practical electric vehicle available here is US?
   
   In rural areas, MANY people use " electric golf carts" as means of transpiration. These vehicles are surprisingly pleasant to ride in. They are lacking very little as far as being able to compare to the passenger vehicles we now use.

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2. 79

   purnimamoh1982posted 11 years ago

   The question asked by you is something that is bothering me for last several years. I wish manufacturers around the globe would come forward making such vehicles for different uses. I strongly feel that the oil lobby is not allowing further research and development of such machines that may make the use of fossil fuel redundant.

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   1. 62

      curleyjoeposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, you guys are all right on, in my opinion. Change comes slow, especially slow to things that we all have used and accepted without much choice. Obviously, the price of fuel has yet to force little or no change in transportation.

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3. 87

   nochanceposted 11 years ago

   Oil companies won't allow it. It will cause them to lose all of their business. That's why standards are so low. Cars are capable of getting 50 mpg but companies only make them so they can achieve 28mpg and then tell the public that's amazing.
   
   I read somewhere that they had done a test in Arizona or something. They made  100 either electric cars or extremely fuel efficient cars. They had these families test them for 3 months. They were great, the families loved them but the cars were taken away after the test period even though the families requested to keep them and then the whole study was never heard about again.
   
   The greed of oil companies is why we don't have good electric cars yet. Not to mention the fact that electric car commercials sabotage themselves by making fun of electric car owners having to stop at gas stations.

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4. 70

   ShootersCenterposted 11 years ago

   They are available just costly. Nissan's Leaf, the Chevy Volt just to name a few. The problem with them is the limited miles before charging, the Leaf is electric only and can go just 200 miles a day. For half the money you can get a gas vehicle that gets 35-40 mpg and go as many miles as you like, in a similar style vehicle. It would take many years to make up the difference in cost.

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5. 69

   Volitansposted 11 years ago

   Battery technology.
   
   Batteries are still heavy, expensive, and inefficient. They're getting better as we pour money into developing them, but it's going to be a while before we have practical electric vehicles. While the Leaf is great, its range is limited to under 150 miles per charge. Adequate for city driving, but not nearly enough for extended driving in America, with many cities hundreds or even thousands of miles apart. It's also difficult to charge a Leaf if you live in an apartment building, which most city dwellers do.

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