[Cialug] O.T. Who Killed The Electric Car ?

[David Champion]

You do get the impression that they're really not trying too hard. If
Chrysler can make their big boat 4000 pound cars that get 30mpg, why
can't they make a little 2500 pound car that gets 45mpg? It's like
they're trying to just make the minimum mileage requirement.

It's really sad that one of the best conventional mileage cars available
in the US is the Toyota Corolla, and it gets 41mpg.

VW sold a tiny car in Europe called the Lupo (now replaced with the
Fox), that gets 78mpg with a 3 cyl diesel engine. Not exactly a luxury
car, but I bet they'd sell a few of them here, with the gas prices what
they are now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VW_Lupo

The "smart car" is going to be sold in the US starting later this year.
There was a story on chan. 8 news about a lady in Clive that imported
one from Canada recently.

http://www.smartusa.com/

There are way too many cars out there that get less than 20mpg, which is
a joke - albeit a very sad joke.

-dc

Brandon Griffis wrote:
> <snip from Scott>
> Do you really think that all of the engineers in Detroit can't figure out
> how to make more fuel efficient vehicles?
> </snip>
> 
> This is the bigger point to me.  I would love to see a larger market of
> electric cars, but that won't happen as long as there's no reason for the
> automotive industry to make a change.  Ford is now advertising at hybrid
> SUV
> that gets.... wait to be amazed.... 31mpg!
> 
> Are they kidding?  I have a 96 Oldsmobile 88 (massive boat of a car) that
> can get 30.  An almost 12 year old car doing the same as a present day
> "hybrid", even sedan vs SUV is just sad.
> 
> No regular passenger vehicle sold today should get any less than 30mpg.  No
> hybrid should get less than 50mpg.  The tech exists to do this.  It's just
> not being used.
> 
> That and too many people are buying 1 ton trucks for their daily commute to
> the office.
> 
> -B
> 
> On 5/24/07, Ingvaldson, Scott <SIngvaldson at guideone.com> wrote:
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: cialug-bounces at cialug.org [mailto:cialug-bounces at cialug.org] On
>> Behalf Of James Shoemaker
>> Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2007 1:53 PM
>> To: Central Iowa Linux Users Group
>> Subject: Re: [Cialug] O.T. Who Killed The Electric Car ?
>>
> Dan Hockey wrote:
>> This will give something to think about the next time you fillup?
> 
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHQ4cEr5Wao&NR=1
> 
>   The EV1 was fine if you wanted a $44k car that could drive 75-150
> miles on an 8 hour charge with room for 2.  GM (rightly in my mind)
> realized that there wasn't much market for that.
> 
> James
>>
The Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) ratings doubled between 1975
and 1985, but they've barely moved in the 20 years since then.  Do you
really think that all of the engineers in Detroit can't figure out how
to make more fuel efficient vehicles?  Now we can choose between a
Hummer and a Solstice, (or a Viper) but there's no market for the EV1?
>>
See http://www.teslamotors.com/index.php
>>
Scott
>>
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>>
        Sorry :-(
>>
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