While greenie-weenies all get wood at the thought of electric cars the rest of humanity's forced to live in the real world of costs and consequences.

One real world aspect of electric cars is their cost. Even with positively ridiculous subsidies they're practically unaffordable by anyone other then rich folks. $26,000 for a subcompact? $104,000 for a small, two-seater sports car? Not the sort of thing folks who aren't trust fund babies can afford.

But beyond the cost of the cars themselves is the cost of the electricity.

The greenie-weenies toss that off saying it's practically nothing and, oh by the way, you don't have to buy gas.

Of course as with all things left their assurances bear closer examination. The closer examination always reveals lies and so it is with electric cars.

Simply put, the electric grid isn't up to the strain of all the electric cars the greenie-weenies are dreaming of. The situation with regard to base load capacity isn't that bad. It's in the distribution network that things get ugly.

Each additional electric car, or two depending on size of battery, is like adding an additional house's worth of electrical consumption. Since the system in place was sized to the number of houses in the area adding a bunch of electric cars will necessitate an upgrade to that system and upgrades cost money.

Where will the money come from? Obviously, the buyers of electricity.

If you could stick the electric car owners for the cost of those upgrades it might be OK but given the cost of electric cars and their chargers if the buyers also get stuck with a surcharge for excess use then it's liable to hamper sales of electric cars. So the greenie-weenies will fight tooth and nail to roll upgrades necessitated by electric cars into the bills of people who wouldn't buy an electric car on a bet.

Here's a link to Slashdot - link - which is short and to the point and here's a link to the original article - link - which tries to gloss over the rise in electricity rates the electric car is going to kick off.

I've been saying this for years.

No President has (so far) done as much to force Americans into driving cars they do not want to buy than JIMMY CARTER

(snip)

" The CAFE standards require automakers to meet an average fuel efficiency standard (currently 27.5 miles per gallon) ... the Carter Administration No president has made energy policy as central to his administration as did Jimmy Carter. "

http://books.google.com/books?id=5zMriUd0N3kC&pg=PA250&dq=CAFE+standards+under+jimmy+carter&hl=en&ei=zIzyTO7AFsSBlAf2wLT0DA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CD8Q6AEwBA#v=onepage&q&f=false


However, since Carter was unable to get his draconian CAFE Standards to apply equally to cars and Light Trucks.....The SUV was developed as a direct result of CARTER's manipulation of the free market.  As the price of gasoline fell (following the overthrow of the Carter Regiem),  Americans demanded more and better (and even bigger) light trucks and SUV's.

It will be the same, when the PROGRESSIVES (including Obama) are beaten and the full scale production of America's vast fossile fuels begins.  America may even one day become a petroleum exporting nation, as we increasingly utilize our abundant clean coal and natural gas and add more nuclear power plants to our grid!!!

Very simple solution, but I can't disclose that information right now.   ;)

I'll disclose mine, kill off all the progressives, problem solved.

Quote from: Solar on November 28, 2010, 09:55:41 AM
I'll disclose mine, kill off all the progressives, problem solved.

:)) :)) :)) :)) :))

Solar, that's a big undertaking, especially in your state!

Obama & The Dimwits (sounds like an old Motown Group) are going to drive the American Dream right into the ditch and replace it with some Dream of (Obama's) 3rd World, Commie Father...

The new "People's Car" in this new Obamanation!

Quote from: wally on November 28, 2010, 09:50:01 AM
It will be the same, when the PROGRESSIVES (including Obama) are beaten and the full scale production of America's vast fossile fuels begins.  America may even one day become a petroleum exporting nation, as we increasingly utilize our abundant clean coal and natural gas and add more nuclear power plants to our grid!!!

As recently as 1946, the US was a net petroleum exporter. This from an old Collier's Encyclopedia:

• Total US Production: 1,734.0 million barrels
• Imports: 137.7 million barrels
• Exports: 153.1 million barrels

Also in that year, the US was the leading producer of petroleum, managing a 63% share of the world's production. By comparison, Venezuela and the entire Middle East produced 14% and 10%, respectively, of world production.

Obviously, much has changed. Over the years, cheap foreign oil made domestic production uneconomic and we drilled less and less. Now that a barrel of oil is going for 80 bucks, we find ourselves stuck buying it overseas instead of producing it ourselves because we can't seem to muster the political will the face down the greenies at home.

Are electric cars the answer? Get real. Chevy Volt, made by Gov't Motors -- $41,000 sticker price, weighs about as much as my full-size pickup truck, and goes maybe 40 miles (tests by at least one car magazine said 37) on a battery charge that takes 10 hours to replenish. Get outta my way, I gotta have one!

Quote from: AmericanFlyer on November 28, 2010, 10:03:31 AM
:)) :)) :)) :)) :))

Solar, that's a big undertaking, especially in your state!

:D :D :D
Nah, I plan on delegating. 8)

Quote from: Solar on November 28, 2010, 12:10:20 PM
:D :D :D
Nah, I plan on delegating. 8)

Hmmm... Who do you have in that state other then ST.   ;D  LOL

Quote from: walkstall on November 28, 2010, 12:21:02 PM
Hmmm... Who do you have in that state other then ST.   ;D  LOL

Well there are 307 people in Ca willing to take control, 27 in Oregon, and 3 that we know of in Washington, 4, if you're up for it. ;)

Obama Bolsters U.S. Hybrid Automobile Sales in Waning Consumer Market

President Barack Obama's administration has bought almost a fourth of the Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. hybrid vehicles sold since he took office, accelerating federal purchases as consumer demand wanes.

The U.S. General Services Administration, which runs the government fleet, bought at least 14,584 hybrid vehicles in the past two fiscal years, or about 10 percent of 145,473 vehicles the agency purchased in that period, according to sales data obtained by Bloomberg under a Freedom of Information Act request. In fiscal 2008, hybrids accounted for less than 1 percent of government purchases, the data showed.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-23/obama-bolsters-u-s-hybrid-auto-sales-in-waning-consumer-market.html

I guess he has to make it look like it is working.... ;) ;)

I'm thinking that I may bank on our nation doing a 180 after the defeat of Obama and his cabal.  I may go out and get myself a nice 4x4 Nissan Titan after they've really driven the demand down so far that they become an even better deal than they are now.

It will take a couple of years to see the impact, but I believe the American people will mandate that we drill here and drill now, as well as utilize all our abundant natural resources, especially coal and natural gas.  When they come on the market, domestic gasoline prices are going to become affordable again!

Quote from: Solars Toy on November 28, 2010, 02:43:20 PM
Obama Bolsters U.S. Hybrid Automobile Sales in Waning Consumer Market

President Barack Obama's administration has bought almost a fourth of the Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. hybrid vehicles sold since he took office, accelerating federal purchases as consumer demand wanes.

The U.S. General Services Administration, which runs the government fleet, bought at least 14,584 hybrid vehicles in the past two fiscal years, or about 10 percent of 145,473 vehicles the agency purchased in that period, according to sales data obtained by Bloomberg under a Freedom of Information Act request. In fiscal 2008, hybrids accounted for less than 1 percent of government purchases, the data showed.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-23/obama-bolsters-u-s-hybrid-auto-sales-in-waning-consumer-market.html

I guess he has to make it look like it is working.... ;) ;)

The Obama administration didn't buy SHIT.  The U.S. taxpayers and the countries that buy Obama's debt bought these electric cars.

Obama has it all figured out.  First he "gave" us the "cash for clunkers" program, where the U.S. government bought gas-guzzling vehicles.  Now he's "giving" us tax breaks to buy one of his Energizer bunny cars AND he's buying them for government employees to drive around.  All of this generosity is being financed with borrowed paper and ink and confiscated paper and ink.

Maybe the American people should chip in and get the Obama administration electric CHAIRS.

I guess what I was trying to get across is that the "government" is being pushed by Obama to purchase these cars as they are not selling enough on their own.  We all know where that money comes from... ::)

Do like the electric chair comment... ;D ;D