ELECTRIC POWER IS FOR GIRLS!

[themadscientist]

Really? Not sure I agree. I know a GT-R owner that is a believer. Yeah, you want high tech go fast; how'd you like gettin dat azz straight raped!?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rVTIpS5zb4[/youtube]

He just tangled with White Zombie, arguably the quickest street legal Electric Vehicle (EV) out there.
http://www.plasmaboyracing.com/whitezombie.php


Yeah the Leaf is cute and it has it's place; kudos to Nissan for getting in the game, but if you think all EVs are nice an friendly, think again.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrHXdM9f13k[/youtube]

[Jesda]

Nissan has so far delivered 19 Leaves. 20,000 pre-orders have been placed. People are being told they'll have to wake 5-8 months.

http://www.allcarselectric.com/blog/105 ... -a-trickle

A few people have dropped their orders and by fall 2011 the Focus EV will be available. HURRY UP NISSAN.

[themadscientist]

Definitely. People are going to have to have so many reasons to try something new. Delivery problems are not going to help.

[Jesda]

I'm looking forward to the first modded tire-smoking Leaves (I'm calling them Leaves from now on). That's the kind of green agenda I can get behind.

[s0m3th1ngAZ]

f*** yeah. Talked with the guy many times. Daily drives the thing too.

[hitbychance]

any idea on how much he has invested?

[scotty-2-forty]

Nice - hell, if it goes fast I'll drive it! However, we gotta figure a way to capture the sweet race-gas smell into those evergreen air-fresheners and pipe the sound of a highly mod'd turbo motor through the stereo speakers. .... The future looks so bleak - it's just not gonna be the same.

[alms24sebring]

pretty neat. There are still sissues with electric power though. Cost, weight, reliability and life span, you use electricity with is made from burning coal and powerplants which indirectly effects the atmosphere, and people throw away batteries in the trash and in the woods behind their houses. That's not to say that electricity will not evolve into something great and super efficiant. At the same time I think it will be atleast a century before combustion engines are no more.

[s0m3th1ngAZ]

No, we only generate about 50% of our power from burning coal. The power he uses comes directly from the Bonneville hydroelectric damn on the Columbia. So, it's pretty damn "clean" electricity.

[Jesda]

All coal here. Lots and lots and lots of coal.

[alms24sebring]

yeah but he plugs it in to charge it. granted its not bad for only 20 mins, but thats only a 1/4 mile at full throttle. maybe a GOOD selfcharging system is in the near future

[bobotech]

I will be happy when they make a fast enough electric large luxury car that can go 400 miles and do the quarter in about 13.9-14.3 or so and has all the amenities of a caddy and can hold 5 full sized adults.

[USMCgetsome]

its fun until your battery dies. I enjoy the idea of electric but the real problem is that the technology is old and batteries haven't made any serious advances within the last decade! it's always going to be a problem due to lack of funding and lack of support. except for these guys at TESLA Motors everyone else sucks

[themadscientist]

Range and convenience will continue to be a stumbling block until enough people have toughed it out to make it profitable to entice the regular people to try the technology with things like improved batteries and fast charging stations.

[nissangirl74]

There have been several people who have modified existing cars with more and more efficient technology. Better batteries, more weight reduction, etc. I have talked to them at SEMA and they have echoed everything you guys have said here. The technology is here, the possibilities are endless. However, it's so expensive right now that no one really has enough disposable income to launch their ideas in a big way.

[Razi]

1. Build many nuclear reactors.
2. Build efficient electric cars.
3. ?????
4. PROFIT!!!!!

[themadscientist]

[alms24sebring]

^Dammit! Beat me to it again!

[biggie]

Problem becomes that the electric car costs way too much and can only go for 50 miles before recharge. I'll stick with dead dinosaurs.

[Mr1der]

boy I sure am glad we can make electric cars with lithium ion batteries.

mining nickel is way safer than drilling for oil!

[themadscientist]

Range certainly is one of the major stumbling blocks to an EV and until they can produce at least a 100-mile range EV with quick charge capability, I don't think they will be legitimate primary vehicles for many people.

That being said, I offer an experiment to everyone if they are game to see the results. When you get in your car for the next couple of days, zero out your trip odometer. When you get done with your day and pull back in to the garage take a look at how many miles you actually went.

For those with long commutes, you already know a rough idea of what you will see, but many might not realize all that time in their car, when sitting and idling are taken out of it, account for less miles than you may expect. For those who find themselves only going 40 miles or so every day with at least 8 hours to recharge, and EV could be very practical for you.

I would need at least a 60 mile capability myself which is not out of reach of current technology, but it very much is out of the range of my wallet.