Here are some of my thoughts about electric cars and Mopars:

What would it take for you to consider buying an electric car?

I am wondering why people continue to buy gas at over $3 a gallon, when they can buy a electric car instead?

Or convert their current car to electric?

Not enough performance? Not enough power?

I'd say 0-100 in 6.87 seconds is quick enough for me (Wrightspeed X-1 Electric car)

Not enough towing capacity? I guess there is something better than the diesel-electric motors on trains? Trains are moved by electric motors.

Most all fuel burning engines in passenger vehicles rely on a electric motor to start them. They rely on them.

Electric motors are infinitely more simple than Otto 4-stroke engines, Wankel Rotaries, turbines or any other internal combustion engines (except for perhaps a ram-jet).

Satcon has created a electric motor that is just one foot long, weighs 145 lbs and creates in excess of 500 horsepower. I don't know what you think of this, but I am impressed.

So what would a motor 2 feet long, 300 lbs make using the same technology?

No camshafts, lifters, dipsticks, valves, valve covers, venturies, pcv valves, fuel pumps, idle mixture screws, points, spark plugs, oxygen sensors, volumetric efficiency, vacuum hoses, map sensors, thermostats, radiators. None of that junk.

Like the sound of all 8 opening up on your Hemi? Sure, so do I. That is just a sound. It can be recreated with a speaker. Place speakers on your electric car with a engine sound simulation system. The vibration of the 4 stroke can also be simulated.

How many people still wear a wind up watch? I still have one, but I don't wear it. It even winds up on it's own.

How many of you are reading this on a 8088? A 386?

I'm not saying mopars are dead. They are alive and well. They are wonderful, awesome machines. So is a P-51 Mustang.

I can't wait for new electric cars. A motor for each wheel, no differential(s) necessary. All-wheel drive, ultimate torque management. No exhaust pipes necessary. No catalytic converters. No emission tests.

Just quiet, smooth, inexpensive power. Just like Mopars used to be.

 

When someone makes one that actually works, and is actually cheaper than operating a gasoline/ diesel powered car
Because, at the present time, the TOTAL cost, including manufacturing, buying, maintaining (battery replacement) and recycling, is NOT cheaper than fuel powered vehicles
Still very expensive, with no real operating range, and no way at the present time to deal with the lack of range. Just imagine me trying to drive to Seattle from my home some 400mi away, especially in the winter.
Battery power to run the car, the headlights, and the HEATER, a huge drain. What am I to do, drive a few miles, say, 1 or 2hundred (if that's possible) and then sit there and wait for hours while the car recharges?

I've seen other arguements which claim great performance, but one wonders what the actual practical car would provide. Load 4 people and their luggage in an ACTUAL PRACTICAL car with enough battery to actually GO somewhere, and then we'll talk.
This is a false arguement. Rail engines are NOT moved by electric power (in the US) they are moved by the diesels that power them. What are we to do, build a car and put a fuel powered generator in the trunk?



This is a false assumption, or at least, that it actually "could happen." It takes a LOT of power, and you can express power anyway you like, in watts, in horsepower, in audio DB, or pounds of steam/hour to make realistic audio recreations. I daresay, it takes a LOT of (battery power to recreate the sound of a healthy hemi, unless I'm willing to wear headphones---oops--illegal to wear in the car!!
Here's what needs to happen, and won't
In the U.S. big business--and big oil--are now controlling the government, so that means that no subsidy programs for development, no sort of rewards program for progess will ever get past the wishing stage.
The only thing that will drive this, is for costs to come DOWN on electric cars, and for efficiency and range to go UP. Last, there will have to be a HUGE infrastructure of recharging stations, and I DO NOT MEAN supplied by the public power grid. Recharging of electric cars MUST BE done by solar energy, or else there will be no benefit. Electric power for the most part is carbon based--might just as well drive my hemi
Last, recharging takes too long. If electric cars are ever to have any range, there will have to be some sort of standardized battery packs that can be quickly swapped at "filling stations."

 

Thank you for bringing me back to reality with this. I really don't know what trains use for locomotion, thank you for setting me straight. And also, you are right, load up an electric car with 4 or more passengers, a trunk full of their stuff, and possibly a trailer, and I'm sure the petro vehicle will win for sure.

Surely, the price of gas is what motivates my thoughts. Thank you for yours.