Detroit does mass-market e-car deal with Proton The Detroit Electric Car Company has announced that it is to develop a range of electric vehicles by grafting its own 'leccy car drive trains onto existing models from Malaysian manufacturer Proton. Detroit Electric Car Company e63 The Detroit Electric Car Company's e63: Proton made The plan is to develop two models, one …
The kicker will be, as always, how long it takes to charge the thing on the drive and the availability of away-from-home quick charge facilities.
Plus if the government really wants to cut down on petrol-driven cars and petrol-generated pollution they really need to consider removing (or at least drastically reducing) the car tax on electric road cars and maybe even offer a trade-in bonus.
Unfortunately, its all too late for me as I'm not convinced my current banger will last till 2010
Finally, a company that has the right idea, to take an existing car and upgrade it, saves a ton of money and achieves the same goal, getting this stuff in the hands of the drivers.
There are several other California companies doing a similar thing with Korean trucks and cars but they are primarily for fleet sales only.
The more the merrier, one day something might actually become available.
The kicker will be how long the batteries will last (dead or explode)........and you KNOW someone will leave their lights on .
Prefer this one http://www.thedailygreen.com/living-green/blogs/cars-transportation/dean-kamen-deka-revolt-electric-car-stirling-461108
or maybe this one
Jets ....mmmmmm
http://www.yosax.com/search/turbojet+engine
So does this come with a real warranty and they will have tested it in northern climes where it gets mighty cold in winter and around here where they use a lot of sodium or calcium chloride on the roads? Don't think I've read any scintillating reviews of Protons and haven't heard of their current safety status.
Thought the price was mentioned in the US 25-30K range which is a bit much for my pocket.
I live in Perth, Australia, one of the most isolated cities in the world. The closest city of any appreciable size is Adelaide, some 2700km away (1700 miles). You can do this in 2 days if you are keen.
But not in an electric car. I would need to stap and recharge at least 8 times (assuming maximum range). How much time would that add to the journey, assuming the facilities are ever present in the middle of the nullabour?
So then we have the situation where I would need to own and run 2 cars, which is very environmantally friendly, innit?
What is the upside of electric cars again? They seem to be for automatons who never drive anywhere except the commute between home and work.
re:
"Still useless
By Jeff "
You can't do that drive in a gas-powered car without refilling, either. Obviously, charging tech and battery life need to improve before electric cars are competitive for your specific, isolated purpose. However, there is no point in holding back production of viable products simply because they do not meet the needs of certain edge cases. The vast majority of potential customers DO live in urban areas. Further, most long trips occur along coridors with substantially more infrastructure support than a particlarly isolated stretch of the Australia.
Hardly useless, just not sufficient to your unusual needs, yet.
Sure, they're not flashy; they're not overpowered; they don't have big farty exhausts as a rule and they can't do 0-60 faster than the space shuttle. They may not impress Messrs Clarkson, May and Hammond (whose thoughts on different types of cars are probably the last reason I'm a fan of Top Gear) - but they're by no means bad cars, in my experience.
My family have used Protons for quite a few years now, and we've always found them pretty reliable if not particularly pretty. They do the job, and being an average car user that's all I want from them. I've had far fewer problems with the Protons I've had than with some of the more well-known and popular makes.
But I'm pessimistic about electric cars as a workable alternative to the conventional engine types. I don't see that they're going to take off popularity-wise until there's mainstream support for them in infrastructure terms. And there isn't going to be mainstream support for them until they become popular.
Then there's the enormous price of practical electric cars - that is to say, cars that look like cars, as opposed to being tiny flimsy trolleys that would fold up like a paper hat if run into by anything much bigger than a gerbil. With the price tags firmly set in the tens of thousands, these machines are only going to appeal to the rich looking to own one as proof of their wealth. People who don't have to worry themselves about the price of petrol or of a VEL disc anyway might save on these things. These're toys for the rich rather than a practical alternative for the plebs. Otherwise this pleb would be early in the queue: one of these would be perfect for my 32-mile daily commute. (I'm assuming it's still more likely that I'll be able to save up for an electric car than that my local council will put in some viable public transport...)
I refused to drive an electric car unless it has a decent range, say from here to the moon and back on a single charge, can recharge in a billionth of a nano second and charges from a power source that generates electricity from rainbows and smiles of small children :-)
For people that question the range for their 2500km commute if you go to a website called "google" and enter "range extender trailer" then you have a solution for all your extended journeys..........you can't buy the car yet so hard to get the trailer (no demand so no supply!) but soon enough bring demand supply will also be realised and I'm sure the local hire places like kenards hire will be stocking them
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