Will the electric car return and take over its oil guzzling rivals?

Question

I am planning to write a story of the return of electric cars

Answer 1

Only when we develop the political will for that to happen. Electric cars don't fit in well with *Big Oil's agenda, and Big Oil has a great deal of political power.

Electricity can be generated by renewable resources that are available for free, or just the cost of investing in the equipment. Solar and wind power for example, may be relatively expensive to install, but once in place, the cost of the power they generate is negligible. That cheap energy would then compete with oil and coal producers without providing a strong revenue stream to an alternative political power. What corporation is going to lobby successfully against Big Oil if the only profit to be made is selling solar panels and/or wind turbines with little recurring business compared to gas/oil consumption?

Eventually, Big Oil plans on providing hydrogen to fuel cars and houses because they can generate hydrogen and sell it like gas, but even that is a threat because the technology might improve to the point where you could easily generate your own. Because of this, they are happy to keep us hooked on oil.

* By the way, have you noticed that gas prices have dropped just in time for election season? Don't get used to it, because when the elections are over, prices go back up whether or not Big Oil managed to keep the Republicans in charge.

Answer 2

Probably, but it could be 50 years before that happens. There's not 1 electric production car on the market, right now. There seems to be more focus on hybrids, and flex-fuels, at the moment. It also has hydrogen, to possibly compete with. If we go forward with any one plan, it's quite possible that it could become the norm for a few decades, and put electric on the back burner.

10 years ago, I would have thought all these things were within our grasp, and maybe that's a little premature, but since Bush has taken office, there's been a grim outlook on alternative energy.

Answer 3

It depends on what ort of advances can be made in fuel-cell and other technologies. The biggest obstacle right now is power. Electric cars don't have the range or the horsepower of gas powered. Once those issues are worked out, there are many other issues. Batteries don't do well in high-humidity or extreme-temperature environments. So an electric car would fair much worse in the extreme North and South of the planet during the colder months then gas-powered cars.

Answer 4

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I think the next couple of years will be very interesting. Not only the Tesla:
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http://www.teslamotors.com
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The Tesla can accelerate faster than a Ferrari, and goes 250 miles on a charge.
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But the same technology will be showing up in other cars, especially from Asia. Here's one from China:
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http://www.milesautomotive.com/products_xs200.html
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It can go 200 miles on a charge, does freeway speeds, and costs $28500. It's built around some very cost-effective Chinese batteries:
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http://www.everspring.net/product-battery.htm
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If you believe the chart on that page, these batteries are better than anything on the market, and are also the cheapest.
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The other big story will be ultracapacitors, and the product everyone is waiting for is coming from EESTOR, of Texas - here are three links:
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http://thefraserdomain.typepad.com/energy/2006/01/eestor_ultracap.html
http://tyler.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2006/3/29/1849708.html
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1141599010468&call_pageid=970599109774&col=Columnist971715454851
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Basically, ultracaps can store energy as well as the best batteries - but can be recharged in 5 minutes. EESTOR is partnering with a Canadian auto company, not an American one, possibly because the political environment here in the US is very pro-oil.
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Answer 5

Only if The oil companies divest in to electric.
There are people working on that.

Answer 6

if they do take over, expect the price of electricty to go up for everyone whether they own such a car or not.

Answer 7

They will make a comeback but they will never replace the horse power of the gas engine.

Answer 8

It sure won't happen with Bush running the show.

Answer 9

I don't think so. I hope not, anyway. I'm hoping for alternative fuels to take over, like E85.

Answer 10

maybe