It's 'un-American' to criticize the Chevy Volt.
- Thread starter Natsumi
- Start date
It's 'un-American' to critisize the Chevy Volt.
Thanks!
The invention looks different from what I had in mind. Do you happen to have the patent number?
Thanks!
The invention looks different from what I had in mind. Do you happen to have the patent number?
Will someone please explain to me how a electric car is any better then a gas powered car. What do you think your doing when you plug it in the outlet. Your getting the power more then likely from a coal powered plant. You are doing ZERO to help the environment if you believe using gas powered cars are bad. Which I dont. So for the eco people your doing nothing for the environment except paying to much.
Plus the damage to the environment to pull lithium from the ground is much more worse then ever pulling oil or coal from the ground. And then what happens to these dead lithium batteries after there use has gone bad. The only way a battery powered car would do any good is if America converted to all nuclear power plants across the country. These electric cars are nothing but feel good vehicles thinking they are actually doing some good.
Plus the damage to the environment to pull lithium from the ground is much more worse then ever pulling oil or coal from the ground. And then what happens to these dead lithium batteries after there use has gone bad. The only way a battery powered car would do any good is if America converted to all nuclear power plants across the country. These electric cars are nothing but feel good vehicles thinking they are actually doing some good.
I drive a gasoline-powered car, but I realize petroleum is finite, and controlled by a few corporations who seem to have the ability to fix its price at will. How do you know that driving an electric car is just as damaging to the environment as driving a gas-powered one? I don't know this, so if you have some facts regarding this, please elaborate.
Is driving a Hybrid just as bad as driving a '69 Econoline? Or only as bad as driving a Corolla? I'm willing to entertain any argument, since I'm not so educated on this issue. The more knowledgeable I become, the less likely I am to make statements about these cars doing ZERO to help the environment. The truth is probably less black and white than people on either side of this issue would like to admit.
One fact you may not know is that electricity can be produced in other ways than burning coal: aside from nuclear, there are renewable sources such as solar and wind. Even if these are not widely used now, there is potential for electric vehicles to be even more clean in the future. Gasoline power doesn't carry this potential.
Some people seem to feel it's somehow more damaging to explore these new technologies. If you feel that way, tell me why this is. Like I said, I don't know everything about this stuff.
I learned to drive on a big V8 and any time I've had to drive a 6 or 4 cylinder I always felt like the crapped out after it shifts from 3rd to 4th there's no more power. Newer 6s are a lot better. I drove both a rented Camery and Grand Am, they could move but it still felt like there wasn't much torque after 4th gear. The same deal with teh car I'm driving now it's a 3.1 V6 has some nice pick up for a car with a 130k on it but still nothing like a V8. And forget about peeling out or power braking Front wheel drive cars are about useless for that.
Anywho my point is when we switch over to electric or other alternative sources it's going to take a long time for people to get used to a car that doesn't rev or give feedback when it switches gears - We want to hear that engine open up! That's why people love to drive.
Anywho my point is when we switch over to electric or other alternative sources it's going to take a long time for people to get used to a car that doesn't rev or give feedback when it switches gears - We want to hear that engine open up! That's why people love to drive.
First of all, I have to say being a fan of Tesla, the man, I would bash this to the hills and back. The Godfather of Electricity, has his name on one of these types of cars, and its like 1000x better than that crap.
Give me one of these LOL I would be a happy man.. They only start at 100K up ..And you have to be approved by credit and such
Give me one of these LOL I would be a happy man.. They only start at 100K up ..And you have to be approved by credit and such
Oh, ONLY 100 grand! That's all? lol Who would spend that money on an electric powered car in the first place is beyond me.. You could get a Shelby Super Snake or the Carbon ZO6 that has a 7 liter V8 for that kind of money.
I mean granted, the Tesla is cool looking but once someone says that car is electric powered I just think..Wow, that's a deal killer. I think I would take a ZO6. Ever since a little girl i've always liked the corvette. I love the new Corvette Carbon ZO6 even though they're well out of my affordability.
The only thing Japanese I will always buy is motorcycles for sure..I love my CBR. I would never trade my GTO for any Toyota or Honda etc.
---------- Post added at 02:50 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:45 PM ----------
Anywho my point is when we switch over to electric or other alternative sources it's going to take a long time for people to get used to a car that doesn't rev or give feedback when it switches gears - We want to hear that engine open up! That's why people love to drive.
EXACTLY my point! What's the point of even driving a car and you can't feel or hear gears shift, or exhaust etc..That's part of this country's heritage. In Japan, you willl see them buy old american cars and they go for huge money. It's not uncommon to see an old '57 Belair drive down the streets in parts of Japan.
Anywho my point is when we switch over to electric or other alternative sources it's going to take a long time for people to get used to a car that doesn't rev or give feedback when it switches gears - We want to hear that engine open up! That's why people love to drive.
That all depends on the construction of a car ... you can have revving, shifting gears with electric cars as well (in fact, if you have an electric/hybrid motor as a plug-in replacement for a combustion one, that's what you'll get).
I always liked the sound of electric cars better than that of combustion engine cars.
BTW, as with all cars, the sound of electric cars is also engineered ... plus nowadays they have to make sure there's some audible feedback for pedestrians and drivers, so they don't make 'em too silent anyways.
I'm glad when the age of combustion-only engines is finally over.
Many electric/hybrid cars have innovations that are missing in conventional cars, like charging the battery from brake energy.
Blah ... I want technology to develop and not be frozen in the stoneage forever ... everything in the computer industry moves so fast, why not in other industries? All the things we could already have by now!! :starving:
That all depends on the construction of a car ... you can have revving, shifting gears with electric cars as well (in fact, if you have an electric/hybrid motor as a plug-in replacement for a combustion one, that's what you'll get).
I always liked the sound of electric cars better than that of combustion engine cars.
BTW, as with all cars, the sound of electric cars is also engineered ... plus nowadays they have to make sure there's some audible feedback for pedestrians and drivers, so they don't make 'em too silent anyways.
I'm glad when the age of combustion-only engines is finally over.
Many electric/hybrid cars have innovations that are missing in conventional cars, like charging the battery from brake energy.
Blah ... I want technology to develop and not be frozen in the stoneage forever ... everything in the computer industry moves so fast, why not in other industries? All the things we could already have by now!! :starving:
Have you ever thought about those who do not like change with their vehicles? You have to take that into account too. I am one of them. the price of gas doesn't stop me..Infact, I enjoy going to gas stations. It only takes a couple mins to fuel up, where as with some electric powered cars it could take up to 1 or 2 hours for a charge..Some people dont have that kind of time..I would rather take an american classic than some electric powered car..with sound or not, it's not the same. I want the high octane, I want to hear my exhaust pipes scream at the stomp of the gas. You can't do that with an electric powered car. By the time that ever happens we'll be senior citizens or be dead at best..lol
EXACTLY my point! What's the point of even driving a car and you can't feel or hear gears shift, or exhaust etc..That's part of this country's heritage. In Japan, you willl see them buy old american cars and they go for huge money. It's not uncommon to see an old '57 Belair drive down the streets in parts of Japan.[/QUOTE]
Stanley Steamers are part of this country's heritage, too. Driving a Belair would be torture for me: drum brakes, leaf springs, imprecise steering, pushrod engine. But I live in an area where the roads have curves, so most peoples' driving habits might differ from mine.
I agree with you on bikes, though. I used to have Italian bikes, then I rode an R1. I'll never go back.
Stanley Steamers are part of this country's heritage, too. Driving a Belair would be torture for me: drum brakes, leaf springs, imprecise steering, pushrod engine. But I live in an area where the roads have curves, so most peoples' driving habits might differ from mine.
I agree with you on bikes, though. I used to have Italian bikes, then I rode an R1. I'll never go back.
These Belairs would be completely Resto-Modded..they would have Brembo brakes and disc brakes all around and independent suspension and late model engines under the hoods..these cars are not factory stock by any means.. I like old cars that are out fitted with new car technology. I even saw a belair that had LED tail lights. It's cool when you see old stuff like that I think.
As for Italian bikes...for example..A newer late model Ducati is WAY out of my price range depending on what you get of course. If I had the money I just maybe would like to get one..but Im just happy with my CBR..it's a 600 and more than enough bike to satisfy me.
As for Italian bikes...for example..A newer late model Ducati is WAY out of my price range depending on what you get of course. If I had the money I just maybe would like to get one..but Im just happy with my CBR..it's a 600 and more than enough bike to satisfy me.
Sure, but I bet they will always be around. Or at least for a long time to come -- lol, once I played a computer game in the 80ies that was called "The last V8"
I enjoy going to the gas station too, b/c that's the only equivalent to a 7-11 that we have over here.
There are new batteries being developed for cars that charge in 5 minutes by a Japanese car company.
I'm sure some engineer will come up with a solution that will satisfy people like you.
Combustion engine cars are too expensive in the long run, electric cars will be a lot more affordable one day, and even better, faster, etc.; I won't miss combustion engines!
Electric cars have been around for over 100 years now, so it's about time they're being sold on a wide scale. Especially when all the current problems with them are resolved (all of which are more or less battery-related - there are dozens of new battery types in development, with improved charge/discharge rates for even better cars).
There are new batteries being developed for cars that charge in 5 minutes by a Japanese car company.
If that's true, I've just lost complete and total respect for my country lol :at-wits-end:
BTW, have you ever heard the sound of an electric tram train when it begins rolling and you can hear the kilovolts driving the electric motors?
I live close to that city, in which electricity pioneer Werner von Siemens and other inventors lived and worked, so I'm a bit biased!
(EDIT: hey, in Siemens' biography, that city isn't even mentioned ... WTF ... the Siemens company still has a factory there)
I live close to that city, in which electricity pioneer Werner von Siemens and other inventors lived and worked, so I'm a bit biased!
(EDIT: hey, in Siemens' biography, that city isn't even mentioned ... WTF ... the Siemens company still has a factory there)
BTW, have you ever heard the sound of an electric tram train when it begins rolling and you can hear the kilovolts driving the electric motors?
I live close to that city, in which electricity pioneer Werner von Siemens and other inventors lived and worked, so I'm a bit biased!
(EDIT: hey, in Siemens' biography, that city isn't even mentioned ... WTF ... the Siemens company still has a factory there)
Well this isn't Germany..this is the United States.
Right now in the states we are using a majority of coal burning plants. So if every American tomorrow went with electric cars and plugged them in the wall for a charge how are we helping the environment by burning coal instead of gas.
Plus there is a lot less lithium on this planet then there is fossil fuels. And fossil fuels are believed to be by many a renewable resource. Its not that im against electric cars. What gets me is eco wackos fight us at every turn. First they hated coal. So people came up with new tech to make it much cleaner to use for energy. But they still want them all shut down even though its clean to use and we have at minimum another 150 years of it here in the states. So the eco wackos have made it a pain to build new plants.
Then we went to building dams for energy. And the eco wackos hated that because it hurt the fish. So they devised ways around that so the fish would survive. But they still were not happy and new dams have all but stopped from being built.
Then came nuclear power plants proven to be safe and clean energy. France has them throughout there country. When they started building the first nuclear plants in America the plan was to have close to 3000 plants by the year 2000. Well the eco wackos pretty much put that plan down the toilet.
Next we have wind farms which are very inefficient and take acres and acres of space to even produce half of what coal powered plants can produce. But everyone thought this will finally make the eco wackos happy. But no such luck on that happening. These guys are now complaining its killing several species of birds.
And finally we have solar powered plants that cover huge amounts of areas to produce limited amounts of energy. Who knows what the eco wackos will hate about this. They will claim its burning holes in the ozone or something like that.
My point is our politicians give in at every turn to these eco wackos and instead of going forward in this country with our energy policies we keep going backwards. And now we have a lousy car called the Volt that goes a WHOLE forty miles and takes several hours to charge. At this rate we will be driving like the Flintstones before long.
---------- Post added at 11:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:18 PM ----------
If America would have stuck with nuclear power plants we could have those nuclear plants making hydrogen. With that hydrogen we could have had them at every gas station in America. Hydrogen cars are more environmentally safer then electric cars and from the recent hydrogen cars built can get 350 miles before needing to fill up again. Much better then 40 miles from the volt. Its just another argument that government does nothing right.
My point is our politicians give in at every turn to these eco wackos and instead of going forward in this country with our energy policies we keep going backwards. And now we have a lousy car called the Volt that goes a WHOLE forty miles and takes several hours to charge. At this rate we will be driving like the Flintstones before long.
---------- Post added at 11:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:18 PM ----------
If America would have stuck with nuclear power plants we could have those nuclear plants making hydrogen. With that hydrogen we could have had them at every gas station in America. Hydrogen cars are more environmentally safer then electric cars and from the recent hydrogen cars built can get 350 miles before needing to fill up again. Much better then 40 miles from the volt. Its just another argument that government does nothing right.[/QUOTE]
Politicians in this country work for corporations, don't forget that for a second. Where do you think they get the money to get elected? I agree with you on nuclear, we should have been developing that all along. Coal may last us 150 years at current consumption rates, but those rates are never static.
I don't care if those cars only have a forty mile range, that would suit my commute fine, and the range will increase as the technology develops. Even if these resources are not finite, even if global warming is a myth, even if pollution doesn't matter, we should still be moving forward. Even if these cars are no more efficient than the internal combustion cars we already have, we still need new technology. When fuel efficient cars started appearing in the '70s, the president of Chrysler said that Americans would never buy a small car. Soon after, they started making small cars.
Cars are not just more efficient and safer now than they were then, they're much faster, on average. If someone had said, in 1973, that the AMC Matador was the pinnacle of automotive development, and no one will ever want to change, we'd laugh at that now. What will they say thirty years from now?
---------- Post added at 11:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:18 PM ----------
If America would have stuck with nuclear power plants we could have those nuclear plants making hydrogen. With that hydrogen we could have had them at every gas station in America. Hydrogen cars are more environmentally safer then electric cars and from the recent hydrogen cars built can get 350 miles before needing to fill up again. Much better then 40 miles from the volt. Its just another argument that government does nothing right.[/QUOTE]
Politicians in this country work for corporations, don't forget that for a second. Where do you think they get the money to get elected? I agree with you on nuclear, we should have been developing that all along. Coal may last us 150 years at current consumption rates, but those rates are never static.
I don't care if those cars only have a forty mile range, that would suit my commute fine, and the range will increase as the technology develops. Even if these resources are not finite, even if global warming is a myth, even if pollution doesn't matter, we should still be moving forward. Even if these cars are no more efficient than the internal combustion cars we already have, we still need new technology. When fuel efficient cars started appearing in the '70s, the president of Chrysler said that Americans would never buy a small car. Soon after, they started making small cars.
Cars are not just more efficient and safer now than they were then, they're much faster, on average. If someone had said, in 1973, that the AMC Matador was the pinnacle of automotive development, and no one will ever want to change, we'd laugh at that now. What will they say thirty years from now?
The advantage over gasoline is that electricity can be generated from a wide variety of power plants. Sun, wind, tides, geothermic, nuclear, coal, etc.
The US needs more incentive to use alternative energy sources ... in the rest of the world, these are very widespread, the USA is the only country that is far behind.
Lithium is not consumed like a fuel ... lithium batteries last for over 5 years minimum, and then they can be recycled. So the lithium can be reused to make other batteries.
But Li-Ion is not the only type of battery, many are being developed.
Fossil fuels are not renewable. Once they're burnt up, they're gone!
That's not true, eco "wackos" prefer coal power to nuclear b/c they think it's cleaner. I'm not so sure about that, I think nuclear is cleaner, even if there is toxic residue that needs to be taken care of.
Coal power plants contribute to CO2 emissions (unless they're equipped with CO2 filters).
Fusion power plants are currently being developed that would get rid of the toxic residue problem that regular nuclear plants have.
Also, nuclear batteries are being developed.
The USA plans to make a series of new more modern nuclear power plants.
The real reason why in the 70ies the USA stopped making nuclear power plants was that it became economically infeasible after a regulation was introduced that a nuclear power plant company can be held liable for every environmental damage that might arise from its use (like a nuclear accident, or radiation from stored residue).
Note that a wind farm doesn't consume anything, so it's not "inefficient". It generates money from thin air!!
Again, a type of power plant that produces money from sunlight, which is available for free all year round.
The Volt is a hybrid vehicle and runs additional 260 miles on fossil fuel when its electric charge is depleted.
The Volt is meant to be recharged during the night, which can be done in a garage by a house owner.
So, there is a definite demographic for the Volt: The house owner who also happens to be a commuter.
The calculation is probably that the commuter will travel short distances to work on electric charge only, while making weekend trips using the builtin gasoline generator.
The vehicle is feasible enough for those people.
Since hybrid and electric cars are continuously being improved, one day they will become very common.
Nuclear power plants generate steam to generate electricity. How can you use them to make hydrogen??
I know only of one type of solar power plant that generates hydrogen, I never heard about nuclear power plants generating hydrogen.
Hydrogen cars will also come to market sooner or later. You don't fill up at the gas station, since that would be very dangerous. Instead, you simply exchange hydrogen packs at the gas station.
What's that, Monster? You lost me after that last bit there. I can't hear or see you with all my tire smoke leaving you behind! :laugh:
lol ... the comical thing is, the Chinese are slowly going ahead of everyone in terms of ecological and renewable energy: They discovered that sunlight and wind are free and that ecological technology is a major money-maker!
That was how the Green party was successful in influencing the establishment in Germany in the 1980ies: After everyone realized that ecological technology creates new markets, and hence, makes a lot of money, companies taking advantage of that popped up like mushrooms!
The thinking in the US (at least from corporations) is simply too conservative still ... and while the rest of the world is already decades ahead, the US is still in its Winter sleep.
TV programmes in the US contribute to keeping the population misinformed. Discovery Channel and National Geographic often portray stuff that already exists as "future technology", keeping their demographic, college students, misinformed, at least those who are not studying those fields.
Renewable power like wind, solar, and geothermic, are not "future technology", they've been used for decades. Same goes with biofuels, and other things, like recycling for instance.
I still remember people saying things like "recycling plastics is useless b/c you can only make park benches from the granulate", while companies were already making billions reselling cold-recycled plastic granulates of various kinds that got reused for making plastics.