# Anybody else driving an electric car?



## janfromflorida (May 31, 2013)

This isn't something I did on purpose; but I am glad it happened.  After my husband died I couldn't afford the payments on our Outlander.  So I went to Mitsubishi and came home with a leased MIEV.  It scared me at first - how fare will it go - will it let me sit???  It did have a bad auxiliary battery, which let it die a couple of times.  But, thankfully that was in my carport.  Once they replaced that all is well.  I still glance down at the dashboard every time I pass my old gas station and gasp at the prices.  Then I have a great big laugh!  I plug it in to the house current a couple of times a week over night.  So are I haven't noticed any difference in my electric bill.  What's not to like?


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## rkunsaw (May 31, 2013)

I guess electric cars would be fine for city driving. Like hybrids though, they are not much use for rural living or traveling long distances.


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## SifuPhil (May 31, 2013)

Now THIS is an electric car I would love to own - 



The Tesla Roadster

0-60 in under 4 seconds
Top speed - 125MPH
Goes 220 miles per charge
Gets an equivalent of 135MPG of gas
248 HP

The bad news? Base price is around $100,000.


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## That Guy (May 31, 2013)

Interesting you should bring this up.  I've been thinking about getting a ZERO electric motorcycle.  Too cool!


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## Happyflowerlady (May 31, 2013)

I live on the edge of town, and an electric car would work fine for me, but I can't make payments on my income ( at least right now), so even if I saved gas, it wouldn't make the payment. I keep my driving to a minimum, and use about $20-30 a month in gas. 
Way back on the 80s, VW had an electric van, and if I ever found one, and it was drivable, I would grab it in a heartbeat. I love VW minivans, and the little pop top camper that I used to have is probably my all time favorite vehicle. I can't even find the little electric van on the Internet, so they must not have made it very long. The one I saw for sale was used, so it was probably from the 70s sometime, maybe.


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## SifuPhil (May 31, 2013)

Happy, are you sure they had an electric van that long ago, or was it an individual conversion project? I know there were a few individuals that attempted to make an all-electric VW van, with varying degrees of success. Volkswagon had, to my knowledge, only just announced their future vision of the E-Co Motion van back in 2011 - not sure what the status of it is now.


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## That Guy (May 31, 2013)




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## SifuPhil (May 31, 2013)

Life imitates art, doesn't it? 

This is a litium-battery-powered product of Adura, a Cally company that started in 2009 and which they plan to roll-out in China sometime in the near future. 

Don't ask me "Why China?" - they must have been the high bidders.


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## Happyflowerlady (May 31, 2013)

The little VW bus might have been something that someone converted, I never even thought of that possibility, Phil. 
I was a traveling sales rep for Combined Insurance at the time, and when I stopped at a house to talk to the people abut their policy, they had the bus sitting out in the yard, and wanted something like $600 for it. I looked at it, and they explained that it had a battery that would go about 25 miles, and then had to plug in to charge up again.
Since they lived a good 10 miles from town, making the trip was iffy, and they decided to sell it. I was driving an average of 1,000  miles a week, so it was not something I could use, even though I really liked the idea, and the next time I was working in that area, they had sold it.
I searched online, and never could find even a reference to it, and now I can see that it was because it was not a regular VW, it was unique.


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## Pappy (Jun 1, 2013)

Traveling 1200 miles twice a year would not work for me ( until they invent an extension cord long enough ) but I am seeing more electric vehicles in Florida. The Smart car scares me, just thinking getting in an accident could be a fatal experience. Some places are now setting up charging stations at their business. Good move on their part.


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## SifuPhil (Jun 1, 2013)

Pappy said:


> ... The Smart car scares me, just thinking getting in an accident could be a fatal experience. ...



One of our local pharmacies has a fleet of them for delivery. The first time I saw one zipping down the street I thought it was a pregnant mosquito.

The fully-electric Smart car is finally appearing, starting at $25,000 - still a bit steep, but I think as the technology matures and the charging infrastructure builds up the prices should start coming down. 

Then the only worries we'll have is where our electricity is coming from - oil, coal, hydro, nuclear ...


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## That Guy (Jun 1, 2013)

Yeah, those smart cars scare me.  I actually was passed by one flying down the freeway.  Deathwish 2000!

I, too, am concerned about the electricity source.  Just plugging an electric car into the outlet at home sounds so easy and wonderful.  But, where's it coming from???  I really get irritated when poor battery performance is used as an argument against the electric car.  How about some concerted research on improving batteries?  That goes for the similar argument against solar power.  Research and development, baby!  That big ol' nuclear reactor in the sky is the best source of energy we could want.  Let's use it!


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## SifuPhil (Jun 1, 2013)

Of course, those of us that are often accused of wearing tin-foil hats would say that the government suppresses any advanced research into alternative fuels because of their being owned by Big Oil ...


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## janfromflorida (Jun 1, 2013)

Now where did I leave that tin foil hat....oh, yeah I put a flower on it and my friends think it is latest fashion! And yeah, we ALL know that is true about the government and big oil.


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## That Guy (Jun 1, 2013)

Can't be wearin' my tin hat no more.  Now what???

"Mobile phone company Samsung has admitted to using tin sourced from Indonesia's controversial Bangka Island, where an investigation last year by the Guardian and environmental charity Friends of the Earth (FoE) found that unregulated tin mining depends on child labour, wrecks the environment and kills an estimated 150 miners every year."


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## SifuPhil (Jun 1, 2013)

Wow - didn't know about that.

How about something totally domestic like, oh ... how about ...


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## That Guy (Jun 1, 2013)




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## SifuPhil (Jun 1, 2013)

Still my favorite tin-foil hat picture of all time ... even used it as an avatar on several conspiracy forums ...


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## janfromflorida (Jun 1, 2013)

Hey, I want one of those!


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## janfromflorida (Jun 1, 2013)

I meant the lighted one!


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## SifuPhil (Jun 1, 2013)

janfromflorida said:


> Hey, I want one of those!



That particular one *isn't commercially available* yet, but it promises to do some amazing things ... like signal a turn when you nod your head!


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## That Guy (Jun 1, 2013)

Yet, these are so much more fashionable...


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## janfromflorida (Jun 1, 2013)

Wow, now I can have a different one for every day of the week!


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## MercyL (Jun 10, 2013)

janfromflorida said:


> This isn't something I did on purpose; but I am glad it happened.  After my husband died I couldn't afford the payments on our Outlander.  So I went to Mitsubishi and came home with a leased MIEV.  It scared me at first - how fare will it go - will it let me sit???  It did have a bad auxiliary battery, which let it die a couple of times.  But, thankfully that was in my carport.  Once they replaced that all is well.  I still glance down at the dashboard every time I pass my old gas station and gasp at the prices.  Then I have a great big laugh!  I plug it in to the house current a couple of times a week over night.  So are I haven't noticed any difference in my electric bill.  What's not to like?



We are drooling over those little Smart cars. There are several within a few blocks of our home and they remind me of either rolling nail polish bottles or a St. Bernard's chew toy.

I would love having one, but afraid that SUV drivers would drive right over me, and they need to come down in price before I consider adding another car payment to the budget.

If we cannot buy a Smart car as our next vehicle, I would love having a used PT Cruiser in either black or a metallic blue. We could pick one up for about $5,000.00!


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## SifuPhil (Jun 10, 2013)

My son had told me a while back that he had bought a scooter to get around town. Without being given specifics, I thought he meant something like this:



Turns out after talking this weekend and seeing a pic of it, he's actually got a two-seater, 250cc bike that goes 90MPH and looks like this:



I'm impressed! He gets something like 75MPG and it has a ten-gallon tank, so for something like $35 they can cruise all month around town. Not a bad deal ...


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## That Guy (Jun 11, 2013)




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## JustBonee (Jun 11, 2013)

The fun (and savings) of anything is always ruined sooner or later isn't it? 

I read the government is concerned about the lost tax revenue on electric cars.  They are going to come up with a tax you will pay for using public roads.   Some states already have something in the works.


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## SifuPhil (Jun 11, 2013)

Boo's Mom said:


> The fun (and savings) of anything is always ruined sooner or later isn't it?
> 
> I read the government is concerned about the lost tax revenue on electric cars.  They are going to come up with a tax you will pay for using public roads.   Some states already have something in the works.



I'm not surprised. There's a true story about how GM, Firestone, Goodyear and a group of other oil-related companies got together and created a "shell" company. They then used that company to buy up all of the small street-car companies across the country and, once in possession of those companies, promptly ripped up the tracks and destroyed all the street-cars so that people would be forced to purchase automobiles.

I might be wrong, but aren't the taxes and fees levied on truckers also related to the upkeep of public roads? Isn't that why they have weigh-stations?


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## JustBonee (Jun 11, 2013)

weigh-stations?   Do they use them much anymore?  Not that I spend that much time on interstate roads, but every time I've ever been past one, around the southern part of the country, they seem deserted and empty.
Maybe it's because more funds are spent at the borders??


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## Anne (Jun 11, 2013)

Hadn't heard that about the streetcars, but, yes, the truckers fees do go for road upkeep, etc.   weigh stations are to make sure they're not overloaded for safety reasons, mostly.

thing is, a lot of the trucks from Mexico aren't checked like they should be, and some are very unsafe these days....scary.  They don't have the same regulations there, that we do in the states.


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## SifuPhil (Jun 11, 2013)

Boo's Mom said:


> weigh-stations?   Do they use them much anymore?  Not that I spend that much time on interstate roads, but every time I've ever been past one, around the southern part of the country, they seem deserted and empty.
> Maybe it's because more funds are spent at the borders??



Well, I just got back from traveling the length of Rt. 80 through Pennsylvania and part of Ohio, and although many of the stations _were_ closed there were still several open, so I guess they're still being used. 



Anne said:


> Hadn't heard that about the streetcars, but, yes, the truckers fees do go for road upkeep, etc.   weigh stations are to make sure they're not overloaded for safety reasons, mostly.
> 
> thing is, a lot of the trucks from Mexico aren't checked like they should be, and some are very unsafe these days....scary.  They don't have the same regulations there, that we do in the states.



Ah, the safety thing makes sense. I thought there was some connection in their thinking between how heavy a truck was and how much damage it does to the roads.

Trucks from Mexico ... yes, I suppose a tanker filled with 100 immigrants could be considered "unsafe" ...


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## Anne (Jun 11, 2013)

SifuPhil said:


> Ah, the safety thing makes sense. I thought there was some connection in their thinking between how heavy a truck was and how much damage it does to the roads.
> 
> Trucks from Mexico ... yes, I suppose a tanker filled with 100 immigrants could be considered "unsafe" ...



I'm sure the road damage is part of it, too....especially in Spring when there are load limits as the frost is coming out.   LOL, on the immigrants; no doubt that might be a problem, too.   But mostly, Mexico doesn't have the safety regs in place like we do, and sometimes are not thoroughly checked at the border, or at weigh stations.  
 NAFTA didn't help all that, and I have to wonder how many are paid off, to let the trucks go through.   It happens.


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## SifuPhil (Jun 11, 2013)

Anne said:


> I'm sure the road damage is part of it, too....especially in Spring when there are load limits as the frost is coming out.   LOL, on the immigrants; no doubt that might be a problem, too.   But mostly, Mexico doesn't have the safety regs in place like we do, and sometimes are not thoroughly checked at the border, or at weigh stations.
> NAFTA didn't help all that, and I have to wonder how many are paid off, to let the trucks go through.   It happens.



I think NAFTA is one of those paper tigers we hear so much about ...

At one time, perhaps 20 years or so ago, I had considered moving to Mexico mainly because of the natural beauty and the cheaper cost of living, but since then the cost has spiraled upward, the natural beauty is being destroyed and the drug wars are _quite_ scary.


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## Happyflowerlady (Jun 11, 2013)

I think the weigh stations are mainly to make sure the vehicle is not overloaded, and sometimes to check on the load being hauled.
I remember hauling horses across Washington State, and we had to stop at all the weigh stations, just like the trucks did. They didn't really worry that we were overloaded, but we had to show the health certificates for the horses each time we stopped.
And when we moved out to Alabama from Idaho, we came out in a motorhome, and we also had to stop at the weight stations along the way if they were open, and it wasn't because we had to pay taxes, like the truckers do. Maybe , with the big trucks though, where they do have to pay a road tax, it is part of the reason that they have to stop at the weigh stations.


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## R. Zimm (Jun 12, 2013)

With all the rain in South Florida lately it makes me think that any electric vehicle would be a bad idea. A hybrid would get through ok but I don't think the all electrics like much standing water.


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## That Guy (Jun 12, 2013)




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