

  (Source: Hybrid Cars)

Lutz may be back if things go sour












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RE: Wrong Mr Lutz
By monkeyman1140 on 5/21/2010 1:29:29 AM , Rating: 1
I'm sure he had the first generation EV1 with the flawed lead acid batteries. Its no accident GM put in defective batteries the first time around. When the NiMh packs were installed, GM was really worried about dramatic range improvement, and killed the program soon afterwards, fearing the EV1 would nuke the rest of their product line.

Its a shame, if they had gone ahead they would have blown the japanese out of the water and would be the #1 seller of electric cars now, and most likely not have gone bankrupt and owned by the government.

Sucks when Michael Moore is right eh?

RE: Wrong Mr Lutz
By knutjb on 5/21/2010 4:35:25 AM , Rating: 2
Your sure of something you have no idea about, genius. The car had NiMH, it was near the end of the program. You need to stop smoking so much michael moore.

Why do you think the EV1 had a small passenger compartment, less air to heat and cool.

NiMH batteries can be damaged in temps above 105. The AC sucks a lot of juice. Ever lived in the desert?

Heaters are electric and batteries put out less voltage in very low temps, greatly reducing range. Ever lived in the mid-west?

The grid isn't capable of handling a nationwide conversion. Again brown outs in LA already where do you think you'll get the sparks in summer to charge your car? Well you need to install charging stations first. And don't forget running the lights at night...

The batteries create large amounts of pollution to manufacture and recycle. EVs are sort of clean in operation, depends on where the power is generated.

The EV1 was only leased, along with all the other EVs in Michael Moore's misleading movie. They were leased because they were non-standard prototype vehicles allowed on the road using a loop hole in the law. Which is why they were destroyed afterward, blame the lawyers.

EVs aren't even close to perfect, hence hybrids. There are some areas where EVs can work well and I think Ford's electric delivery van might just find its way into that market.

I'm not against them, just realistic on their current practicality.

Cradle to grave the Honda Civic Natural Gas model produces less pollution than a Toyota Hybrid. NG is 120 octane allowing for high compression ratios, i.e. lots of torque. The engines will outlast the rest of the car on NG because it burns cooler and doesn't wash the oil of the cylinder walls. We have huge, 250 years worth, of untapped NG reserves in the US.

RE: Wrong Mr Lutz
By AEvangel on 5/21/2010 9:54:21 AM , Rating: 2
he grid isn't capable of handling a nationwide conversion.

Actually they charge at night when electricity was plentiful.


I agree NG is a much better solution right now then ANY Hybrid, they could convert almost all fleet and commercial vehicles over to it and completely free this country from our dependence on foreign oil.

RE: Wrong Mr Lutz
By knutjb on 5/21/2010 2:39:24 PM , Rating: 2
Actually they charge at night when electricity was plentiful.

During the summer in mostly large cities where you are likely to have more people, hence more plug-ins, and temps hit and stay above 80 at night the grid is still stressed. It doesn't happen for the entire summer but it will negatively impact night time charging.

What if you work a night job and have to charge during the day or drive to work and plug-in? I know, the smart grid will save us from insufficient infrastructure and from ourselves!? Yeah Big Government!

RE: Wrong Mr Lutz
By namechamps on 5/24/2010 1:17:42 PM , Rating: 2
Not it isn't.

At night even when it is "hot" the grid is well below peak capacity.

Think about it. The same grid that managed all the AC running at noon (when temp is 100 deg+) somehow is maxed out at night when temp is 20 degrees lower?

There is a massive amount of reserve (wasted) capacity at night.

If you work a nightjob then maybe an EV isn't the right vehicle for you. Just because something doesn't work for 100% of the population doesn't mean it is useless.

If EV could replaces millions of vehicle if we just start with low hanging fruit.

Multi-car household, with personal driveway and/or garage, with mostly urban/suburban driving, and at least one person in household works a 1st shift job.

How many millions of cars do you think fit in that "optimal" category?

RE: Wrong Mr Lutz
By tallguywithglasseson on 5/26/2010 2:35:46 AM , Rating: 2
Sucks when Michael Moore is right eh?
Would just like to point out that Who Killed The Electric Car? was written and produced by Chris Paine, not Michael Moore.

Unless you're referring to "Roger and Me", in which case I don't think I follow your point.

