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Electric cars are green and cute but pointless

by Steven Hodson on November 20, 2008 · Comments

So everyone these days is jumping on the electric vehicle bandwagon like there is no tomorrow, just as they all jumped on the biofuel horseless cart before it. With car makers staking their literal futures on it; like Chevy’s Volt, to just about any other car maker.

The newest one to join the cavalcade is the new all electric Mini from BMW which brags of seamless acceleration to 62 mph in just 8.5 seconds with a top speed of 95 mph. The interesting thing is that they don’t include; anywhere where I could find it at least, was the time between charging. After all, an all electric car is going to have to be recharged at some point.

Here’s an interesting thing about the Austin Mini as it was known before being bought up by BMW. The Mini was without a doubt one of the most economic cars you could buy when it came to filling up. I know of where I speak in this regard because I have owned a Mini Cooper S in the past.

To give you an idea of just how economic I go back to the mid 70’s when I first bought my Cooper S while living in Vancouver. At that time you could fill up the gas tank for just under $5.00 and drive around Vancouver for the better part of the week before having to fill up again. This was also the same car that I drove from Vancouver to where we live now in Ontario and my total bill for gas and oil was $75.00 (and spare change). You couldn’t even buy a bus ticket for that price.

So really what benefits has this move to electrify an already economic car other than slow it down (because trust me the Cooper S went a lot faster than 95 mph - heck it did that going around corners in the mountains)  and make it cost more to recharge than to fill with gas.

As cute and conscious soothing as the idea of driving an electric car might seem even Chevy realizes that you can’t just rely on electricity to power your cars which is why the Volt is a combination deal. Aside from the fact that a completely electric car is totally impractical outside an extremely narrow set of circumstances one has to wonder about the cost.

As anyone living in Canada; and especially Ontario, will tell you we are already getting screwed over by our power company so just imagine the woodies they’ll be getting when we start plugging in our cars. For families that are already on the borderline of losing their power; and I know more than a few in this situation, the idea of having an electric car is just stupid. Now multiply this need for power nationwide; both US and Canada since the US buys more power from Canada than you might imagine, and you will see the cost of electric power easily triple within a year.

The idea of all electric; or even electric hybrids, make no sense outside of a very small marketplace. At some point those batteries have to be charged and kept charged up; not to mention the fact that for the hybrids you will still need gas for when you go beyond the limit of the batteries. So you end up paying twice in a single long trip.

Sure their cute for the run to the corner store and let everyone know how green you are but let me know how much you like it when you decide to drive across country; or like myself make the monthly 200 mile trip (there and back) to see our doctor.

I only hope you have someone handy who knows CPR for when you get the next electric bill after showing the world how green and cool you are with that electric car in the driveway.

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Tagged as: Battery electric vehicle, BMW, Electric car, Electric vehicle, Green Tech, Mini, Mini Cooper

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  • joemontana
    The thing that I think about, *every* time I see a new "messiah car", is **how are we going to make the fuel***what are the hidden costs***?
    What I mean is , what good is a wonderful green car if it takes freaking coal fired power plant to make all that wonderful electricity for it to run on?
    What good is a clean hybrid if the area where the batteries are made is turned into a wasteland because of the battery making byproducts,

    Biodiesel (which I used to use a lot ) has to be made from something. Tell me how it helps us if it takes the food out of our mouths to make the fuel?
    I still think that Biodiesel is the best of the alternative fuels <<if and only if>> we get to the point where we can make biodiesel from algae ore something like that.


    Joe
  • Pierre
    The problem with power production is that we're conditioned to think "centralized production". It doesn't have to be that way.

    For example, wind-powered turbines are more suited to individual, scattered production, despite the power companies' efforts to make us believe otherwise (the "wind farms" are both wasteful and environment-hostile).

    By fitting our compost makers with gas capture devices, we'd be able to store enough methane for domestic household needs, at least for people who don't live in crowded cities. Best of all, after the initial capital outlay, the methane is free – and so is the wind-produced electricity. Which is almost certainly why the power companies and their government subsidized cronies aren't pushing these solutions, by the way.

    There are many locations in the world where geothermal power production could replace combustion-powered power plants; the technologies required (drilling and heat turbines) are readily available and only need small adaptations.

    The underdeveloped countries happen to be in locations where sun-powered Sterling engines are a cheap, viable solution for many of their power needs (again a scattered, non-centralized solution, not friendly to power companies – or oil companies, for that matter).

    Yes, there *is* an initial cost. But that is the price of survival, it's that plain and simple. Forget Biodiesel, we (as a *species*, not as a country) need the food more than the fuel, and there are many viable alternatives.
  • Car companies are falling over themselves to make a viable electric car, because they know it will sell on its green credentials. There's two problems with this story; firstly, most electricity is created by burning coal, which is a greater contributor to global warming than petrol motors, and secondly, the manufacture of an electric car produces a carbon footprint that cannot be offset by the reduction in fuel it uses. It is up to consumers to realise that the best way to reduce their impact on the environment is to not consume in the first place. Keeping your current car, but driving it less will be much more beneficial than buying a new electric car.
  • Pierre
    My wife's first car was an Austin Mini (boy, was that a long time ago!) and, while it undoubtedly was economic, it was also the most uncomfortable car we ever had. When going over a paved road, we could easily count the stones... It also had a trunk which you could fill up with a box of tissues and a can (not a pack) of beer.

    As for electric cars, they'll become practical when they can have batteries that give them a 300-mile range, like fuel-propelled cars.
  • Infinidean
    Your view, IMO, is narrowminded and self-serving. An electric car with it's limited miles per charge is all most people need. For some, like you, it won't suffice, but most people commute and drive less that 40 miles per day. Most cars will be charged at night when there is surplus energy, which will put no real strain on the supply. And while most electricity is currently produced by non-ecofriendly ways, it doesn't have to remain that way. If there is a market created and growing which wants and which buys electric cars others will try and create things for this market. If there is a market, advances in green technology will grow. At first, will it be cheaper than it is now? No. Will it possibly become cheaper. Maybe. Some generation has to make the sacrifices necessary to help clean up the mess we're in. I think the time is now, and I'm willing to pay more for a cleaner, better future.
  • hang on a second Dean in some ways you are being narrow minded here as well then. I would bet that you do a mileage check and account for things like rush hour traffic and stop and go traffic you would find that 40 mile range isn't all that much especially considering a commute is a two way trip and all I am seeing is a 40 mile aggregate value before needing to recharge.

    If you are suggesting that there be recharging stations in the expensive places we park our cars who going to pay for them to be installed ('cause you can bet the parking lot companies won't do with out some real good government incentives), who's gonna set the rate for what you pay for that charging (cause you can also bet that parking lot companies will rape your wallet given the chance). Suddenly that green alternative is getting to be a very expensive commuting alternative.

    Now lets start getting out of beautiful Florida were everyone lives on top of each other .. how about the northeast of even Canada. We have people who commute to work from my town to Toronto every day .. thats approximately 60 miles one way (100 kilometers) which can range from an hour's drive to two or three depending on when you hit rush hour traffic. But also we don't have sunny warm weather every day either (and neither does much of the US) and every time you turn on the heater and the lights - or any other part of the car that requires extended use of electricity this is going to impact that vehicle power aggregate.

    So how much sacrifice are those outside of California and Florida going to have to make Dean? Are we going to have to to tall restructure our lifestyle to where we live so that we are all within a radius of travel? I can just imagine the housing costs at that point will go through the roof in this "hot" zones of travel.

    I'm not saying that we shouldn't be building electric cars but don't cram them down our throats as the panacea for our current transportation woes because in the larger world they aren't.
  • Infinidean
    I've seen the 40 mile range as the average North American commute on CNN and heard it on NPR. Perhaps it's wrong, but I know plenty of people who live within 5 miles of work, and many of them in the northern tundra of Michigan, not just in FL and CA. For those outside of that range, the more there's a need, the more there will be improvement on the capability. We've got to start somewhere.

    Yes, it will be more expensive at first. As is all new technology. But just as with most technology, the price goes down rapidly as more people get involved. If you generate your own free electricity with your own solar, it cuts way down on the over all expense. Yes, I know that the intitial outlay is more than most, more than I, can currently afford, but I believe the day will come where thats not the case. We've got to start somewhere.

    I don't feel in any way that electric cars are being touted as a panacea to all woes. I feel they're being touted as an alternative that will work for some, and a possible way to ease our dependancy on oil. Is it a perfect alternative? No. Is it a step in the right direction? Yes. We've got to start somewhere.

    Ultimately we have got a lot of work to do, and it's going to hurt some to do it. Most advances in civilization come at a price. But... We've got to start somewhere.

    And yes, on this subject, I'm very narrow minded. I'm passionate about it, and that leads me to proselytizing. Didn't mean to ruffle any feathers, Boss.

    http://www.earthcharterinaction.org/2000/10/the...
  • You've known me long enough Dean to know it takes a lot more than this to ruffle my feathers :)
  • Chadman
    Electric cars are a young technology. They've only been around since what? 1890? http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aacar...

    We have a lot to work out. But look what we stand to gain. Oil is a nasty business all around. The electric car costs probably less than one tenth the money to maintain as that of a gas or diesel powered automobile. Battery technology is a weak link and so is recharging your car battery pack. But in time we might be able to work these things out. I think we need to give it a chance and see where it goes. Nano-tech is leading to new and better technology every day.

    I have often wondered what it would be like pulling into a battery "filling station" of the future and sit back for 5 minutes while the attendant slides a "Standardized Battery Unit" out of my car and replaces it so I'm good for another 200 or 300 miles? The battery station saving the bulk of recharging of SBU's for night time when electricity costs less. I wonder if the solar cells integrated on all the surface of my car could at least contribute to battery charge as I drive and when I'm parked?

    I sure as hell would welcome not waiting next to the fool and his Diesel Extra Super Duty King Cab with 42", that tires he never takes out of the city, spewing nasty diesel smoke every time he accelerates hard from a stop light, his ego inflated to twice the size of his tires.

    We need to start thinking differently. We need to grow up technologically speaking.
  • We might need to think differently but all the thinking in the world isn't going to bring anything to market, no matter how good it is. It also doesn't help that electric car companies are going out of business because there is no money. That doesn't portend well for the industry or us.
  • Chadman
    Have a little faith. Engineers will deliver us into the 21 century (finally). We have spent a long time doing nothing because we didn't really have the need. Now er really need to.

    http://www.hybridcars.com/components/michelins-...
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