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susanc's avatar

Does anyone have experience with electric cars?

Asked by susanc (16144points) July 12th, 2007

got one? like it? tell me all about it.

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9 Answers

occ's avatar

There is a great documentary on electric cars called "Who Killed the Electric Car"...you can google it and order it, or I believe also rent it on NetFlix...it will tell you lots about electric cars. One thing to note is that the "eco-superiority" of an electric car can depend on where you are getting your electricity from. If you live in an area where electricity comes from a dirty coal-fired power plant, powering your car from the grid is still dirty. But if you happen to live somewhere where you can purchase cleaner power (solar, wind, etc), that is an excellent and enviro-friendly option.

If you are also wondering about cars that have a hybrid gasoline-electric engine, I've driven a Prius a couple times, and it is completely awesome. I really enjoyed driving it--and you can get 50 MPG. It's also silent. And it never has to be plugged in.

susanc's avatar

Thank you very much, occ. I do drive a Prius (which is as awesome as you say),
almost 4 years old, got the showroom model; my husband drives an even older Honda Civic hybrid.
We're moving from a rural to a town location, where the distances will be smaller and the pure-electrics will be practicable. In the Pacific NW a lot of our electricity comes from hydro (which has its own problems..).
Did see "Who Killed the Electric Car". Heinous story. Good recommendation.
There are a lot of little electrics out there. If anyone has had experience with them,
I'd like to hear your stories. Thanks.

rosedog's avatar

This isn't a question. There's no verb.

koliverson's avatar

Golf carts have been a wonderful example of electric transportation. We should take a lesson or two from the golfers of the world.

susanc's avatar

We've found some info on small golf-cart-based electrics called GEM cars made by Chrysler-Daimler (around $7K) and an amazingly cool thing called a TWIKE made in Germany which has a battery that gets charged when driver and/or passenger pedal it, and has a cover so you can ride it in bad weather. But it's very, very expensive.
We drive hybrids already. We're moving into town, from a house in the country that's only accessible by freeway, so we want to downsize.

slickrick's avatar

Do a search for the Tango. Really cool commuter car!

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sarahc's avatar

ooh I got to ride in a tesla. it changed my life. so powerful and sexy.

hey occ—did you know that electric cars are actually less carbon intensive than gas powered cars, no matter what kind of power grid they plug into. check out this NRDC/EPRI study: http://tinyurl.com/6jpcrb

i’ve also never understood the “and you don’t have to plug in” argument in favor of a hybrid over electric. plugging in a car at your house overnight seems a lot easier to me (not to mention cheaper) than having to make repeated trips to a gas station. we plug in everything else in our lives, why not a car?

susanc, Plug In America has great information about electric cars: http://www.pluginamerica.org/. have you thought about converting your prius to a plug-in hybrid? then you can get the benefits of electric with the distance flexibility of a gas-hybrid: http://www.pluginconversions.com/

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