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First, I should be clear in saying that it bothers me when people brush off electric cars completely with that one argument. My questions for you: Why is it "i

First, I should be clear in saying that it bothers me when people brush off electric cars completely with that one argument. My questions for you: Why is it "impossible" to develop a new infrastructure? Can you provide any data to support that? I'm always interested to know why people think "because it doesn't exist, it can't exist". And to answer your question, here are my points: 1) When automobiles were first adopted it was unlikely that people were taking long trips. The infrastructure developed over time. Give these people some time to develop the new infrastructure. 2) That common argument neglects to recognize I can charge an electric car in my garage every night. I don't need charging/battery swapping stations everywhere. (Though, I concede, people in apartments would) 3) The above point is particularly significant when you realize that the commute for millions of people everyday is only a few miles. Are electric cars going to solve everyone's problems today? No. Are they poised to solve the problems for many people soon? Absolutely.

hugh3 16y ago
I'm always interested to know why people think "because it doesn't exist, it can't exist". Because batteries take hours to charge, rather than minutes, it makes long trips awfully impractical. That's just plain ol' chemistry getting in the way, absent some huge advance in technology. Some have suggested hot-swappable battery packs, but bearing in mind that battery packs weigh hundreds of kilos and degrade over time (meaning you can never be sure you're not going to get a shitty one) then it makes life tricky. Personally I think the Chevy Volt has the right idea: combine fully-electric behaviour for short trips with the capability to do long trips by burning fuel. I'd definitely consider buying something with that kind of tech once it becomes available in a wider variety of cars.
- anthonycerra 16y ago
  You've grown accustom to putting a nozzle into a fuel tank to replenish your car's energy store. That works best for internal combustion engines, but it's completely arbitrary to force electric cars to fit into that model. Battery swapping stations are the answer, at least for now. Heavy things are lifted and moved all the time with machinery like forklifts. Because a human can't lift them is not a reason to say it's impossible.

hugh3 16y ago

I'm always interested to know why people think "because it doesn't exist, it can't exist". Because batteries take hours to charge, rather than minutes, it makes long trips awfully impractical. That's just plain ol' chemistry getting in the way, absent some huge advance in technology. Some have suggested hot-swappable battery packs, but bearing in mind that battery packs weigh hundreds of kilos and degrade over time (meaning you can never be sure you're not going to get a shitty one) then it makes life tricky. Personally I think the Chevy Volt has the right idea: combine fully-electric behaviour for short trips with the capability to do long trips by burning fuel. I'd definitely consider buying something with that kind of tech once it becomes available in a wider variety of cars.

anthonycerra 16y ago
You've grown accustom to putting a nozzle into a fuel tank to replenish your car's energy store. That works best for internal combustion engines, but it's completely arbitrary to force electric cars to fit into that model. Battery swapping stations are the answer, at least for now. Heavy things are lifted and moved all the time with machinery like forklifts. Because a human can't lift them is not a reason to say it's impossible.