GM's direction.............

[Mikado463]

Originally Posted by GaryProtein

I for one do not want to spend time charging my car on a trip. I would rather pull into a gas station, spend five minutes there and leave.

Perhaps as technology advances you will be able to pull into your favorite 'station' and swap out battery packs ?? easily done in under five minutes I suspect .........who knows ????

[62caddy]

Originally Posted by nicoff

Electric cars is not the only technology being touted to reduce pollution. Hydrogen-powered vehicles are also being tested.
The carbon footprint of electric vehicles is not zero. But it is a lot less than that of ICE vehicles.
Technology keeps advancing. I recall the times when government mandated higher fuel economy from vehicle manufacturers and the car companies cried foul. And many called it the end of the muscle car. Today, cars are more powerful than ever and a 4 cylinder engine can develop more power than an inefficient V8 from yesteryear.

The only thing MPG mandates have essentially accomplished was to replace large cars with large luxurious SUVs (not before drastically impacting the quality of cars produced in the '70s and '80s.)

While small 4 cylinder engines have come a long way, they are generally poor at generating the torque needed for heavy loads such as encountered in towing, trailering etc.

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by Mikado463

Perhaps as technology advances you will be able to pull into your favorite 'station' and swap out battery packs ?? easily done in under five minutes I suspect .........who knows ????

That model has been tried before by a now defunct Israeli company “Better Place”. Here is why that model is unlikely to ever work. http://www.greencarreports.com/news/...ppen-heres-why

[Formerly YB-2]

Originally Posted by crwilli

That is about economics and politics Dave.

The US is generating Natural Gas at world class rates thanks to shale gas which in some cases brings with it tremendous quantities of light crude oil as well. Together, these two sources of energy are transforming the WORLD energy map and giving the US huge strategic advantage.

Natural Gas is no doubt cleaner to burn than coal. But coal can be burned cleanly IF the capital is spent to mitigate the by-products. I believe that our shale gas will be he preferred fuel for power etc no matter how much politics try to sway it.

I suspect that if a natural gas plant becomes the standard, the cost of capital to build a compliant coal plant that meets those environmental standards, coal will fade from a slow death as old plants become obsolete. That speed could go faster or slower depending on who is in the White House.

Considerably less about politics then economics. With automation, coal jobs are never coming back and the cost of transport will never match a gas pipeline, to say nothing of the by-products problems (ash, air-borne polluntants, etc.). Renewables, subsidies or not, will continue to grow (just have to figure out how to maintain the base-load plants). Personally, I'll be happy with an electric vehicle if it has decent range (3-400mi) and can be recharged quickly enough (under an hour). I'm all about comfort, reliability & economy in my transport these days. Electric performance is a given (look at Tesla). That small SUV in Dave's article is nice looking.

Originally Posted by 62caddy

While small 4 cylinder engines have come a long way, they are generally poor at generating the torque needed for heavy loads such as encountered in towing, trailering etc.

While likely true for small 4cyl turbo engines, my friends who tow with Ford's twin-turbo V6 tell me it is the best engine they've towed with to-date.