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Electric car growing pains - 3/10/2012 9:54:35 AM   
TheHeretic


Posts: 19100
Joined: 3/25/2007
From: California, USA
Status: offline 		So the Car of the Year is selling so well they've laid off the plant employees for a few weeks, and the dealerships park them as far as possible from the building because of the fire risk, the Fisker Karma Consumer Reports went out and bought for 100 grand suffered a major breakdown after 180 miles, and Tesla owners are finding out their cars will turn into bricks, with a $40,000 repair bill if you let the battery drain out.

Are these just the growing pains of a new technology, or is the electric car doomed to remain a novelty item that simply lacks the capability to reliably provide what a normal household might expect from their car?
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RE: Electric car growing pains - 3/10/2012 9:56:37 AM   
Hillwilliam


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Status: offline 		I'm thinking it's a combination of new technology and people who don't read owners manuals.

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RE: Electric car growing pains - 3/10/2012 9:57:05 AM   
Owner59


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Status: offline 		You would have been soooooooooooooo inspirational at NASA when they were doing things that had never been done before........


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RE: Electric car growing pains - 3/10/2012 10:02:20 AM   
TheHeretic


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quote:

ORIGINAL: Owner59

You would have been soooooooooooooo inspirational at NASA when they were doing things that had never been done before........




Funny you should mention NASA, Owner59. My local paper doesn't offer free online content, and I haven't found where the story was picked up by any of the wire services, but one of the Chevy Volts at NASA's research center on Edwards Air Force Base caught fire while plugged into the charger, and sent up a column of smoke that could be seen across the whole valley. The others are now parked as far from the buildings as possible.

I'm assuming if anyplace knows how to read the manual, it would be those guys.

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RE: Electric car growing pains - 3/10/2012 10:03:40 AM   
Moonhead


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Status: offline 		You're sure it was a NASA employee's volt, then?

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RE: Electric car growing pains - 3/10/2012 10:04:31 AM   
Hillwilliam


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quote:

ORIGINAL: TheHeretic


quote:

ORIGINAL: Owner59

You would have been soooooooooooooo inspirational at NASA when they were doing things that had never been done before........




Funny you should mention NASA, Owner59. My local paper doesn't offer free online content, and I haven't found where the story was picked up by any of the wire services, but one of the Chevy Volts at NASA's research center on Edwards Air Force Base caught fire while plugged into the charger, and sent up a column of smoke that could be seen across the whole valley. The others are now parked as far from the buildings as possible.

I'm assuming if anyplace knows how to read the manual, it would be those guys.

I didn't say they couldnt read the manual, I said they dont.

I mean, you are quite literate. Have you read the owners manual for your car?
I haven't.

_____________________________

Kinkier than a cheap garden hose.

Whoever said "Religion is the opiate of the masses" never heard Right Wing talk radio.

Don't blame me, I voted for Gary Johnson.

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RE: Electric car growing pains - 3/10/2012 10:05:25 AM   
Owner59


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Status: offline 		The Volt

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RE: Electric car growing pains - 3/10/2012 10:11:25 AM   
TheHeretic


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quote:

ORIGINAL: Moonhead

You're sure it was a NASA employee's volt, then?



Not an employees car, Moon. This was a car that belonged to the research center. Hint: employees would charge their cars at home, and a Volt wouldn't have the electric only range for someone to commute onto that base, anyway. It's about 10 miles just from the sign that says you are entering, to the gatehouse. It's a big place.


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RE: Electric car growing pains - 3/10/2012 10:13:19 AM   
SternSkipper


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quote:

quote:

ORIGINAL: TheHeretic


quote:

ORIGINAL: Owner59

You would have been soooooooooooooo inspirational at NASA when they were doing things that had never been done before........




Funny you should mention NASA, Owner59. My local paper doesn't offer free online content, and I haven't found where the story was picked up by any of the wire services, but one of the Chevy Volts at NASA's research center on Edwards Air Force Base caught fire while plugged into the charger, and sent up a column of smoke that could be seen across the whole valley. The others are now parked as far from the buildings as possible.

I'm assuming if anyplace knows how to read the manual, it would be those guys.


I didn't say they couldnt read the manual, I said they dont.

I mean, you are quite literate. Have you read the owners manual for your car?
I haven't.



REALLY!!!! How many times a week do we see internal combustion propelled cars on fire on the side of the highway, and THIS is a big deal... TOO BAD Rich wasn't around to sound the alarm when cigarettes were found to cause cancer

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RE: Electric car growing pains - 3/10/2012 10:15:23 AM   
slvemike4u


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Status: offline 		Rich,I missed where you offered your opinion?
Perhaps you didn't feel it was worth it?
As far as what my opinion is....I'm going with normal,to be expected,growing pains.
The electric car will be alright,there are obvious problems,chiefly battery size,this will get figured out and lo and behold everyone will want one of these nifty things.
Hell before you know it conservatives will be driving the damm thing,once they get over the fact that they are no longer supporting big oil

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RE: Electric car growing pains - 3/10/2012 10:22:53 AM   
Moonhead


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quote:

ORIGINAL: TheHeretic


quote:

ORIGINAL: Moonhead

You're sure it was a NASA employee's volt, then?



Not an employees car, Moon. This was a car that belonged to the research center. Hint: employees would charge their cars at home, and a Volt wouldn't have the electric only range for someone to commute onto that base, anyway. It's about 10 miles just from the sign that says you are entering, to the gatehouse. It's a big place.



So it's not in anybody's interests to keep it in working order, and they won't give a fuck if it catches fire from being overcharged. That whole "Tragedy Of The Commons" thang, right?

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I like to think he was eaten by rats, in the dark, during a fog. It's what he would have wanted...
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RE: Electric car growing pains - 3/10/2012 10:23:43 AM   
Owner59


Posts: 17033
Joined: 3/14/2006
From: Dirty Jersey
Status: offline 		The 1st PCs and laptops were expensive but as time went by, they have come down in price.....to were now almost anyone can get one.


The cell phone.

In 1992 when I got my 1st one,only doctors seemed to have them and they were very expensive and pretty simple, feature-wise.

Today?

You can buy disposable cellphones for goodness` sake for less than 20 bucks!

And we are now carrying around computers disguised as cell-phones capable of doing almost anything a desk-top computer can do.

Now image if the can`t-do/doom&gloom/whatever-rush-says party was against NASA for political reasons....the same way they are against GMs rescue and with the Volt?

Well.....considering how many republicans think the moon`s light is god`s doing and not the sun`s reflection(fundies).......we would never have reached the moon.






< Message edited by Owner59 -- 3/10/2012 10:28:03 AM >

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"As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals"

President Obama

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RE: Electric car growing pains - 3/10/2012 10:28:34 AM   
Moonhead


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quote:

ORIGINAL: Owner59
And we are now carrying around computers disguised as cell-phones capable of doing almost anything a desk-top computer can do.

Yeah? Write us a novel on your blackberry, then. I'll settle for a mere hundred thousand words.

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I like to think he was eaten by rats, in the dark, during a fog. It's what he would have wanted...
(Simon R Green on the late James Herbert)

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RE: Electric car growing pains - 3/10/2012 10:31:04 AM   
SternSkipper


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quote:

Yeah? Write us a novel on your blackberry, then. I'll settle for a mere hundred thousand words.


Don't even get us going on how much PrimatePorn<tm> you can store on your Android....

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RE: Electric car growing pains - 3/10/2012 10:36:37 AM   
TheHeretic


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From: California, USA
Status: offline 		Mike, in some applications, electric vehicles and equipment make tons of sense. Lo' those many years ago when I was a warehouse picker, I rode around all day on an electric pallet jack without every being electrocuted, or going up in smoke.

For my needs and uses, I'd be best off with a midsize, diesel powered, station wagon, but there aren't a lot of options easily available on the market in California.

No. I don't think we are there yet, and the issues of battery weight and range are going to need a major breakthrough, not some design tweaks.

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RE: Electric car growing pains - 3/10/2012 10:41:16 AM   
TheHeretic


Posts: 19100
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Moonhead
So it's not in anybody's interests to keep it in working order, and they won't give a fuck if it catches fire from being overcharged. That whole "Tragedy Of The Commons" thang, right?



That's a pretty cynical view of government, coming from a liberal. Can we assume you'll be cheerleading from afar for the conservative candidate in my country's upcoming election then?

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RE: Electric car growing pains - 3/10/2012 10:44:27 AM   
Owner59


Posts: 17033
Joined: 3/14/2006
From: Dirty Jersey
Status: offline 		There were a few battery problems when cells and lap-tops 1st came out.

Fires even!!!

What do you think folks would have said about a guy who declared cell phones and mobile computers dead.......because a battery or two over heated? Mostly insults inbetween laughing fits.......

Going to the moon we lost a few rockets and a few good......brave men.

What cowards our leaders would have been........ if they had let those tragedies stop us from traveling to outer-space?

Where cowards would surrender and declare defeat......real leaders would learn from experience and build on it and persevere.

Are we going to let a bunch of con-cowards keep us from traveling on earth without having to enrich the Saudi Arabians as a consequence?!

My leadership is trying to do something about that.





< Message edited by Owner59 -- 3/10/2012 10:45:42 AM >

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RE: Electric car growing pains - 3/10/2012 10:50:18 AM   
Iamsemisweet


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Status: offline 		Growing pains. What new product doesn't have a few glitches to work out? The battery discharge issue is a huge one. And I bet no engineer from NASA would lower herself to read a car manual. I am sure they think they know it all.

The real question is whether these cars actually result on a savings in energy or carbon footprint. Yes, they don't burn fuel, but they also have to be charged on an electrical system that in some cases uses coal. I wonder if this technology is just externalizing the environmental cost from the car owners, which is always how we handle environmental issues.

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RE: Electric car growing pains - 3/10/2012 10:51:48 AM   
DomKen


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From: Chicago, IL
Status: offline 		Funny I've had my Prius, converted to plug in by kit, for quite some time and I've never had it catch on fire. I'm betting some investigation will find the fire issue with the Volt is blown all out of proprtion just like the lie the RW hate media spread about how a Prius had a bigger lifetime environmental footprint than a HumVee.

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RE: Electric car growing pains - 3/10/2012 11:07:48 AM   
TheHeretic


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quote:

ORIGINAL: Iamsemisweet

Growing pains. What new product doesn't have a few glitches to work out? The battery discharge issue is a huge one. And I bet no engineer from NASA would lower herself to read a car manual. I am sure they think they know it all.



What's the bet? My littlest brother bought his pick-up from a retiree who worked out there, and you have never seen such complete and detailed maintenance records in your life.

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