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Electric car future may power a charging industry
As makers from Tesla to Nissan Motor Co jockey to dominate the next generation electric-powered cars, a fight on which companies will control the lucrative market to fuel them is just getting started. U.S. President Barack Obama aims to put a million electric vehicles on the road by 2015 as part of the new U.S. effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions linked to global warming. Cars are cooler than gas pumps or charging stations, but as the history of the oil industry shows, fuel is big business. A million electric cars will need a lot of power and a complex system to make sure the grid is not overwhelmed. Electric cars can be smooth, quiet and environmentally friendly. But they must deliver clear operating savings, since their price tag may initially be higher than conventional vehicles. Nissan roughly sees their operating cost equivalent to $1.10 per gallon of gasoline. Skeptics say charging stations won`t be a viable business because drivers will top off batteries at home, except on long trips, and won`t want to pay a premium for electricity. "We`ve found that about 90 percent of our customers` charging happens at home," said JB Straubel, Chief Technology Officer of Tesla Motors, maker of a $100,000-plus electric sports car whose 300-mile range is triple that of mass market vehicles from other makers due to enter the market late next year. Proponents counter that charge stations will proliferate once there are a million or more electric cars on the roads. Most charging will be done at home, but some cars don`t even have a garage. "If you live in San Francisco, 51 percent of all cars are parked curbside at night," said Richard Lowenthal, founder and CEO of Coulomb Technologies, which aims to sell about a thousand charging stations this year at $2,000-plus each.
And what's your opinion about such electric cars? How do you think, will they appear on Russsian roads one day?
Having read the article, I am now feeling sad and irritated. Our country is lagging behind. All modern innovations take a long time to get started in our country. The developed world will find ways to solve all of the mentioned problems and will move faster ahead, while we will be using obsolete technologies even a few decades from now. These technologies are not new for us, but as a nation we will be just discussing the issues without taking decisions.
I have a hunch that electric cars will take a very lomg time to appear on Russian roads. The bad thing is that our country is really lagging behind the rest of the developed world. New technologies will invade Russia as a huge market for the world's innovations. Yes, the project itself sounds brilliant, but what about economic and social issues?
it's much easier to refuel your tank, in extreme case you may ask another driver for some gasoline. but don't worry, Jane, about recharging batteries. i think scientists will make smth up)
Actually, I think we won't see such cars in Russia very soon. As for de-energizing the battery during one's driving...well..but petrol in a tank can also be over)))))don't you think so?
As a whole, the idea of electric cars is quite fair (though not new at all) and it is supposed to help to keep the air pollution-free. However, one thing is still not quite clear to me. We are all used to refuelling our cars without any trouble or delay. And in this case we are to wait a considerable period of time until the electric battery is charged. All right, we can do that at home, but suppose your battery is de-energized during your driving? and you have to get to somewhere desperately? what should you do if you have no time to wait? I'm at my wits' end.
i don't know what to say about whether such product innovations will appear in our country or not..Probably, yes, but it will take a lot of time to talk our government into taking some radical measures on environmental protection..
