alt.engineering.electrical

"daestrom" wrote in message
news:46d03c07$0$16512$4c368faf@ ...
>
> wrote in message
> news:938vc31erc4qhim7r8frmaotp16re8sbee@ ...
>> On Fri, 24 Aug 2007 19:19:28 -0400, krw wrote:
>>
>>>You plan is not going to work real well for cross-country driving. I
>>>don't feature sitting in a "rest area" for 10 hours waiting for my
>>>battery to charge, every couple of hours (if you can do that good,
>>>and you can't). It would play hell on the average MPH.
>>
>>
>> Electric cars are not cross country vehicles but they do make sense
>> for short trip drivers who only drive 50-100 miles a day.
>> Golf carts on a golf course are a very good analogy. Electric carts
>> make sense for golfers who just commute around the course but the
>> maintenance staff who drive all day and are never sure where they are
>> going to have to go have gas carts.
>> You could have an electric as your drive to work or houseperson car
>> and a regular gas car/truck for trips, hauling your boat or whatever.
>> Maybe if they gave you a break on the electric car insurance, tags etc
>> when you have another vehicle it would help the idea.
>> I know I would like an electric at this stage of my life for local
>> trips (replacing a Honda) but I am still keeing my F-150.
>
> And that's exactly the problem. Since electric are only good for commutes
> and short trips, having one pretty much means you either 1) Don't take any
> long trips, ever... or 2) have two vehicles even though you can only
> drive one at a time.
>
> daestrom
>
For some people, it may not be as much of a problem as you think. I know
plenty of two (or more) car families where one car could be a dedicated
short-range commuter vehicle. It won't be practical for everyone, of course.
Among my co-workers, the EV will probably be the other car since some
of our work requires 50-100 mile trips to a client's site on top of the
10-40 mile commutes.

That's not counting the effect of Central New York winters on battery
range and a general lack of supply (and demand) for a public charging
infrastructure.

Mike