That's what the Chevy Volt is- an all electric (series hybrid) that additionally leverages existing gasoline distribution channel (i.e. gas stations) to provide additional range when needed.
All this talk about hydrogen highways and such are nonsense. Not only are they completely impractical and unfeasible, but hydrogen fuel is going to rely on oil to supply the energy anyway. It might reduce overall emissions, but does not change the energy source. Plus you're going to have gas station around for a long time to service existing automobiles.
A series hybrid is the only practical solution before improved battery technology enables electric-only cars to be practical in the next 15-20 years. By that point, hopefully most new cars being sold will be series hybrids anyway, which means 90% of driving miles of these cars will already be powered by electricity and not gasoline.
I also wouldn't mind knowing how you expect an all-electric car is going to work up north here in Canada. Our temperatures drop to sub negative 40 (yes, F OR C), where even gas powered cars have issues starting. All electrics would require a highly inefficient heater to warm you, further taking away from the battery life per charge and overall long term. When you have a solution for that, please let me know
Toyota also showed off an electric car concept in Detroit. Limited release this year and full release by 2012 along with a plug-in hybrid. So not that far off.
Seriously? Would driving an SUV that gets 15MPG be better for the environment?
2009 EPA estimates: Prius 46MPG Civic 29MPG Trailblazer 2WD 16MPG
This means ONE Prius owner vs Trailblazer owner saves 14 barrels (or 620 gallons) of oil from being shipped from the middle east every year. Or 4.4 barrels (185 gallons) vs the "economical" Honda. There are so many saving for the planet besides that one fact.
I like the look of the current Prius and this one. If it wasn't a sedan or was way out my price range, I'd own one.
The Prius is nothing but a nice big marketing scheme. Sounds like a lot of you bought it, too.
You see, Prius batteries are Lead Acid. The Lead is mined in Canada and shipped to China. The batteries are made in China and shipped to Japan. The car is made in Japan and shipped to the USA. The driver in the USA drives the car for 4-7 years before the batteries are shot. The batteries are then discarded and shipped BACK to China for "recycling" or as they say it, "dumping the toxic chemicals in to rivers and lakes". All the while MORE lead is mined in Canada, shipped to China, then to Japan, then to the USA as replacement batteries.
Due to the excess chemistry involved, I saw on 'Ecopolis' that the Toyota Prius has DOUBLE the carbon footprint of a Range Rover over 10 years. D O U B L E. Range Rovers get 11mpg. You do the math.
The Prius is a POS, and equipped with features a nice car comes with it costs $30k. They need to switch to LiPoly battery technology, but they REFUSE. Don't support the Prius.
@ Jeremy: Why are you bothering to spread such ridiculous misinformation when anyone can go to wikipedia and find the truth. The current Prius doesn't use a lead-acid battery for the main drive unit:
"The new Hybrid Synergy Drive (HSD) uses an all-electric compressor for cooling. Combined with a smaller and lighter NiMH battery, the NHW20 is more powerful and more efficient than the NHW11.[17] Air conditioning is now operated independently of the gasoline engine, an industry first.[18] In the U.S., the battery pack of the 2004 Prius is warranted for 100,000 miles (160,000 km) or 8 years[19]. The warranty in California is 150,000 miles (240,000 km) or 10 years for the Prius and in the seven Northeastern states that have adopted the stricter California emission control standards."
They are building an entire electric-car charging infrastructure in Israel and Hawaii among elsewhere, you pay for the "gas" like you do cellphone minutes, i.e. pay for a certain number of miles, and can get a "full tank" of sorts by driving into an automated facility where the empty battery is swapped out for a full one in less time that it takes to fill a gas car's tank today.
Where does electricity come from? Where does gas come from? How do they compare on how it is produced? Is electricity really the 'green' solution? Get a clue people. Electric cars are not the green beasts they are made out to be.
"This means ONE Prius owner vs Trailblazer owner saves 14 barrels (or 620 gallons) of oil from being shipped from the middle east every year."
Actually, we now get 16% of our oil from the Persian Gulf (down from 20% in 2002) and less than 50% from OPEC countries. So, this is more like 3 barrels on a boat.
Nuclear Power is green, it doesn't give off any green house gasses. In fact, scientists in Germany have found a way to use the nuclear waste produced to make more electricity! WOW
Wind power is green
Solar power is green
Even burning coal to make electricity for a whole town is better that burning gasoline in EVERY CAR.
"To make this as economical as possible, they [Toyota] go to the ends of the earth, quite literally. The nickel that they use to make the batteries to power the electric motor, that comes from a mine in Canada. Now, nickel mining is a filthy business, a lot of sulfur and acid rain, but no matter, they load it on an enormous cargo ship, send it to Europe, where its refined, and on to China, where its turned into a sort of foam, THEN to japan, where its put in the batteries into the car. Its so complicated in fact to make a Prius that a recent study found that in the long term, there's more environmental damage than a Land Rover Discovery.
I'm sorry, what did you have to say about the Prius saving the planet?
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
Such a shame.
It will be years before we see an all electric car. Nobody wants to build the infrastructure...
Seems like this car could of been much more, and i think the solar panels should of been standard.
The shame is people buying this thinking they are saving the planet.
Toyota sure knows how to market and sell something that doesn't provide much improvement over existing technology.
How could it be more? No one else has better technology in a car that cost $22,000 - $25,000
Until the ability to produce and store electricity gets cheaper and more efficient - this seems to be the best model.
Solar panels could be standard, but they produce very little electricity and of course, increase the price.
The shame is when somebody types 'should of' instead of 'should have.'
@ BJ is gooder
Oh i know, its such a travesty...i SHOULD OF killed myself when i had the chance, bad grammar is unacceptable.
That's what the Chevy Volt is- an all electric (series hybrid) that additionally leverages existing gasoline distribution channel (i.e. gas stations) to provide additional range when needed.
All this talk about hydrogen highways and such are nonsense. Not only are they completely impractical and unfeasible, but hydrogen fuel is going to rely on oil to supply the energy anyway. It might reduce overall emissions, but does not change the energy source. Plus you're going to have gas station around for a long time to service existing automobiles.
A series hybrid is the only practical solution before improved battery technology enables electric-only cars to be practical in the next 15-20 years. By that point, hopefully most new cars being sold will be series hybrids anyway, which means 90% of driving miles of these cars will already be powered by electricity and not gasoline.
I also wouldn't mind knowing how you expect an all-electric car is going to work up north here in Canada. Our temperatures drop to sub negative 40 (yes, F OR C), where even gas powered cars have issues starting. All electrics would require a highly inefficient heater to warm you, further taking away from the battery life per charge and overall long term. When you have a solution for that, please let me know
Toyota also showed off an electric car concept in Detroit. Limited release this year and full release by 2012 along with a plug-in hybrid. So not that far off.
http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/11/video-toyota-unveils-ft-ev-concept-details-plug-in-prius-you/
@ kjb434-
Seriously? Would driving an SUV that gets 15MPG be better for the environment?
2009 EPA estimates:
Prius 46MPG
Civic 29MPG
Trailblazer 2WD 16MPG
This means ONE Prius owner vs Trailblazer owner saves 14 barrels (or 620 gallons) of oil from being shipped from the middle east every year. Or 4.4 barrels (185 gallons) vs the "economical" Honda. There are so many saving for the planet besides that one fact.
I like the look of the current Prius and this one. If it wasn't a sedan or was way out my price range, I'd own one.
What are you talking about? Cities all along the west coast and Hawaii are signing contracts to get electric charging stations built.
@Precurse
Canadians have to walk or bike.
Actually that brings up a good point if you don't own a garage, eh?
The Prius is nothing but a nice big marketing scheme. Sounds like a lot of you bought it, too.
You see, Prius batteries are Lead Acid. The Lead is mined in Canada and shipped to China. The batteries are made in China and shipped to Japan. The car is made in Japan and shipped to the USA. The driver in the USA drives the car for 4-7 years before the batteries are shot. The batteries are then discarded and shipped BACK to China for "recycling" or as they say it, "dumping the toxic chemicals in to rivers and lakes". All the while MORE lead is mined in Canada, shipped to China, then to Japan, then to the USA as replacement batteries.
Due to the excess chemistry involved, I saw on 'Ecopolis' that the Toyota Prius has DOUBLE the carbon footprint of a Range Rover over 10 years. D O U B L E. Range Rovers get 11mpg. You do the math.
The Prius is a POS, and equipped with features a nice car comes with it costs $30k. They need to switch to LiPoly battery technology, but they REFUSE. Don't support the Prius.
@ Jeremy:
Why are you bothering to spread such ridiculous misinformation when anyone can go to wikipedia and find the truth. The current Prius doesn't use a lead-acid battery for the main drive unit:
"The new Hybrid Synergy Drive (HSD) uses an all-electric compressor for cooling. Combined with a smaller and lighter NiMH battery, the NHW20 is more powerful and more efficient than the NHW11.[17] Air conditioning is now operated independently of the gasoline engine, an industry first.[18] In the U.S., the battery pack of the 2004 Prius is warranted for 100,000 miles (160,000 km) or 8 years[19]. The warranty in California is 150,000 miles (240,000 km) or 10 years for the Prius and in the seven Northeastern states that have adopted the stricter California emission control standards."
Get your facts straight.
"Nobody wants to build the infrastructure..."
To the OP and everyone else who doubts the viability of electric cars as a solution, take a look here:
http://www.betterplace.com/
They are building an entire electric-car charging infrastructure in Israel and Hawaii among elsewhere, you pay for the "gas" like you do cellphone minutes, i.e. pay for a certain number of miles, and can get a "full tank" of sorts by driving into an automated facility where the empty battery is swapped out for a full one in less time that it takes to fill a gas car's tank today.
@ Jeremy
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/06/23/suckers-pbs-falls-for-debunked-prius-hummer-story/
Where does electricity come from? Where does gas come from? How do they compare on how it is produced? Is electricity really the 'green' solution? Get a clue people. Electric cars are not the green beasts they are made out to be.
@Bryan
"This means ONE Prius owner vs Trailblazer owner saves 14 barrels (or 620 gallons) of oil from being shipped from the middle east every year."
Actually, we now get 16% of our oil from the Persian Gulf (down from 20% in 2002) and less than 50% from OPEC countries. So, this is more like 3 barrels on a boat.
Source: http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/pet_move_impcus_a2_nus_ep00_im0_mbbl_a.htm
@ljm
Nuclear Power is green, it doesn't give off any green house gasses. In fact, scientists in Germany have found a way to use the nuclear waste produced to make more electricity! WOW
Wind power is green
Solar power is green
Even burning coal to make electricity for a whole town is better that burning gasoline in EVERY CAR.
@ Adderz
Ever heard of the Tesla Roadster? Or the Fisker Karma? Or the Chevy Volt? Or the ChryslerEV? Or even, from GM, in 1996 - The GM EV1? ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_EV1 )
These are all electric vehicles, made by American manufacturers.
Seriously...why bother commenting?
@ Bryan
Taken from Top Gear:
"To make this as economical as possible, they [Toyota] go to the ends of the earth, quite literally. The nickel that they use to make the batteries to power the electric motor, that comes from a mine in Canada. Now, nickel mining is a filthy business, a lot of sulfur and acid rain, but no matter, they load it on an enormous cargo ship, send it to Europe, where its refined, and on to China, where its turned into a sort of foam, THEN to japan, where its put in the batteries into the car. Its so complicated in fact to make a Prius that a recent study found that in the long term, there's more environmental damage than a Land Rover Discovery.
I'm sorry, what did you have to say about the Prius saving the planet?
ljm, to answer your question, electricity can come from ways too numerous to even count. Petrol, on the other hand, comes from one source.