Posted by axxxr
This is a little talked about Conspiracy,but when you look at it closely its very much connected with whats going on in the world politicaly today...A new movie called: "Who Killed The Electric" addresses this issue.
The EV1 electric vehicle was was among the fastest, most efficient production cars ever built. It ran on electricity, produced no emissions and catapulted American technology to the forefront of the automotive industry. The lucky few who drove it never wanted to give it up. So why did General Motors crush its fleet of EV1 electric vehicles in the Arizona desert? WATCH TRAILER (quicktime)
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WIDGX|THE TRUTH REVEALED|PENTALAWN
[ This Message was edited by: axxxr on 2006-05-26 03:34 ]
Posted by EastCoastStar
wow, seems interesting... i havent watched it yet becuase the comp i am on isnt running to smooth, but i cant wait to see the clip.
we will never have 100% electric cars i dont think, the government makes too much money from the fuel taxes
Posted by PeterKay
Government will go bust
I think there should be more of these around personally.
Posted by pmerryman
Exactly right. The government is not going to give up on all them taxes, for the sake of the electric car. Not sure why they crushed them though. Lets face it, we have gas powered cars over in the uk now, and I am sure it will not be long before the price of the gas rises also.
Posted by slattery69
perhaps as its an american car and they cant go round corners so are pretty pointless in the rest of the world were we have things like turning ,roundabouts etc to negoatiate
Posted by Sammy_boy
This is a conspiracy that I'm quite inclined to believe in!
I've heard many a story of new zero emission car ideas being bought up then shelved by oil companies, no doubt these designs would re-appear once the oil does start to run out, except whatever they run on would probably have some kind of 'additive' in it that you couldn't get except at one of these companies' pumps....
I would personally buy a hybrid/electric car, I don't like being dependent on oil, the Western world (indeed the entire world) is almost at the mercy of oil producing countries. All they need to do to put a squeese on countries like the US and UK is bump oil prices up or cut production, we'd be in crisis within weeks!
Posted by leeboy13
im sure i heard soemthing a long time ago about this where they ahd plans for fuel stations as battery charging stations..... But didnt shell or soem big company like that buy it out and obviously - they aint gonna release it because of the effect it will have on their business etc.....
The economy would struggle if we were to change over until and natural balence was formed.... What i mean it teh amount of jobs lost etc... due to a change over would cripple alot of companys....
With regard to what i said about soemone buying the idea - it may actually have been teh Gov. i aint totally sure but do definatly rememeber this from say 5 years ago or so....
Its really stupid really - with all the talk about sustainabillity and resources etc.. surely thsi woud help teh enviroment no end.... but at teh end of teh day the money grabbing powers that be only want to get rich, not creat a world in which we can leave for our children that would be benifical.....
Off subject a lil bit but has anyone signed up to pipeline card?
Posted by Sammy_boy
Very true, there would be a lot of job losses if everyone switched to electric... but it'll happen in 50-100 years anyway when the world's oil supply runs out - though I suspect the oil companies have a backup plan and another 'essential' commodity to sell and make themselves millions. I can't see them shutting up shop and saying 'We've made our money, we'll just slip off into corporate history and retire to Florida/Eastbourne etc.'
Though one other point, when we all start plugging our cars into the mains to charge them, this'll mean more strain on power stations and electricity generation - this will mean either a lot more nuclear power stations or one hell of a lot of wind/solar farms!
Posted by DickySnapples
seen a few electric powered cars here on Guernsey and they are UUUGGLY!! (Nissan S-CARGO)
heard a story a while back about a guy who inveted a water powered car,which the oil companys bought out for mega bucks.
Posted by soulframe
Yeah, well as has been mentioned, unless there's a profit to be made, then to hell with the enviroment, we'll think about it once the oil runs out. There's all sorts of technology out there to replace petrol/diesel cars. Some are more proven than others but at the end of the day, as long as there's oil, and money can be made from it, then there's no way we'll see these kind of cars mass-produced in our lifetime.
Posted by Sammy_boy
@dicky - yes, I've heard that story too!
I can see towards the end of our lifetimes there being a lot of conflict and squabbles over the last few working oilfields, though the optimist in me hopes we've found another way to power our vehicles and economy, or at least the oil companies have let us find another way
I'd quite like to get one of those Toyota Prius dual fuel cars, but they're pretty expensive and perhaps not the best looking car on the road, but about the most environmentally friendly and commercially available alternative to petrol/diesel powered cars about. Problem is they're about £17,000, way over my budget!
Posted by Esater
Thought I d throw this in for the debate:
http://www.evworld.com/view.cfm?section=article&storyid=457
Posted by Jim
In Brazil, they run on ethanol. I still wonder why we don't make the switch. Currently I consider to make a 30% sunflower oil and 70% diesel in summer and maybe even 50% but I have to change the injection pump then.
Posted by Luke-the-magic-man
hmmm, I definetly think that the oil companies had allot to do with the fall of electric cars, its a huge multinational industry backed by billions and supported by many politians who get their cut somewhere down the line.
I actually saw a car on 5th gear that was electric only the other day, but I dont know if that was a old ep. Anyway they were testing this car on some island near japan I think and it was pretty good, did over 100 miles a how and 0-60 in just over 13 seconds, and it was also very quiet.
I may go see/buy that film as it seems quite interesting, though im not to sure itl be in a multiplex
Posted by carkitter
@Esater
Excellent! I think you've hit the nail on the head.
For those determined to find a conspiracy theory, heres a few facts:
It was the US Government who decided in the 1990's that the 'Big Three' car manufactures should seek alternatives to conventional petrol engines. GM were told to investigate electirc vehicles, Chrysler, fuel cells I think and I can't remember what Ford were allocated. This set the EV1 project in motion.
Also, due to the use of very large batteries, electric vehicles are very heavy and often slow. That is why they are always designed with aerodynamics foremost over good looks.
The EV1 and electric cars from other manufacturers such as Honda are limited by battery technology. Automotive batteries haven't really changed much in the last hundred years!
To overcome the excessive weight, very high current electric motors are needed. Very high current in a car is DANGEROUS!! Especially in a crash!
Think about it.
So, if you want to become rich, invent an efficient battery. Current lead-acid technology sux.
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[ This Message was edited by: carkitter on 2006-05-26 11:44 ]
[ This Message was edited by: carkitter on 2006-05-26 11:53 ]
Posted by pmerryman
A bloke where I work, said the people in mexico run there scooters on the local rum? Not sure if its an urban myth.
Posted by leeboy13
you can run a disel car on vegitable oil - but its not recommended as teh Po PO while come after you (your car will stink like a chippy from behind)
Posted by SCORPIONKING1982
whats the point in electric cars anyway, the electricity to charge the batteries has to be made somewhere which is usually power stations which probably burn coal or something just as polluting anyway.
Posted by leeboy13
i reckon that tehy were intended for hotter countries where solar panels could potentially gather enough energy to run a car
Posted by carkitter
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World solar challenge
Again, this is not possible, not for a conventional car. Honda's solar car is a single seater, with a top speed of approx 70 mph and slooooooooooooow acceleration. It's not very comfortable either.
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[ This Message was edited by: carkitter on 2006-05-26 21:28 ]
[ This Message was edited by: carkitter on 2006-05-26 21:32 ]
Posted by carkitter
Check out this Water-powered Car!
Posted by Krubach
In Portugal, in a few months, all Diesel mixes will have to have 5% Bio-Diesel (from vegetable oil: sunflower, etc...)
Posted by leeboy13
carkitter, thats quite amazing tbh
Goes to show tho (with all this oh, the environment, we must help.....)
The powers that be will never let this happen as theres toom uch money in petrol based cars..... the improvement to teh enviroment (you would assume) would be so great if this ws to take over.....
Posted by carkitter
Theres no reason why it won't become mainstream. (Sidestepping your conspiracy claims for a moment), manufacturers would have to spend millions on R&D, retooling thier manufacturing plants and training thier service staff to maintain such vehicles.
It won't happen overnight but it could happen.
I'm impressed with how little water is needed. Though with droughts in many countries and water shortages from time to time, perhaps we shouldn't assume we could all switch to water power at the drop of a hat...
Posted by leeboy13
ummmm ok.... wasnt a conspiracy theory....... surely its logical..... The amount it would cost to switch would be huge....... car garage workers would ahve to learn theyre jobs all over again etc..... (there may be less or more breakdowns resulting in less or more jobs)....... could go on all day listing teh pro's and cons..
Was only chatting not trying to unravel a massive conspiracy
It just annoys me when some times we are made to feel that were are not helping when there are things that people in higher positions could possibly do eaiser (or a better word would be more efficently)..
anyhoots, the water powered car seems like a great idea