Electric Vehicles

by **Lootifer** on Thu Jun 21, 2012 9:00 pm

Currently in the states you can get a cool $7500 subsidy if what im reading is right.

Thoughts on this?

Should we be pushing this right now?

by **Night Strike** on Thu Jun 21, 2012 9:11 pm

And even with that tax write-off, they still cost nearly twice as much as standard vehicles that get over 30 mpg. They are not affordable for most people, so until the marketplace can lower the price, they won't be commonplace.

by **Lootifer** on Thu Jun 21, 2012 9:21 pm

Night Strike wrote:And even with that tax write-off, they still cost nearly twice as much as standard vehicles that get over 30 mpg. They are not affordable for most people, so until the marketplace can lower the price, they won't be commonplace.

Heh, when I saw that you had replied I have to admit i was expecting a significantly different post.

But yes, you are entirely correct. Right now its all about the batteries (and how much they cost)

by **Symmetry** on Thu Jun 21, 2012 9:23 pm

Hybrids are pretty decent.

by **Night Strike** on Thu Jun 21, 2012 9:40 pm

Lootifer wrote:
Night Strike wrote:And even with that tax write-off, they still cost nearly twice as much as standard vehicles that get over 30 mpg. They are not affordable for most people, so until the marketplace can lower the price, they won't be commonplace.

Heh, when I saw that you had replied I have to admit i was expecting a significantly different post.

But yes, you are entirely correct. Right now its all about the batteries (and how much they cost)

To be honest, my current job situation would be perfect for having an electric car because I live less than 2 miles from work, especially since I'm pretty sure the cost of the electricity for charging it would remain less than the price of gasoline. However, since I live in an apartment, I don't have access to charging and I don't have the money to afford the sticker price anyway.

by **Woodruff** on Thu Jun 21, 2012 10:25 pm

Lootifer wrote:Currently in the states you can get a cool $7500 subsidy if what im reading is right.

Thoughts on this?

Should we be pushing this right now?

Yes, we should be pushing it, but yes the price has gotta come down. I dearly wanted to buy a hybrid (granted, this was way back in 2005), but couldn't afford it (or they were too blinking small, with all those batteries packed in the trunk).

by **AndyDufresne** on Fri Jun 22, 2012 8:33 am

The next car I'll have will most likely be a hybrid---but I don't plan on purchasing a car for a few years since I don't quite need one to get around. Good old walking and cycling.

--Andy

by **Pedronicus** on Fri Jun 22, 2012 9:23 am

Night Strike wrote:
To be honest, my current job situation would be perfect for having an electric car because I live less than 2 miles from work, especially since I'm pretty sure the cost of the electricity for charging it would remain less than the price of gasoline. However, since I live in an apartment, I don't have access to charging and I don't have the money to afford the sticker price anyway.

less than 2 miles? Why not just walk? or jog? or cycle?
spend zero money and get fit.

I always find it mad when walk past the local gym and the car park is full! - why the hell (in London) would you want to drive to the gym, pay money to work out, pay more money to drive home?

by **Ace Rimmer** on Fri Jun 22, 2012 9:34 am

He probably can't go the two miles on foot or bicycle without taking his life in his hands. Most modern American towns/suburbs are completely automobile based. I live 1 mile from our library and it's dicey trying to walk that far, especially with children. I remember walking at least that far to the library when I grew up, but it was in a walkable city - which do not exist as much anymore.

by **Night Strike** on Fri Jun 22, 2012 9:35 am

Pedronicus wrote:
Night Strike wrote:
To be honest, my current job situation would be perfect for having an electric car because I live less than 2 miles from work, especially since I'm pretty sure the cost of the electricity for charging it would remain less than the price of gasoline. However, since I live in an apartment, I don't have access to charging and I don't have the money to afford the sticker price anyway.

less than 2 miles? Why not just walk? or jog? or cycle?
spend zero money and get fit.

I always find it mad when walk past the local gym and the car park is full! - why the hell (in London) would you want to drive to the gym, pay money to work out, pay more money to drive home?

I have to be at work at midnight, there is a small wooded area between my apartment and my work that is most likely a place where transients live (and that I don't even know if there is a path through it), and the only entrance to my workplace is on the front side of the property which is opposite my direction (and the entire property from my direction is surrounded by a security fence. If I walked directly to the property, it's probably only 1/2-3/4 of a mile directly. And my wife can't walk to her work because there aren't sidewalks to it (and she has to dress up) and it's a busy road.

by **chang50** on Fri Jun 22, 2012 10:15 am

Ace Rimmer wrote:He probably can't go the two miles on foot or bicycle without taking his life in his hands. Most modern American towns/suburbs are completely automobile based. I live 1 mile from our library and it's dicey trying to walk that far, especially with children. I remember walking at least that far to the library when I grew up, but it was in a walkable city - which do not exist as much anymore.

Am I alone in finding that very sad?

by **Lootifer** on Fri Jun 22, 2012 7:25 pm

Nope, it sounds kinda fucked.

Do the US have much in the way of bicycle lanes etc?

by **Woodruff** on Fri Jun 22, 2012 8:06 pm

Lootifer wrote:Nope, it sounds kinda fucked.

Do the US have much in the way of bicycle lanes etc?

Some of the more forward-thinking cities have them (a few) or are moving toward them (more). But it's not common. It seems to me that when I've been around them, they frighten and confuse the typical American driver.

by **AAFitz** on Fri Jun 22, 2012 8:12 pm

Pedronicus wrote:
Night Strike wrote:
To be honest, my current job situation would be perfect for having an electric car because I live less than 2 miles from work, especially since I'm pretty sure the cost of the electricity for charging it would remain less than the price of gasoline. However, since I live in an apartment, I don't have access to charging and I don't have the money to afford the sticker price anyway.

less than 2 miles? Why not just walk? or jog? or cycle?
spend zero money and get fit.

I always find it mad when walk past the local gym and the car park is full! - why the hell (in London) would you want to drive to the gym, pay money to work out, pay more money to drive home?

Maybe you should spray that on the side of the gym...if you didnt already

by **saxitoxin** on Fri Jun 22, 2012 8:23 pm

Lootifer wrote:Nope, it sounds kinda fucked.

Do the US have much in the way of bicycle lanes etc?

west of the Rocky Mountains

cityscapes east of the Rocky Mountains were laid-out during the Industrial Revolution, before the City Beautiful Movement, and didn't have the benefit of European cityscapes of the same time in being leveled by carpet bombing in the '30's and '40's

this is probably rude to say but, on the morning of Sep. 11, I thought "hopefully they'll hit Jamaica and Astoria next; what a great opportunity to re-grid the streets this could be"; sadly, however, demolishing impractically placed motorway viaducts wasn't part of the Al Qaeda plan

by **BigBallinStalin** on Sat Jun 23, 2012 2:38 am

Lootifer wrote:Currently in the states you can get a cool $7500 subsidy if what im reading is right.

Thoughts on this?

Should we be pushing this right now?

no need to push. the rent-seekers are doing that for us!

by **Lootifer** on Sat Jun 23, 2012 5:58 am

this was only one funny animal talking to itself away from a trap thread tbh

by **BigBallinStalin** on Sun Jun 24, 2012 2:38 am

No worries. My anarchy-capitalist private security firm would have my back.

by **jonesthecurl** on Sun Jun 24, 2012 11:53 am

Ace Rimmer wrote:He probably can't go the two miles on foot or bicycle without taking his life in his hands. Most modern American towns/suburbs are completely automobile based. I live 1 mile from our library and it's dicey trying to walk that far, especially with children. I remember walking at least that far to the library when I grew up, but it was in a walkable city - which do not exist as much anymore.

True of far too many places. Why I chose the town I live in, because you can walk, something which I do a lot.