On Nov 24, 2006, at 9:58 PM, Adam Maas wrote: > Note that GM didn't want to build the thing in the first place.
They didn't. They fought the concept all the way, even though the EV-1 was an exceptionally good car. I did drive a couple of them. It was stable, handled beautifully, was quick and comfortable. Given that the infrastructure for their use was put in place (and is still in place !!!), even the 125 mile range per charge was not a big deal. Even long commute folks here run average mileages that make it quite reasonable to run to work and do incremental charging during the day when parked. Do you spend two to three hours a day driving? Few people do. 125 miles represents about three to four hours of use per day. 250-300 miles represents five to six hours driving every day. No, it doesn't satisfy *all* needs. But it satisfies enough for a viable vehicle for about 90% of the market. > The fact that a much later product from another company worked > better is > irrelevant to the discussion, Sure it is. The EV-1 worked just as well as the RAV4 EV. The technology involved is quite similar. > as is the fact that GM didn't support a > 3rd party who made a powerplant replacement. A company developed a battery package specifically applicable to the electric cars. GM bought the company and refused to release the batteries for use in EV-1. That's not "refusing to support a third party company products", that's quashing the technology. > GM's in the business of selling cars. If they thought EV1's were > viable > products, they wouldn't have killed it. Guess you never heard of politics, eh? > Part of the issue is that unless > battery technology changes dramatically, Electric Vehicles simply will > not be viable in much of the US (California being a major exception). > Batteries simply don't hold a charge well in sub-zero centigrade > weather. Not entirely false, but not entirely true either. And who said that they would have to produce ONLY electric cars? If you had ever driven one, you'd be much better informed about why people felt so passionately about them. On the other hand, this conversation is beginning to approach typical "film vs digital" debate levels .. Godfrey -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
