You all made valid objections, but it seems to me you're throwing the baby out with the bath water.
What if the buy-back price was equal to total cost (including battery capital cost) plus a sufficiently incentive benefit for the seller, and if one could parameter the percentage of full charge below which the car should stop selling, from 0 to 100%? Michel 2009/8/15, Jed Rothwell <[email protected]>: > Stephen A. "Grumpy" Lawrence wrote: > > >> Given the ranges of practical battery packs today, the driver's desire >> to have a fully charged pack is mostly likely going to be "almost >> always". > > > Always, always. Like pilots say about airplanes, the only time you have too > much fuel is when the plane is on fire. Limited range is THE big problem > with electric cars. Actually, it is the only problem. They use to be too > slow, especially back in the early 1900s when they were replaced by gasoline > cars. This is not a problem now. > > > "But wait!", you say. "How about commuters? They're totally predictable!" >> >> No they're not. They're *mostly* predictable, which is very different. > > > To the extent they are predictable, they are not suitable. Commuters want to > travel around 5:00 p.m. Electric power consumption in the U.S. peaks from > 3:00 to 5:00, and the power company only uses batteries to meet peak > consumption. > > I think this is a truly bad idea. > > - Jed >
