When will the big car companies make electric cars?

Herma Ellebrecht: Where would you get the electricity to charge your electric car?answer you will be getting it from a COAL fired power plant.and can the average blue collar worker afford that electric car?build more nuclear power plants that will produce cheap electricity and produce hydrogen that will power these ECOLOGY friendly cars until then you can give every American citizen a electric car and it will do nothing to help with Global warming it's only until you get rid of coal fired power plants that electric cars would make sense.getting electricity from coal the biggest polluter on earth.?????...Show more

Thomas Riner: GABY, you comments about the expense mean nothing. The question was about big car companies, not the vehicles currently available. I was just showing that it's entirely possible to build capable electric cars. If big car companies put the effort into mass producing electric cars, they would be no more expensive to build than normal cars.

Scot Rotruck: do you have to modify your engine, what needs to be done. I have an 8 cylinder 4.6 l sohc. I would assume some modifications to the fuel delivery, but dont know what exactly, possibly the tank as well. Any help, suggestions, thanks in advance.

Hal Rouse: You get them down to $20,000.00 ,.....I would buy one!!! !

Chet Nozick: Pedro, I cannot seem to find the site now, but a British company modified a Mini to prove what could be done with electric motors. Electric motors can be made small and powerful, and they were able to put a 161hp motor at each wheel. The tested and prove performance was 0-100 km/h of 4.5 seconds, and a range of 200km, so the numbers are entirely possible. Although it's range was far less than 350 miles, keep in mind that the test car was a Mini, and the Zap-X is an SUV, so it would be able to accommodate a much larger battery....Show more

Dwight Siniard: Just as a quick note, the ZAP-X probably won't be available until! 2010 at the earliest. ZAP is shooting to go into production ! of the Alias in the second quarter of 2009. The Phoenix SUT may start selling to individual toward the end of this year. A few others:Available in California in October 2008, the Aptera typ-1e will cost about $27,000 with a top speed of 95 mph and range of 120 miles per charge.http://www.aptera.com/details.php Soon thereafter Aptera will introduce the typ-1h, a plug-in hybrid version of the typ-1e with a 40-60 mile range on purely electrical energy, and a range of over 600 miles total when in electric/gas hybrid mode, for around $30,000. On a 120 mile trip, the typ-1h will get 300 miles per gallon. The shorter the trip, the higher the efficiency.http://www.aptera.com/details.php Available in 2009, the Miles Javlon will cost $30,000 with a top speed of 80 mph and a range of 120 miles per charge.http://www.milesev.com/ As for the big auto companies, the furthest along is GM with the Chevy Volt. Of course, this is not a fully electric car, but a plug-in hybrid. Still, it! 's a step in the right direction for the big auto companies. Toyota is also shooting for a plug-in Prius around that timeframe.The only big auto company I've heard of that's working on a fully electric car is Mitsubishi. They're making a small EV which can go 90 miles/charge and 90 mph for just ~$20,000 (thanks to incentives from the Japanese government), shooting for sales around 2010. However, they may only sell them in Japan.http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7816102/...Show more

Nadia Crauswell: for all your big numbers..i dont believe them..zap x 350 mile range 0 to 60 4.8...if true..people would be buying them like hot cakes....all the hollywood greenies....

Lindsey Zanardi: Though it may seem companies are starting to care about their impact on the environment with cars like the Prius, they really only care about what their customers care about. People want to help the environment; going "green" is cool now. But most people are barely willing to pay the extr! a 5-15 thousand dollars that hybrids cost! The cheapest car you listed ! is enough to buy an awesome sports car. Few people can afford it, and those who can will probably choose the awesome sports car. As long as people want cheaper cars more, companies will not be making electric cars....Show more

Miguel Koczela: Well I don't believe they will be making electric cars, i think this would be even more of a waste, because we would have to burn so much fuel to create all this energy, so it wouldn't make the situation of global warming etc. any better. They are however making cars in Germany which run with hydrogen, the only problem is at the moment that there are not many petrol stations which offer hydorgen. As the manufacture of the hydrogen car increases, there will also be more hydrogen stations. As the hydrogen comes out of the exhaust the only waste product will be water as the 2 molecules of hydrogen bind with and oxygen molecule....Show more

Noah Deni: yes, you have to modify the engine. and if you have a new car, then all of th! e warranties are not guarunteed any longer.

Libby Berkovitch: Major car makers exist for one reason, to make money. Until there is a major market, and infrastructure, for electric cars they will remain an oddity. Many people have made electric cars available over the years, and they've never been popular. People know liquid fuel, they are comfortable with it, so they will buy it first. Sure, some people want electrics... but if Ford can't sell 300,000 cars a year... forget it.For those of you who have seen 'Who killed the electric car' please note that it is not an objective movie. It was made to further one groups agenda, and was quite wrong on many fronts. The auto makers were forced into making electric cars, and likely lost millions of dollars because of it. GM made a great effort with the EV1, a vehicle I have had the chance to help in restoring. It's a remarkable machine. But still, they likely lost stupidly large sums of money developing it. And belie! ve me, if GM had thought there was money to be made by selling it, they! would have sold them. Plain and simple.To date, every company that has come into being for the purpose of selling electric cars to daily drivers has gone out of business. And I bet the same fate will befall Tesla, zap, and the rest of this latest crop.I hate to be a pessimist, but this is simply historical fact. For the foreseeable future, electric cars will not be a major player in the auto scene....Show more

Season Confalone: Well electric cars relay upon electricity, in a similar way as computers, which school kids use to try and have someone do their own homework for them instead of investing a minimum amount of effort. Non-electric cars use fossil fuels, but since you probably had someone do your science studies, that won't mean anything to you.

Myriam Hetjonk: Your answer would come from comparing the energy content of both fuels. Biodiesel is consistently listed as having a lower heat content than petroleum diesel, but the difference is slightly l! ess than 10%. This may be a rough measure of the mileage difference. This site (1) lists the difference as:The energy content of petroleum diesel is : 129,500 BTU / gallon The energy content of B100 is: 118,296 BTU / gallonUsing these numbers the B100 mileage should then be 118,296/129,500 x diesel fuel mileage....Show more

Corrinne Ruozzo: When the market will support their development and commercial distribution. To date, this is simply not the case and it will not be until electric cars can match the performance of gasoline or diesel powered cars at the same price. This has been discussed in great detail in previous questions including the necessary performance criteria. At present there is no electric car that can match petroleum powered vehicles, and there are none even close to commercialization.

Marjory Stromme: Only diesel engines can run on pure vegetable oil. though I'll give you a little history. When Ford made his first vehicle it was designe! d to run on vegetable oil but at the time crude was cheaper and easier ! to manufacture so it was run on gas instead.

Willis Liburd: I doubt it. Car manufacturers must make only cars that will sell. Thus far, the public has not accepted these. I believe it is primarily due to the price, range between charges, fear of battery problems, etc.For myself, the price alone is enough. At 5% interest, a $100,000 car is costing me about $416 dollars a month just in interest on my money. Lets say I spend another $100 a month on electricity for it for a total of $516 operating cost. I can buy a nice little Corrola or VW for less than $20,000 and get 40-50MPG. My cost of money reduces to about $75 per month and my gas cost is about $50 for a total of $125. I am spending 20% of the cost of driving the electric, and do not have the range restrictions, battery replacement costs, etc. If I get the VW Diesel it gets 50-60MPG and can use Biodiesel which is even better than the electric car that just moves most of the pollution to the power plant location. I! n my opinion, it isn't the car companies or oil companies that is the problem. It is the device itself.The companies advertizing the 10 min. charge time I believe are not telling the whole story. Have you calculated the power source and equipment required to move that much electricity in that short a time? It is huge. You would need some big cables and a large transformer. I wonder how they do it....Show more

Arnette Dominici: do you own one of the current electric cars? if so, then ask your question; if not, that may be your answer.

Delmer Pectol: please try and see if you can get your hands on a copy of the documentary 'who killed the electric car?' It'll show you that big car companies have been (forced) to make some electric models, but tried hard (and succeeded) to not have to produce them anymore, and, in spite of popular demands, proceeded to have all cars returned to them and have them destroyed (also brand new ones).quite sad actually.....Show more

Blair Abdi: Firstly, you have to have a car with a Diesel engine; gas! oline engines cannot be modified to run on any sort of oil. If you have a Diesel, some refining to get cooking gunk out of the oil is about all you need to do; the gunk will clog filters and injectors, so it has to be cleaned up.

Codi Manchel: dms, who said anything about saving the environment? Your argument is totally wrong since far less pollution would be created even if the local power plant was coal burning, but I'm talking about making high performance, low maintenance, cheap to run cars. Because of the nature of electric motors (maximum torque at zero RPM) they can be built to have amazing performance numbers at a low cost, and be more reliable than anything currently available. Every single car on the road could have 400hp+ and blow the doors off 95% of the cars available today, and the engines could easily last 300,000 miles....Show more

Elmo Tervo:

Jonathan Schlussel: When it comes to cars and the environment some would apply the rule of "mind! over matter:" "If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." (to you.) But after this description the "impact on the environment" can, like your question, become a very big issue. Many studies have been written about the subject. Because environmental questions have become such a political issue we can note that some studies are written with less bias than others. In order to answer your question in a reasonable amount of space I have to define it very narrowly. You asked about the "use" of electric cars, not the manufacture, not the charging. The electric car is a zero emission vehicle. This means that in it's operation it produces no emissions. This means that in its use it may not clean the air, it does not make the air better but it makes it no worse. You could drive it all day in an enclosed space with no problems. A petrol engined car is a non-electric car. For every gallon of gasoline burned about 20 pounds of carbon dioxide is produced along with NOx, sulfur ! compounds and a host of other pollutants. In its "use" this non electr! ic car will increase pollution. For the impact on the environment you have to examine the effect of each pollutant. Some of the pollutants can produce, global warming, smog, asthma and death. What is "good" or "bad" often depends upon your perspective but you can be fairly confident in saying that such pollution from the use of a petrol vehicle is not generally considered a "good impact." If you left a car running in an enclosed space it could kill you....Show more

Lucien Hellerman: ...and almost 100% of the people who had them wanted to keep them. And if you really were just scrapping them because they're not profitable, you don't send them to the crusher. You put them in storage until you feel it's worth the time and money for further testing and research. You can't tell me for a second that since the EV1 supposedly was a failure that GM would think that electric cars could NEVER be viable.

Ninfa Aronica: Karate, I respect your opinion, but feel you're m! issing some vital points.1.) The current stock of EVs are far better than anything previously offered. Every electric car offered to the public to date has been slow, small, and have a short range. The current generation are high performance, higher range vehicles., and are much more attractive to the general public.2.) Previous electric cars were very much under the radar. The Tesla has gotten worldwide attention, and has already sold out their entire first run of cars, and is funded by the former owner of Paypal. That doesn't sound like a company on the brink of bankruptcy.3.) The infrastructure will develop itself when the cars become popular. Gas stations might shutter at first, but quick charge station could be set up anywhere: grocery stores, fast food joints, convenient stores, etc. They'd be cheap and easy, and hugely profitable.4.) I don't believe for a second GM could not make money with the EV1. 100% of them were leased......Show more

Minh Lefrancois: Like ! Will it make a good impact or it really doesn't matter?

Adelle We! ight: Pretty simple answer.When consumers make electric cars profitable.

Saran Stealy: Here's a post that has several resources listed about biodiesel fuels and also the conversion kits required:http://www.thenatureinus.com/2006/08/more-about-bi...

Antonette Shappy: I think they are afraid of the "World's Cleanest Car"."BBC News is reporting that a French company has developed a pollution-free car which runs on compressed air. India's Tata Motors has the car under production and it may be on sale in Europe and India by the end of the year.The air car, also known as the Mini-CAT or City Cat, can be refueled in minutes from an air compressor at specially equipped gas stations and can go 200 km on a 1.5 euro fill-up -- roughly 125 miles for $3. The top speed will be almost 70 mph and the cost of the vehicle as low as $7000."A Korean company is also producing these cars."The engine, which powers a pneumatic-hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), works alongside an electric! motor to create the power source.The system eliminates the need for fuel, making the PHEV pollution-free."...Show more

Sang Hanafin: Only diesel engines can be converted to run on vegetable oil. The following site gives you step by step instructions.http://www.ehow.com/how_2004136_vegetable-oil-fuel...You can also go through one more site giving you helpful tips:http://www.mahalo.com/How_to_Convert_Your_Car_to_R......Show more

Rhett Kaines: Not in chemistry, but in energy output. If a truck gets X miles to the gallon on petroleum diesel, what would the difference be in mpg using 100% biodiesel? Is there a formula for calculating this?

Zulema Baccam: first of all, the big three auto makers are not having a good time financially. to expect them to take a run at electric car production, well good luck on that. if pure electric cars is what you want, then get into the faces of politicians and demand change. California was on the right track with the mandate! for zero emissions vehicles. isn't it amazing how the oil industry has! so much power? until both American and Canadian governments see the light, battery electric cars will remain in the back ground. at least there are some companies and conversion shops trying to make a difference by offering an alternative to the internal combustion engine....Show more

Anibal Katayama: I believe that our big 3 auto companies have not been known to make good decisions regarding many aspects of either construction or sale of autos. I also believe they will probably be beaten to the market for plug in hybrids and electric vehicles. I am telling my auto dealers that I am simply not buying another car until someone makes a plug-in hybrid and at a price I can afford. I don't think they did any real marketing of this concept and so it is not surprising that nobody bought them. I didn't even know they were available. Instead I am inundated with ad after ad for more powerful, tough and very expensive autos that take at least $50 each visit to the gas station.I! f we don't start demanding them, Detroit will never make them. I could charge a plug-in at home during the night when rates were low and drive to and from work every day, all week long without ever visiting a gas station. I could even sell electricity back to the power grid when it was needed on heavy electricity days. With a plug-in hybrid, I could also drive normally using whatever fuel was available.If we keep buying gas hogs, that is all they will make. Rebel! Demand! Refuse to buy and watch how quickly they panic and make what we need. Truthfully, it is in our hands. We can sit on our hands and let them control us or we can make clear what we want. Money in their pockets ... or in ours ... speaks their language....Show more

Abby Herwood: FYI, Obviously these cars are fairly expensive. But keep in mind, these cars are low volume and hand made. The exact same cars on GM's assembly lines would cost half as much. http://www.phoenixmotorcars.com/http://www.teslamotors! .com/http://zapworld.com/electric-vehicles/electric-car...http://zapwor! ld.com/electric-vehicles/electric-car......Show more

Mikel Bethay: The combustion engine is more complicated and needs more parts for repairs and upkeep which makes the car companies a huge amount of money. Electric cars are simple, use no oil, no radiator, no transmission and require little maintenance. Plus Big oil doesn't want you recharging at your house for 2 to 4 dollars, they would rather you bought gas or diesel or hydrogen from them at a gas station.To DMS Coal, Solar, Wind, Hydro and Nuclear are all used to make electricity. Solar panels on your house would solve your biggest gripe. As a side note it takes 1/2 the CO2 emissions from a coal plant to charge the electric car vs the CO2 emissions to run a car on gasoline the same distance.Electric cars would be simpler to make than any other type of car. So they would also be the cheapest if the big auto makers would adopt the concept...Show more

Armando Somes: "GM made a great effort with the EV1"No,! they didn't. In the documentary, they showed GM's commercials for the EV1. "How did it go without sparks or explosions!?" and one with a bunch of appliances moving to the middle of a street. Those were the worst car commercials I'd ever seen. Wherever those "stupidly large" amounts of money were spent, it sure wasn't in Marketing.GM could've either stopped selling cars in California, or made a zero-emission vehicle, and they made one. And people bought them regardless of the horrible commercials. And then a couple years down the road, GM took all the cars back and had them destroyed, even though people offered to pay full price for them. I know the documentary was subjective, but GM was fishy at every turn.But to answer the question (When will the "big" car companies make electric cars?) - who cares? Seriously. There's about six (Aptera, Miles, Phoenix, Tesla, Zap, Zenn) companies that are working on electric cars. Some already have cars on the road. They'll be ! available to the public in a couple of years. So waiting for Detroit t! o churn out an electric car isn't too smart....Show more

Tillie Wynott: FYI, I believe the 10 minute charge requires a charging station you set up in your garage that would draw power from your outlet and could quickly transfer the power into the car's battery once attached. This equipment would be free or cheaply available to the car buyer. The cars can still be plugged into the wall, and charge in 6-8 hours.

Johnnie Pummill: I don't believe that motor is a diesel. DO not put any oils in your tank as it will destroy your motor....