09-12-2011, 06:27 PM
mattkime wrote:
>>A revolutionary breakthrough in energy storage. Electric only cars can't store enough juice for most American's uses.
I think thats a bit of an exaggeration. A shift in thinking might be sufficient.
How many people buy trucks because they're definitely going to need to haul something someday? People worry about distance the same way.
I think one of the biggest selling points of an electric car is not needing to stop for gas.
That's not even close to an exaggeration. Have you seen the range numbers for the Leaf? 70 miles at 55mph. That's an effective range of 35 miles before you have to head home unless you're staying at your destination for a while, or you know they have 220 available. And that no one else is using it. You really think that's realistic for anyone but city dwellers?
Back to the OP's question, I'm in the same boat. AC needs to be on max for roughly 6 months out of the year. That would severely limit the range of an electric car for me. I could use a hybrid, I could use an electric as a third car, but it would be incapable of replacing a current car. It would literally be a commuter car/maybe an occasional grocery getter. Until the range numbers improve drastically and infrastructure (charging stations) becomes commonplace, there will be no electric-only cars in my future.