Timo wrote: This pissed me off because i really want an EV NOW, but can't afford an $80,000 investment in any new car. $30,000? Maybe, but even that's pushing my upper limits. Add in the factors of dead batteries, and the costs of replacing those dead batteries to essentially get a new car, suddenly, i feel OK about letting those with the financial means be the guinea pigs who buy those cars, and fund the research into the technologies necessary to bring the reliability up and the costs down for the rest of us. It is taking longer than i would like, but technologies are getting there to bring EVs to everyone.
Exactly right, Timo.
I am pretty dismayed to see that basically, my worst fears about the reliability of such batteries appears to be a real world issue. This and the costs you cite is why, early adopters aside, so few true electric cars are being sold.
Given that a car like the Prius C is reasonably priced and has proven to be reliable and gets real world 50+ mpg in the city, it seems to me that if people actually CARED about conserving fuel as a major priority, that such cars would be selling in DROVES.
Well, with only a little over 30,000 selling in 2014 in the entire US, (less than in 2012 and in 2013 when crude oil averaged close to $100), it still appears to be ALL about economics -- even when the early adopter risk is largely mitigated.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Prius_cFor me, when in the real world, I can get a 200 mile range (real world in the winter if I use the heater) Tesla about the size of my Corolla, for about $25,000 -- AND the battery will RELIABLY last 8 years or more without becoming significantly weakened (like lowering my range by 40% or so) -- AND we see that the battery warranties are actually consistently HONORED, then I will strongly consider such a car.
Obviously, things like real world charging requirements, real world replacement battery costs, dealer/service availability, etc. are things that ordinary car consumers consider critical. One wonders how long it will take such things to scale up beyond marketing pointing to such things "in the future", etc. (To me, with 200 miles of REAL WORLD reliable range, one can rent a traditional car for longer trips, if the charging network isn't what one deems acceptably convenient.)
I'm rooting for the truly practical and convenient electric car for the middle class, but I won't be holding my breath while I wait.
Given the track record of the perma-doomer blogs, I wouldn't bet a fast crash doomer's money on their predictions.