Did you forget Governor Rendall (Clinton's VP?) has forged ahead with the country's largest ethanol plant and three windfarms all in southwestern Pa? Western Pa should of broken away from the rest of Pa like West Virginia did.

2005 AWD Escape Hybrid
Best tank trip MPG 39.02 (scangauge II) for 402 miles on I-70, 10.3 gallons used over mostly flat terrain.

Stopping right there, on your third point. How do you know that most of the load will be in the middle of the night? You said it yourself that the electric cars do not exist nor have been designed. How do you know what the practical recharge application will be? I think that there needs to be a clear delineation and understanding between PHEV and straight EVs with regards to how they will be used.

For electric cars to be a successful replacement of petroleum-burning cars, their recharge cycle will have to be user-friendly and the energy to be plentiful. That is, retail five-minute fast recharge stations. But that means recharging during the day. This will give consumers the range extension that PHEV owners take for granted. Range extension is necessary in a civilization that cherishes personal freedom of private transportation and urban sprawl.

2007 Honda Civic Hybrid -> sparkle grey pearl

This is not a requirement at all. In fact one of the coolest things about electric cars is that they would eliminate trips to the smelly ole gas stations all together. For daily use you will charge at home overnight. On long trips you will not be driving a pure EV, you will be driving an extended range EV (like the Volt), a hybrid or plug in hybrid, an air-car (maybe), or a normal fuel burner.

If you take long trips often an EV might not be for you in the first place. My daily commute is under 40 miles round trip so an EV would be perfect for me most days.

Totally agree with BigTuna. You do not NEED fast recharges. You do not NEED 500 mile ranges. My household has 2 cars and 1 person that commutes. So for awhile I suspect we will have 1 ev and 1 phev or hev (like keep our HCH).

Of course - recharging fast during the day would be nice - a luxury. Guess what - in capitalism we have a way of having a luxury - it is called $$$. Cheapest option - plug in at home at night, more expensive - charge during the day....

Full (by full, I mean probably 80%) penetration of EVs will take 30 years - and we are talking about the grid today. I am guessing the grid 30 years ago could not support a/c in every home that we have today - I bet there was a lot of panic about that back in 1978.... I hope we don't expect the grid to look the same in 30 years.

The thing about all this bs about daytime peak usage and ev's may be all hoopla if solar becomes cheap and efficient. Then - we will have so much daytime power that we won't know what to do with it.

To whoever posted that they use 100 kwh a month - great. But look at average US household electricity consumption 10,600. So 800+ a month. If you can go 5 miles per KWH and 40 is the magic mileage - then 8 kwh/day, 240/month. That requires a 30% reduction in use to keep at the same usage. You can get 30% for an average household with current efficient technologies that will get phased in over the next 10-15 years. Between CFLs, efficient fridges and A/C, better insulation - you will get there. The CFLs and more efficient appliances are already mandated and will happen without any new changes - over time but will happen.

Mind you - those numbers are for 100% penetration but they also are for Prius like vehicles. No population increase, no increased usage. So you definitely need more grid generating capacity over 30 years - big surprise.

Sorry, but I find your opinion a little outdated and lacking vision. If regular production EVs are not for everyone, then why build them? If it's only a niche market thing, then why aren't people flocking to ZAP! and picking up their "Zebra"s? Not everyone is in a situation of being able to recharge overnight. Furthermore, your idea of EV recharging assumes that everyone will accept being stranded if and when the battery runs out. Alternately, if they are running out, do they race home with reckless abandon just to reach their power plug?

User-friendliness was the key to my position above. Hollywood actors and do-gooders aren't the only people in need of a renewable energy solution. And that solution has to be robust and versatile enough that heading out from the safety of home doesn't cause unnecessary worry about the logistics of completing the trip. Do you know why we don't have flying cars? It's not for lack of ingenuity. It is actually doable, but there is a problem in that when all else fails that flying car has to be able to safely land anywhere.

2007 Honda Civic Hybrid -> sparkle grey pearl

Spinner - there is not one "solution". Full EVs are a good option and I'll probably have one. Most Americans have access to a plug at night (and could have one during the day if needed).

Now Zebra's are a niche option - too slow.

Are you comparing EVs to flying cars? Yeah - keep going with that argument.

Let me ask you this: Do you have a cell phone? If so, can you talk on it for 12 hours straight? Is a cell phone useless just because you can't talk on it as long as you can on a land line? Clearly if you do not have a garage wired for electricity an EV is not going to be one of your better choices. Quite a few people do have electricity however and many of them take long trips only rarely so for them an EV might be a good choice. Gas cars will strand you if the fuel runs out, or if they have a serious mechanical/electrical problem. They are admittedly easier to get going again. EVs would require some planning to make sure you didn't get stranded and that is a drawback. Something like a Plug In Hybrid or the Volt might have more of a universal appeal. EVs will be a niche for sure, of course so are expensive sports cars that can only haul 2 people.....

As to the flying cars....

I heard the news this morning that Georgia Power company is planning to build not only one, but two nuclear power plants.
Yes! Great news.

I've been following the Aptera for a while www.aptera.com and would seriously consider the battery electric model. I'd pay the $27,000. I think it's really so cool, but my wife hates it.

Imagine this sometime in your EV future:

Drive +300 miles then pull into a fueling station. It doesn't matter where it is, perhaps the same one that used to sell you gasoline.
Old battery automatically ejected and placed on a charging station,
and a new one is inserted in your vehicle. 100% automatic.
Your vehicle calculates the capacity of the new battery, pay the man and go! Drive in and back out in far less time than you spent pumping fuel.

That's a good dream.
-Steve

Efficient drivers do it better.
1003 miles a tank personal record. 74MPG calculated. HCH1 CVT

If there was ever standardization of battery packs, that could be a realistic dream. Can you already see the Beta vs VHS battery pack disagreement?

Just don't let SONY have anything to do with this

Steve

STOP terrorism - Drive a HYBRID

Vehicles:
350 miles a week ------------ 2006 HCH II, Magnetic Pearl, w/NAVI (born on May 25, 2006)
350 miles a month ---------- 2003 Mazda Tribute ES-V6
350 miles a year (for now) - 1986 Mercedes 560SL