There was something I was thinking about I'm sort of a fan about electric cars and would like to own one of them one day.
Along with that I'm being a believer that the the world's oil supply is slowly shrinking. But I'm not one of those people who believe that the oil is going to run out over night and everyone thing is going to turn into the road warrior over night. Instead I think what will happen is gas will go up from say $4.00 a gallon where I live and steadily nibble it's way to $6.00 and eight dollars a gallon over the next four to eight years. I have also been to Italy and was horrified that they pay almost $9.00 US for a gallon of gas. This has given me the idea in that a electric car might be a good doomsday prep to prepare for not gas running out but it getting so costly you spend more on gas to drive to your job then you would make at your job.
Another thing about electric cars is that the electric car maker Tesla said that they are now making over 500 new model S electric cars in a week at their factory in California and that they have posted their first profitable quarter for the first time ever. At the same time Nissan and their Nissan leaf have recently cut their cars prices by a few thousand dollars and they said sales for their electric car have doubled from last year and that they are selling anywhere from 1000 to 2000 of them a month now. A local car dealership in my area even has one that you can sit in start up or drive around depending on how serous you are at wanting to buy one.
But at the same time these companies say they are doing not to badly and they so far are letting out thousands of electric cars a month on the roads I so far in my life have never seen one on the open highway or in a parking lot that was not at a science center.
But could there be places in Europe or in other cities where the sky high gas prices has started to trigger the electric cars to take over some areas they have become as common as gas powered cars. In that in my area I have never seen a electric car owned by someone driving it to the store or on the open road or it charging in public. But I've heard stories though that in some places in California the cars are so common that there are long lines at charger stations.
In the US I have not really seen any electric cars or plug in hybrids. I think once the price of fuel increases and the costs to manufacture electric cars decrease you will see more of them on the roads, but right now they are still out of reach for the average consumer.
In Copenhagen it's still rare to see privately owned, but the municipal uses many and so does a lot of companies like the postal services and PT..
We currently have two nation wide charging systems for privates, one is based on automated battery change station and the other on quick charge stations.. but the low range of electrical cars are keeping people from buying cars despite the networks ( let's face it, who wants to recharge or swap battery every 100km )
Back in the 80's electrical vehicles were more common, especially the Danish made "Ellert" but as mentioned above these days it's primarily only companies and the municipals using them now..
There are good few in Ireland, not too many but you can see one from time to time, the infrastructure for them is really improving as well, I mean there are charging points even in some villages, the town where I live (about 25,000 people) there are about 8 charging stations there in total, and the most common electric cars would be Nissan Leaf and Mistubishi iMiEV
I have seen one or two Leafs driving about. I think TNT use an electric delivery truck about the centre of town. Oh and some milk is still delivered in electric milk floats in some places.
Denmark I remember reading that Nissan sold several hundred to a 1000 leafs in one of the major cities there.
I do remember a time a few years ago when the hybrid Prius was a very rare car but now every parking lot in my area always has a half dozen of them parked in it at one time.
Denmark I remember reading that Nissan sold several hundred to a 1000 leafs in one of the major cities there.
I do remember a time a few years ago when the hybrid Prius was a very rare car but now every parking lot in my area always has a half dozen of them parked in it at one time.
Btw, don't mind Rune Haalands incredible patriotic explanation. The real reason EVs are so popular here is that buying and using conventional cars are so heavily taxed that EVs are the only thing many can afford to run comfortably.
I think electric cars sales will go up in areas where people see them every day or who have friends who drive to work in them in that they won't seem as alien or strange to people who have never seen them before. Another interesting aspect about them is that if there are a group of electric cars in one area that people see almost everyday then there would possibly be a support group between the electric car owners and new possible owners which would help more people get electric cars. But in areas where there are not any electric cars on the streets then it will be a lot harder for people to get electric cars or at least understand them.
Electric cars are useful for each person and it is climate friendly as well. There are many peoples who use electric cars. Many car companies provide great electric cars which are useful for climate and people as well.
I have not seen any Electric cars on the road yet in my area but I hope I see some in that it will build up more public support for them. In that my area has a lot of large gas drinking beasts still on the road.
I was reading that Tesla sells half of their model S produced cars to California which has pasted the 3000 car mark and that Nissan sells the bulk of their electric leafs in California too.
It's still pretty rare but I do see them everyday, we have about five or six Leafs at work, the company even installed a couple of chargers in the parking garage. Second to the Leaf is the Volt, I only see Tesla Roadster a couple of times a month, but see Model S every week, and I suppose the frequency will only increase.
Hybrids from Toyota and Lexus are quite common in Puerto Rico. We see Honda Hybrids and GM Hybrid SUVs, but not as frequently.
The only Hyundai and Ford Hybrids I've seen here have had US government plates.
As far as completely electric cars, I've never seen one on the island, but I've been told at a mainland US Tesla dealership that a single Tesla was sold to someone on the island.
Also, in the city of Bayamón, just west of San Juan, I've seen a few electric vehicle charging stations in a municipal parking lot. But I've never actually seen a car plugged in one.
This is really wild that Norway is going to get 1000 Tesla model S electric cars on top of other several thousand electric cars that they are already getting. I also remember the number of Nissan Leafs that they have sold there has out numbered the ones they sold in the US. At that rate it kind of makes me wounder could they cut down on their county's overall oil demand in the next five years by 20,000 or 40,000 barrels a week. http://www.indexmundi.com/energy.aspx?country=no&product=oil&graph=consumption Not to mention all the money the owners of them would be saving with not having to buy $11.00 a gallon fuel.
That is really wild that some people are having cases where there are five to six electric leafs hanging out in the parking lots at their jobs. The electric car from what I've heard is good for local trips to work. In fact 80% of the fuel I use in my cars is for trips less then 40 miles locally and in a lot of cases less then 15 miles in one sitting. But I would still like to have a car with a 200 to 250 mile range due to in case I have do some of my detours around local streets that get blocked or in case I want drive it to the beach a 150 miles away.
In terms of electric cars on islands I really think they could be a lot of island areas long term solutions for long term energy security due to the costs of shipping the oil there and the costs of all the air pollution on some of these compact islands.
"Gas electrics" excluded (like the Prius 3), I've seen many Twizy this last months in Lyons, FR. They zip around, fast and quiet, I actually like them. They look like big motorbikes on four wheels and a rooftop. Some of them have side glasses, some are open air.
I think I've also seen a Zoé, a Fisker Karma, and that's about it. Wish there were more Nissan Leaf...
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