Ford unveils electric Focus with 75-mile range, 85mph top speed

[yardman 49]

I totally agree with FJ. Most EV-only vehicles will only be a niche market vehicle for some time. The people who would need them the most (city dwellers) usually won't have the facilities to recharge them.

And can you imagine having something unexpected come up during your commute? Such as your spouse calling to tell you that your child unexpectedly needs to be picked up at school. You then have to respond "sorry honey, I don't have enough charge left"!

Or how about getting stuck in a traffic jam for a few hours in hot weather, or during a snow storm? We'll start seeing regular reports on the evening news of abandoned EVs on the highways. And undoubtedly, some will be left right in the middle of the travel lanes!

[JimboPalmer]

Originally Posted by fjpod

A city dweller would have no option but to rent a space in a high priced parking garage, ...and then pay extra to plug into one of their outlets, assuming they had one.

And the 6 to 8 hour charge time is just a lot of down time.

A substantial number of cars will spend 8 hours a day at the employer of the owner. Plugs for employees would be a great 'benny' for a wise employer.

[morpheusx]

Originally Posted by yardman 49

I totally agree with FJ. Most EV-only vehicles will only be a niche market vehicle for some time. The people who would need them the most (city dwellers) usually won't have the facilities to recharge them.

And can you imagine having something unexpected come up during your commute? Such as your spouse calling to tell you that your child unexpectedly needs to be picked up at school. You then have to respond "sorry honey, I don't have enough charge left"!

Or how about getting stuck in a traffic jam for a few hours in hot weather, or during a snow storm? We'll start seeing regular reports on the evening news of abandoned EVs on the highways. And undoubtedly, some will be left right in the middle of the travel lanes!

And that is different to gas how? A lot of people run around putting $5 - $10 of gas in their vehicle daily because they do not plan on using that full 350 - 400 mile range of their full tank.
The truth is that an EV would make 95% of Americans (even those of us that live out in the country) a great everyday vehicle. And being that 85 % of American households are 2 car homes and over 50 % are 3 car homes they would fit in perfectly with a traditional car or hybrid to compliment it to carry you for days when you would need to travel those longer distances.

[yardman 49]

Originally Posted by JimboPalmer

A substantial number of cars will spend 8 hours a day at the employer of the owner. Plugs for employees would be a great 'benny' for a wise employer.

Maybe someday. Currently, the national grid can barely keep up with demand during hot or cold weather. Assuming that an employer would be interested in putting in enough plugs for all their employees that switch to EVs, how will our current infrastructure support this?

The current idea is that people will charge their EVs at home at night, when demand is lower, not during peak daytime hours at their place of employment.

[yardman 49]

Originally Posted by morpheusx

And that is different to gas how? A lot of people run around putting $5 - $10 of gas in their vehicle daily because they do not plan on using that full 350 - 400 mile range of their full tank.
The truth is that an EV would make 95% of Americans (even those of us that live out in the country) a great everyday vehicle. And being that 85 % of American households are 2 car homes and over 50 % are 3 car homes they would fit in perfectly with a traditional car or hybrid to compliment it to carry you for days when you would need to travel those longer distances.

How is that different from gas? Let's look at few more scenarios:

- assuming that you forget to put gas in your car at night, the next morning you can call work and say "I'm running a few minutes late because I have to stop and get gas". With an EV it would be more like "I'll be 6 or 7 hours late because I forgot to plug in last night".

- If you have to stop on the way home because of an unexpected delay (urgent errand, major traffic delay), it can mean as little as a few minute delay to stop and put in a few gallons of gas. With an EV, it would be more like a several hour delay.

- with a gas vehicle (or hybrid), if you run out of gas on the highway, you can probably be back under way in less than an hour in most areas (CVS van, AAA, walking or getting a ride to a gas station, etc). With the EV, I doubt that the "CVS van" will have the ability in the near future to roll up to you with a big enough portable generator to get you charged up in a reasonable amount of time.

Now if EVs come out that can be charged in 10 minutes, then that would be an big advantage. Of course, getting it to a place that would charge it would still be the trick.

And as mentioned in a previous reply, the national electrical grid is in no shape to support the recharging of numerous EVs during the daylight hours. So I wouldn't expect to see charging stations at places of employment to keep pace with the need for them.

As far as the statistics about 2 and 3 car homes: I wonder how many of those second and third cars are "not required" vehicles, meaning that the owners can "choose" when to use or not use them? I would imagine that in many of those cases both spouses work, and may not have the luxury of sharing a ride. And many of the "third cars" may be used by students in that family. So for these type of situations, the EV may not provide enough "flexibility".

Of course, if someone is affluent enough to afford a car that they only drive when they want to, then the EV may work just fine. I just wonder how much this is true for the "typical" family.

[hampdenwireless]

There is a lot of talk about electric cars are 'city' cars. I don't think they should be thought that way. In cities like NYC most people would have no place to charge at night, and charging during the day is a bad idea for the grid.

Cars with 40-100 mile ranges would not just work in the city. I am in the suburbs 14 miles from work. I could plug in at home AND at possibly work if needed. Many people are just outside of a city and work within. Others do live in the city and have a place to charge.

In short these cars would not be for everyone but would work very well for others. The more green choices the better!

[fjpod]

Originally Posted by yardman 49

Maybe someday. Currently, the national grid can barely keep up with demand during hot or cold weather. Assuming that an employer would be interested in putting in enough plugs for all their employees that switch to EVs, how will our current infrastructure support this?

The current idea is that people will charge their EVs at home at night, when demand is lower, not during peak daytime hours at their place of employment.

I agree. It would be irresponsible for a car maker to make a car that would "need" to be hooked up to the grid during daylight hours or when there is peak demand for electricity.

And suppose a bad storm knocks out power to a region for a few days? At least with a hybrid, you could get around until you run out of gas or drive to an unaffected area. Hybrid/PHEV is the way to go for now.

[daniel]

Originally Posted by yardman 49

... how will our current infrastructure support this?

The fallacy in the above argument is the assumption that the nation will convert to EVs over night, and then everyone will have to charge at work, leaving the grid without sufficient capacity. In fact, adoption of EVs will be gradual, giving the grid plenty of time to be expanded, in both generating and in carrying capacity.

In addition, there seems to be an assumption that we have a choice. That we have the luxury to choose between switching or not. Our real choices are, switch to EVs or leave ourselves stranded when the supply-and-demand equation makes gas unaffordable. Of course, if you are my age you have a third choice: burn all the petroleum and leave the next generation totally f*#@ed.

Guys and gals: You can argue about whether EVs are "good enough" to support your present lifestyle choices of living an hour's drive from work, or you can recognize that this present lifestyle is not sustainable and is going to leave the next generation without sufficient energy to maintain an industrial economy. Civilizations collapse when they exhaust their resources. And when that happens, it is massive starvation, misery, and death on an unimaginable scale. Every mile you drive in a gasoline car is one more nail in your child's coffin. Or your grandchild's.

[fgp]

small pain in the butt detail. my understanding is that it charges at 230 volts, not 115. i could be wrong. so instead of common household current it uses the same as your dyer and range., sooooo. it better have a lot of safety things attached cuz 230 can be extremely fatal if you get shocked. just my humble not real informed feeling
fred from nashville

[drees]

Originally Posted by fgp

just my humble not real informed feeling

Got that part right, at least.

I highly doubt any EVs will be 240v only. All should be able to do a slow charge on 120v since 240v is not readily available.

But even then, all the charge plugs are specially designed to eliminate the chance of electrocution or shock. Even if you are an idiot.