Comments for The State of Electric Vehicles in 2012 at http://ecogeek.org , comment 1 to 4 out of 4 comments http://ecogeek.org Fri, 24 May 2013 20:43:06 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://ecogeek.org/automobiles/3682-the-state-of-electric-vehicles-in-2012#comment-45501 I live in the western US not in California. Plug in cars with limited mileage are less than useless when the average drive is 150 miles with no chance of plugging in. I live in a state, New Mexico, which pays lip service to green energy so all of this is academic for me. - Larry Leichtman Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:26:46 +0100 http://ecogeek.org/automobiles/3682-the-state-of-electric-vehicles-in-2012#comment-45443 I drive a Mitsubishi i MiEV everyday. I sell power back to SoutherCal Edison all day with my 33 Mitsubishi Solar Panels and I charge the car at night. What could be better? No I can't drive it to Las Vegas or San Fran, but not all tools in the "tool bag" do the same thing. When you can function on your iPhone its fine, but you still need a laptop once in a while. The car retails for less than $29,000 before the tax credits. - Bill Williams Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:01:00 +0100 http://ecogeek.org/automobiles/3682-the-state-of-electric-vehicles-in-2012#comment-45433 Where I am at in Seattle/Eastside there are lots of EVs, mostly Nissan Leafs. I see at least 4 Leafs and sometimes even a Volt or two when I am driving into work. Some of the dealers here have Leafs and Volts that can be test driven and/or purchased. They are available but not at all dealers. Supply is super limited and they are only available in some states. Just remember SUPPLY CONSTRAINED, 99% of all Leafs are pre-sold as well are Volts. Until we see a Leaf of every color and a Volt of Every color on every Nissan and Chevy dealer lot, consider them sold out. Gas WILL hit $5.00 this year, and that will only push people to better alternatives. Don't compare a Prius to a Leaf, compare the "normal" 18-23 mpg typical American car. If you are commuting in one of these, or a 13 mpg F150, and your commute is more than 40 miles round trip, YOU CAN MAKE THE PAYMENT ON A NEW LEAF WITH YOUR MONTHLY GASOLINE SAVINGS. Thats right, free car (esentially). Gasoline costs about 10X what electricity costs to charge. Spend $400 a month in gas? YOU WILL spend less than $40 a month on electricity to power an EV, period, no matter where you live. - Turbofroggy Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:47:51 +0100 http://ecogeek.org/automobiles/3682-the-state-of-electric-vehicles-in-2012#comment-45432 Where I live there is still only one plug in electric vehicle available to test drive which is the Volt. Now I read that consumers are not interested in EV's. I think that there has been so much hype by interested websites and OEM's that have been so over the top that when the reality of the minuscule supply, high prices and overall limitations, that it is inevitable that there is a lot of disappointment by buyers. Even now the energy secretary is saying that batteries will come way down in price in the next few years so why would a smart consumer buy now instead of waiting for the next generation of EV's. I will admit my enthusiasm is waning as well. A prius c will get about 50 miles to the gallon and cost under $20,000 while a comparable EV will cost about $35,000 with an installed charger (leaving out tax credits for the moment, because they will expire at some point). Larger vehicles increase the price difference even more. The EV is just a poor economic decision at this time. The OEM's know this which seems to be why they are making so few EV's. - Dan Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:59:07 +0100