Electric cars were abandoned in the early 20th century for the same reasons we can't really work with them today:
- Gasoline has an easily available and storable energy density that outstrips most other energy media.
- Range is severely limited both due to the amount of charge, charge times, and facilities to charge.
- A gasoline engine is useful in all but in severe extreme conditions, whereas a cold winter kills a battery.
Price is also a major factor, but I would assume that yesterday's electrics probably weren't a lot more expensive if at all than a comparable car of the age - but I have not researched that.
None of the problems listed above are insurmountable, but you're absolutely right. Clutching at your pearls and pushing electrics is going to do the same thing for electric cars that GM did for diesel cars - it's going to leave a bad taste in Jim Consumer's mouth that may never go away.
Electric cars were abandoned in the early 20th century for the same reasons we can't really work with them today:
* Gasoline has an easily available and storable energy density that outstrips most other energy media.
* Range is severely limited both due to the amount of charge, charge times, and facilities to charge.
* A gasoline engine is useful in all but in severe extreme conditions, whereas a cold winter kills a battery.
Price is also a major factor, but I would assume that yesterday's electrics probably weren't a lot more expensive if at all than a comparable car of the age - but I have not researched that.
None of the problems listed above are insurmountable, but you're absolutely right. Clutching at your pearls and pushing electrics is going to do the same thing for electric cars that GM did for diesel cars - it's going to leave a bad taste in Jim Consumer's mouth that may never go away.
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