Limited Edition Electric Mini's

[Bobby]

As a mini lover, I was ecstatic when I read this article this morning about mini bringing out 500 electric versions. Alas they will only be available in California, but kudos to them for making an effort!

[mountainhiker]

As a mini lover, I was ecstatic when I read this article this morning about mini bringing out 500 electric versions. Alas they will only be available in California, but kudos to them for making an effort!

500 must be a test marketing effort only. Sad because that is what they should be hitting the market with...

[Steve_Barker]

500 must be a test marketing effort only. Sad because that is what they should be hitting the market with...

"In the mid-1990s, the ARB, however, changed its mind following a huge lobbying effort by the auto companies. ARB decided not to mandate the introduction of EVs, but to instead let automobile manufacurers voluntarily sell Zero-Emission Vehicles (ZEVs) from 1998 to 2002. Then, starting in 2003, ten percent, or one out of every ten cars sold, would have to be a zero-emission vehicle. As the deadline approached, the agency changed the regulation even further. The compromise allowed extremely low-emission vehicles to get partial ZEV credits, but required that auto companies only sell two percent pure-ZEVS."

From: http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/transportation/electric.html

Hence, electric Minis.

Hopefully my next car: http://www.axonautomotive.com/

[mountainhiker]

"In the mid-1990s, the ARB, however, changed its mind following a huge lobbying effort by the auto companies. ARB decided not to mandate the introduction of EVs, but to instead let automobile manufacurers voluntarily sell Zero-Emission Vehicles (ZEVs) from 1998 to 2002. Then, starting in 2003, ten percent, or one out of every ten cars sold, would have to be a zero-emission vehicle. As the deadline approached, the agency changed the regulation even further. The compromise allowed extremely low-emission vehicles to get partial ZEV credits, but required that auto companies only sell two percent pure-ZEVS."

From: http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/transportation/electric.html

Hence, electric Minis.

Hopefully my next car: http://www.axonautomotive.com/

Hey, for the average person, that looks like it should be a winner..... Axon....

[Simon]

Electric vehicles will not be cleaner or smarter than todays cars. The end of private motorism should be near.

[mountainhiker]

Electric vehicles will not be cleaner or smarter than todays cars. The end of private motorism should be near.

Come on, give us a break, now electric is not cleaner than gas!

The end of private motorism, you need to get out in the rest of the world that others live in. China, India, Africa and the Americas have such huge distances to cover that public transportation will never cover the farmers that need to get to market along with the other business that people must get to.

And cars not smarter, so cars and computers are not going to advance past their current levels!!! :lol:

You need to have a few more cups of coffee!!!

[Simon]

Come on, give us a break, now electric is not cleaner than gas!

The end of private motorism, you need to get out in the rest of the world that others live in. China, India, Africa and the Americas have such huge distances to cover that public transportation will never cover the farmers that need to get to market along with the other business that people must get to.

And cars not smarter, so cars and computers are not going to advance past their current levels!!!

You need to have a few more cups of coffee!!!

It might sound crazy. But the days of private motorism is over. Let's say all cars are running on electricity and we dont take into account all the energy and resources needed to create these cars for the public:

The world population is growing.

As a result more people drive cars.

Cities and roads get crammed with more cars.

As a result you have to build more and bigger roads.

This of course leads to destruction of nature and valuable land.

More cars running on electricity means we need to build more power plants to be able to supply all of our energy needs. And lets take Europe as an example here. In 2005, 35% of electricity generated came from nuclear sources. Only 14% of electricity generated in Europe comes from renewable sources. So that means that your brand new electric car is 35% nuclear, 51% CO2 emitting and only 14% green.

[mountainhiker]

It might sound crazy. But the days of private motorism is over. Let's say all cars are running on electricity and we dont take into account all the energy and resources needed to create these cars for the public:

The world population is growing.

As a result more people drive cars.

Cities and roads get crammed with more cars.

As a result you have to build more and bigger roads.

This of course leads to destruction of nature and valuable land.

More cars running on electricity means we need to build more power plants to be able to supply all of our energy needs. And lets take Europe as an example here. In 2005, 35% of electricity generated came from nuclear sources. Only 14% of electricity generated in Europe comes from renewable sources. So that means that your brand new electric car is 35% nuclear, 51% CO2 emitting and only 14% green.

You are making lots of assumptions that I suspect will not hold true. 14% green is not going to be static, clearly the pressure is on to move in the direction of sustainable power and more nuclear as well. More people are going to drive cars but better to electric using green and nuclear power. You will see more public transportation but private motorism is far from dead...

[Bobby]

You are making lots of assumptions that I suspect will not hold true. 14% green is not going to be static, clearly the pressure is on to move in the direction of sustainable power and more nuclear as well. More people are going to drive cars but better to electric using green and nuclear power. You will see more public transportation but private motorism is far from dead...

I have to agree with TreeHugger - I don't think the end of private car ownership is realistic. We could definitely move towards more people using public transport and ride sharing but to totally phase it out would be impossible. I for one would use more public transport if it was available, but I'd never give up my car!!

At least steps are being made in the right direction.

[mountainhiker]

I have to agree with TreeHugger - I don't think the end of private car ownership is realistic. We could definitely move towards more people using public transport and ride sharing but to totally phase it out would be impossible. I for one would use more public transport if it was available, but I'd never give up my car!!

At least steps are being made in the right direction.

And while steps are being made in the right direction in most countries, the expansion of public transportation depends on the government making the right decisions as to the most effective way to do that. In countries with a large land mass, it is clearly must more of a challenge than those with a smaller land mass. The key is to find ways to make private transport as "green" as possible and do the same with public transport as well. B)