Honda quits electric car business in US

You know, I have been all over Romania, Italy, Portugal, and some other spots overseas in the past couple of years. Almost everyone drives small, very fuel efficient cars, alot of models we don't have in the US. (even the ones made by US companies and not available here). Seen alot of wind power stuff. alot of solar stuff, alot of nuke stuff, but I can't recall seeing any electric vehicles over there.
 
You know, I have been all over Romania, Italy, Portugal, and some other spots overseas in the past couple of years. Almost everyone drives small, very fuel efficient cars, alot of models we don't have in the US. (even the ones made by US companies and not available here). Seen alot of wind power stuff. alot of solar stuff, alot of nuke stuff, but I can't recall seeing any electric vehicles over there.

You will find them in large cities. Many EU/UK cities require you to park on the outskirts and take public transit in. If you have an EV, you can drive in those areas.
 
You will find them in large cities. Many EU/UK cities require you to park on the outskirts and take public transit in. If you have an EV, you can drive in those areas.
Even in the cities, Bucharest, Rome, Lisbon, Porto, Seville. They love their gas powered stuff as much as we do. I think I saw a Chevy Volt in Rome, that was it.
 
You know, I have been all over Romania, Italy, Portugal, and some other spots overseas in the past couple of years. Almost everyone drives small, very fuel efficient cars, alot of models we don't have in the US. (even the ones made by US companies and not available here). Seen alot of wind power stuff. alot of solar stuff, alot of nuke stuff, but I can't recall seeing any electric vehicles over there.
An extended family member was a missionary in Romania several years ago, he told us that where he was small diesel cars were the popular, got good fuel mileage and fuel was cheap. Emissions? Unheard of.
Until charging stations are ubiquitous and charging times are drastically reduced (What happened to the super capacitor that was tauted a few years ago?) I don't see EVs become commonplace.

Load'em cheap, stack'em deep.
 
Everyone else knows that this EV craze doesn't prove out... If the power is out for a week because of a hurricane or a ice storm, what good is that electric car ? It's the new pet rock . In cities they will work decent, everywhere else you have to have internal combustion.

Make Diesels efficient and don't choke them with unnecessary emissions requirements. They will use less fuel.

Gas vehicles can be efficient with light emissions requirements.
 
With sub $40bbl oil Honda got out at the right time. Tax credits will go away soon for Tesla buyers.
 
Back in the mid 70s, my dad bought a diesel VW Rabbit 4 door. It got 50 mpg! My mother got the same engine in the VW Rabbit truck and it only got 35 mpg.

CD
Older guy I worked with had that same diesel Rabbit in 1977. I was getting 14 mpg in my V8 '71 Fury.
 
Full disclosure, I am a big fan of EVs. However, I am a fan for my particular situation, and I fully recognize that ICE vehicles are a better fit for many needs.
I'm not all about being green. I am about the convenience. I am part of a 3 car family with a garage capable of holding two. 80% of the time I drive less than 100 miles per day and 95% of the time I drive less than 150 mpd. The thought of coming home and plugging my car in overnight and having it full the next day is appealing to me. Not having to stop and buy gas, change the oil/plugs/engine air filter/coolant/etc. is a convenience that offsets the other inconveniences.

Again, FOR MY SITUATION having an EV would be great, and I'll look into them in depth when it comes time to car shop again. It would be great to let my son use one to get to high school/practice without having a stable of vehicles that need maintenance. For that 5% of the time when an EV is a poor choice, I still have another vehicle that works. The "penalty" for having that vehicle is all the associated maintenance.

A big problem is that here in NC we basically have two choices, The Nissan Leaf and the family of Teslas. Other options are reserved for sale in states that have mandated that a percentage of all cars sold in the state must be "electric" (which is done via compliance credits so that hybrids count somewhat). These are actually called compliance cars.

I don't post this to get into an argument over whether EVs are "greener" than ICE cars, but I can address that as best as I'm able if you want me to. The short version is that they are. The long version is that it isn't worth the trouble if it involves wholesale changes to your living situation. For example, if you live in an area where you have to park on the street, the hassle of recharging isn't worth it.

One interesting problem is that there is a shortage of Li-ion batteries so that more EVs can be built. This is another interesting case of unintended consequences. It was originally thought that older EVs would have their batteries recycled to help make new batteries (depending on materials, 90-97% of an EV battery can be recycled). However the old batteries often still have 70ish% of their charge capacity available, and power companies have been using them as storage for peak demand times. Those that do get recycled are going to other battery applications (i.e. phones).
 
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Ferrisfan...thanks for your post.

the economics just don't work for me. however, with gas prices coming down, i anticipate the prices of new EV's will drop as well.

if you were buying new, which model has the potential to drop 15-20% in price?
 
Ferrisfan...thanks for your post.

the economics just don't work for me. however, with gas prices coming down, i anticipate the prices of new EV's will drop as well.

if you were buying new, which model has the potential to drop 15-20% in price?
In N.C., I don’t see it happening. Best odds are a Leaf since that is falling behind the curve, and Nissan is expected to have a small SUV version soon.
 
Everyone else knows that this EV craze doesn't prove out... If the power is out for a week because of a hurricane or a ice storm, what good is that electric car ? It's the new pet rock . In cities they will work decent, everywhere else you have to have internal combustion.

Make Diesels efficient and don't choke them with unnecessary emissions requirements. They will use less fuel.

Gas vehicles can be efficient with light emissions requirements.
If the power is out the gas pumps don't work as well.
As a side note, what will the younger generation do if there are no mufflers to play with?.....maybe a set of wire wheels and racket makers stuck into the spokes will be the new rage.
 
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Wanna know what's wrong with plug in electric vehicles? The government.....That's what's wrong. As soon as the government realizes that they are no longer making money from gas because of electric vehicles, they will start taxing the crap out of electricity.

People that think the plug-in EV is the almighty cost cutting solution to their transportation needs are in for a rude awakening. Not to mention the fact that electricity isn't free to begin with. But if/when EV's go mainstream, you can bet your butt that all levels of government will tax it to the max. That's what governments do.......Tax.
 
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I believe at one time NC was looking at a milage based additional tax for all vehicles. If you drive a lot you get taxed much more!

Your right Qball they are going to get their money and probably more...

Wanna know what's wrong with plug in electric vehicles? The government.....That's what's wrong. As soon as the government realizes that they are no longer making money from gas because of electric vehicles, they will start taxing the crap out of electricity.

People that think the plug-in EV is the almighty cost cutting solution to their transportation needs are in for a rude awakening. Not to mention the fact that electricity isn't free to begin with. But if/when EV's go mainstream, you can bet your butt that all levels of government will tax it to the max. That's what governments do.......Tax.
 
Wanna know what's wrong with plug in electric vehicles? The government.....That's what's wrong. As soon as the government realizes that they are no longer making money from gas because of electric vehicles, they will start taxing the crap out of electricity.

People that think the plug-in EV is the almighty cost cutting solution to their transportation needs are in for a rude awakening. Not to mention the fact that electricity isn't free to begin with. But if/when EV's go mainstream, you can bet your butt that all levels of government will tax it to the max. That's what governments do.......Tax.

EV owners in many states pay an extra $200ish as part of their annual registration to offset lost gas taxes.
 
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