Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

Back in the North East US we have one situation most other areas of the country do not have. Row Houses. Some of these row homes are a block long. When they were first built the residents would take public t***sportation or if lucky enough to own a car, the family would have ONE car. Today some of these homes have a car for each parent and maybe two more for late teen drivers. Sometimes a person has to park half a block or more from their residence. It won't at times be possible to get a car close enough to where the owner lives to even use a charging station. And if the family has four cars who is going to stay up at night switching out cars to get each one to the charging station? And won't it be lovely to drive down a street of row homes and have a charging tower in front of each home! I can't see that adding to the curb appeal of these homes. I think the answer to this would be to put the charging stations in the ground with only a 12" dome that could be raised to plug in the charging line. The more we discuss this on UHH, the more negatives we come up with. Think about apartment complexes. A complex of 2500 apartments would require a huge investment in infrastructure remodeling. I think it will be many years before a family would set out on a 1000 mile trip in an electric vehicle. Before we go all electric I think we will see most two car families have one electric and one gas auto. They will use the electric around town and short trips of 100 miles or less and use the gas powered car for long trips. I'm 72 and do not expect to see an all electric motor pool in my lifetime.

rcarol

Another issue that we have in California is that the electrical grid is barely sufficient to take care of our needs today let alone what will be required when by 2035 all vehicles sold in California will be electric.

dougbev3 Loc: Pueblo, Colorado

Everything that is fairly new - will have problems - but Americans can and will overcome the problem

anotherview Loc: California

Examination of the e-car project reveals its shortcomings. Mainly, the project requires a colossal improvement to infrastructure across the nation, on the supposition that this change will commensurately offset a negative impact to the global climate.

My sense tells me that the e-car cannot withstand scrutiny, much less justify its imposition on the nation.

The burden of proving otherwise lies with the project proponents.

JRiepe Loc: Southern Illinois

Are farmers going to be able to afford electric tractors and combines?

Minitman Loc: Centreville, Virginia

Unfortunately not true. Our leadership provides direction that suits their political agenda. If their direction actually is workable and solves the real, or perceived problem is irrelevant. Note California law requiring all trucks to be electric by 2030 (date may be incorrect) although there currently aren't any in production and perhaps not even in planning.

Frank T Loc: New York, NY

A more viable option than electric would be the development of the hydrogen-fueled vehicle. The technology already exists and we can use existing gasoline stations to distribute hydrogen with a little effort.
Hydrogen also eliminates the battery issue.
Research has already proven that hydrogen is available, safe, and already in use on a limited basis.

mr1492 Loc: Newport News, VA

A few points:

1) Hydrogen is a good idea but the storage of it can be an issue. Existing piping and tanks have a difficult time with hydrogen storage and t***sport. Remember, Hydrogen is a single proton and neutron. Existing steel and plastic pipes have interstitial spaces large enough for gaseous hydrogen to escape. Liquifying hydrogen requires supercooling and is expensive and energy intensive. Hydrogen has possibilities but it's not simple.

2) EVs will strain our entire electrical grid. With the NIMBY syndrome in place, it will be difficult to provide the electrical capacity to replace gasoline/diesel easily. One solution is nuclear power especially if we look to smaller, local generation capabilities. However, the anti-nuclear sentiments make that unlikely.

3) Even more difficult is the ability to obtain the rare earth minerals used to make the batteries needed for long-range EVs. Right now, we don't mine for those here and are unikely to be able to due to environmental restrictions. So, we will be dependent upon "friendly nations" like China for these in the foreseeable future.

4) The disposal of older cars will become more difficult and expensive. Those lithium-ion batteries will be hazardous waste. They will be difficult to dispose of economically.

5) Right now, many of the EV batteries will lose their ability to recharge completely after about 10 years. Honda, for example, has to change out it's batteries at that point or 100k miles. So, we have to dispose of old batteries (see #4 above) and replace them.

Just some thoughts.

kerry12 Loc: Harrisburg, Pa.

You are correct. Americans can and will over come the problems,but the American people will do it not the government. The government needs to stay out of it and let the free market handle it. The government will only create more and bigger problems.

mr1492 Loc: Newport News, VA

Truer words were never spoken.

jonyrot

No one talks about all the losses to get the generated electricity to the vehicle battery. There are a number of losses that no one has addressed (at least I have not read anything to date). IMO, there will need to be a leap in electric battery technology for electric vehicles to be viable. Using excess renewable generation to generate hydrogen would be a better idea.

uhaas2009

Technology is changing every day. I’m sure some one have already thought about this problem.

SuperflyTNT Loc: Manassas VA

Infrastructure is an issue that needs to be addressed and I’m glad to see a resurgence in development of fuel cell cars. If big oil used some foresight instead of just looking at immediate profits the could be uniquely positioned to be the #1 provider of both charging and fuel cells. As for long trips, two of my brothers take long trips in their electric cars. At a fast charger they can get to 85% charge in 15 minutes and that will get them over 300 miles. Of course they are mostly driving the east coast where they have no problems finding fast chargers. I often drive from Northern Virginia to Florida and it wouldn’t work for me. I always have 2-3 kayaks on my roof and the electric vehicles suitable for my purposes generally only get about 240 miles on a charge, maybe under 200 with the kayaks. Instead I got a plug-in hybrid. I can get 26 miles in electric only mode and about 45-50 mpg in hybrid mode. I use minimal gas for daily driving. I’ve put 900+ miles in it and filled it up once, (only 11 gallon tank), and still have over 3/4 of a tank.
As for trucks, it’ll be a long time before we see over-the-road truckers go electric but it will revolutionize regional and local trucking. Tesla just started taking orders but hasn’t given a release date but Mercedes started production last year and Volvo has been in production since 2019 and now has 6 models. And there are others in production or preparing for production.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

I have one I don't think they will overcome - people who go out to the back side of beyond: h****rs, campers, hikers, wildlife people, visiting some of the large near wilderness parks and many photographers. They cannot use electric vehicles unless something changes a lot. You can't plug into a tree or put chipmunks on a tread mill and at this time solar chargers won't cut it either.
And thus far the SciFi electric vehicles with a miniature nuclear generator are nowhere on even the "in a few decades" prediction list.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Main problem I see there is that the combustion/explosive power of hydrogen makes gasoline or gasoline fumes look like a wet firec*****r. Remember the "Hindenburg".

A hydrogen car not well maintained or damaged leaks into the closed garage and then the neighborhood suddenly has a large crater.