IMO: let me repeate IMO:

1. Go electric, the grid is more than capable of handling it.
2. We are helping the electric industry by charging at night.
3. We are really talking about the equivalent of 1 to 2 hair dryers, not an electric oven or electric clother dryers or spa heaters all of which are 4 to five times the energy drwar we are talking about to charge the car.
4. Generate the electricity however you want. Clean coal is the first step as we have more coal than just about any country on earth the reserves make the saudi energy pain in comparasion.
5. Build more wind, I was involved in building very large wind plants and I can say they have a way to go. The industry is headed in the wrong direction. They need more smaller units that can be serviced with standard high stroke cherry pickers and produce more cheaply. The problem is Cost of installed generating KW and they are just not ther yet but very slowly making progress, yes there is a lot of wind but not a lot of cost effective windmills.
6. We must remember perfection is the enemy of progress. Get started on nuke power plants, store stuff at Yucca, it's not perfection but wait 30 years (just one generation) and we will know how to do it better.
7. Make the cars better, more stored KW on board, better battery chemistry, higher EV drive sppeds, plug station.

Progress is coming in all the areas but it is moving too slow. If you wait for Detroit we will never see in in the next 30 years. Detroit died when Ed cole left GM. and Ford never go past the Mustang and died when Lee left. It's up to Toyota and hopefully a Korean will get on board.

Don

 

RE #2: "I am scared to buy a Buick from Detroit"

Don, I realize you were constructing a turn of the phrase/play on words (shocking/Volt); but I wanted to point out when I saw you being "scared" to buy a Buick, that the brand TIED Lexus in Vehicle Dependability the latest J.D. Power survey.

http://www.businessweek.com/autos/co...ge_top+stories

Note that this isn't the usual Initial Quality study; rather, it is a reflection of how well the vehicles are lasting in service. Yes, I realize the vehicles in the study date back to 2004; but they have to be that 'old' in order to reflect the required time in service. With the Domestics seeing year-over-year inprovements in quality, I feel it would be safe to extrapolate these findings into the current models.

 

I would think you might be able to buy the "AT HOME SOLAR CHARGING KIT" as an option when you buy the EV of the future!

 

My understanding is that the "range extender" engine in the Volt will only maintain the battery at the minimum state of charge needed to run the electric motor (30% or so, I think), and *not* charge the battery beyond that.

Ryan