How you sell Electric cars.

[SoCalDem]

Make them look like this:



or this



or this

http://www.customrodder.com/events/0611cr_19_z+1962_ford_thunderbird+front_right.jpg

[MazeRat7]

1. Or this....

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/23/automobiles/23AUTO.html

Of course you had better have plenty of extra cash lying around....

Peace,
MZr7

[Lorien]

45. Or this:

Some of us just aren't into the whole muscle car thing.

[Ian David]

2. Or this...

[screembloodymurder]

33. I hate the retro look.

It's so back to the future. Can't they come up with something new?

[napi21]

3. How do you do that and eliminatee all that weight?

Those are all cars from MY era, and I agree, if it could be done, it sure would sell cars, but saddly, I suspect it's impossible.

[SoCalDem]

4. Don't we have the bestest & smartest engineers?

:)

If they really wanted to, they could figure it out:)

[MazeRat7]

8. Carbon Fiber ? High Strength Polymer ?

Its more than just weight, its power to weight ratio and ultimately battery life.

But I'm stepping slightly outside my area of expertise so I'll leave it at that.

Peace,
MZr7

[GreenPartyVoter]

30. Carbon fiber or GINA skin. I was just watching a show on future cars and

those were two options mentioned.

[ContinentalOp]

11. There's a place in Culver City (L.A. area) that converts cars.

Supposedly they were doing a big old lowrider for Tommy Chong, so apparently it can be done. Neil Young is also converting some big old boat of a car to an electric vehicle at the moment.

http://jalopnik.com/5079498/neil-youngs-lincvolt-an-all+electric-1959-lincoln-continental-mark-iv-convertible

[SoCalDem]

14. Of course "it can be done"..

All you have to do is tune into the "old-car-auction" channel and see what these things sell for.. We could have paid for college for all three of our boys had we held on to our '68 GTO & our '64 Falcon convertible:rofl:

[napi21]

25. I know. I often watch the Barrett Auction. n/t

[crikkett]

42. I think they'd be made of plastic.

[PVnRT]

44. Different materials for the body and engine

Same way they do it with race cars.

[Lorien]

46. And drag. Those designs are hardly aerodynamic

and they don't appeal to all of us.

[Phred42]

5. YES to all of them!

[salguine]

6. Or like this: Or maybe not?

[SoCalDem]

7. sure..why not? I'm sure some folks would love that little cutie

:)

[MazeRat7]

9. Well you certainly would feel "connected" to the driving experience... n/t

[ContinentalOp]

10. You sell them like you sell anything else.

Make them sexy and cool. Make them a high end status symbol. Then make cheaper versions for the masses once they catch on. It doesn't matter how big they are, how powerful they are, what exactly they look like, as long as they look good and have some kind of sex appeal. You can make them really expensive ultra luxury vehicles, or make them really fast but tiny two seaters, or make the ultimate eco car to appeal to the green market. There are tons of different ways to position electric cars in the market, and there's no good reason we can't buy them already today.

[Tesha]

12. I'd rather they looked like this...

[Greyskye]

13. Or This:

http://www.aptera.com/index.php

[Fearless]

27. Dunno... I'm not certain but I'm pretty sure...

That this car, if put into mass production, would increase the number of UFO sightings in this country by about 200 fold.

:wtf:

[KansDem]

34. They would be classed as "UROs"

Or "Unidentified Rolling Objects"

[Fearless]

53. As opposed to UFS's...

Unidentified Flying Shoes!

[Lorien]

48. It's in production. Personally I love the design

no more of the "same ol', same ol'". Plus, it's got better safety features than most cars on the road today.

[screembloodymurder]

15. Actually, this is how you sell an semi-electric car.

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

16. Is that the Volt?

[jmowreader]

20. I don't think so...it;s got a Honda logo on the hood

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

24. Thanks, that's what my teen said also. That's a Honda, Mom!

laughing here.

[Kalyke]

31. Yuck.

No... that's not how you sell one. That looks like a Prius on steroids - and the Prius is the second ugliest car I've ever seen.

The first is that box thing that Toyota puts out.

:puke:


(To each his/her own, I guess)

[screembloodymurder]

32. Yep, it's the new Insight (if they don't change the concept)

I want one, though I doubt I'll be able to get one.

[salguine]

17. Actually I think the key to it is, make it something most people can afford. Make your

so it's profitable from volume of sales.

[ContinentalOp]

22. I think that's step 2.

Step one is to make electric cars a desirable status symbol. That's the only way to get people to give up their SUVs and sports cars. I mean, people bought Hummers and they became a mass manufactured consumer vehicle, simply because Ahnold drove them. People are shallow like that. Once electric cars are considered "sexy" rather than tiny and underpowered, then it will be easy to mass market an inexpensive electric car.

[IDemo]

18. ->

http://www.autofiends.com/index.php/2008/08/rally-hottie-hoons-electric-cobra/

[seemunkee]

43. OMG!

I'll be in my bunk

[lumberjack_jeff]

19. Electric range requires small frontal area and light weight.

You can't push around a bunch of air or extraneous weight for any significant distance with any available battery technology.

Can't. Have. It.

You can have sporty. You can't have fat.

[ContinentalOp]

21. That's not really true.

People are converting PT Cruisers. People have converted plenty of pickup trucks by filling the bed up with batteries. Obviously there are tradeoffs in terms of weight vs. cargo space vs. range vs. power, etc. but I mean there are fully electric busses so nothing is impossible.

[lumberjack_jeff]

23. I'm planning to build an electic s10.

An S10 is a relatively small truck with a small frontal area.

I estimate that it'll have a 60 mile range with about 1700# of batteries... about 2/3 the weight of the vehicle. People convert trucks because they can carry that huge load.

[DireStrike]

26. Wouldn't the electricity costs be higher?

You don't happen to have a roof full of solar panels or something, do you?

[lumberjack_jeff]

28. No. The math is something like this...

$.07/kwh
approx 400 wh/mi average power required

.07 * .4 = $0.028 / mile

vs

$1.90/gallon
approx 28 mpg or .035 gallon per mile

1.9 * .035 = $0.066 / mile

Will gas always be $1.90?

The way I see it, there are four good reasons for an ev conversion.
1) electricity is generated in a much more environmentally benign way than an internal combustion engine. In my area it's primarily hydropower.
2) economics, see above
3) preparedness. When oil reaches its peak, transportation fuel will be rationed first.

[Kalyke]

29. Love this thread because it's true.

Electric and hybrid cars, as they are currently designed, are some of the ugliest things I've ever seen.

That Tesla in Post No. 1 is cool, but who can afford it's $50,000+ price tag? Not working Joe and Jill.

But, yes, this is what needs to happen. We need attractive, sexy and dynamic electric cars - not something I could see tooling around Munchkin Land.

[MindPilot]

39. I so agree with you on this!

The more economical the vehicle is the uglier it gets. And those cars from the 60's & 70's were absolutely fucking gorgeous compared to what sits in the showroom today.

Used to be able to tell make model and year from the glimpse of a taillight. Now I have to get close enough to read the badge to even see who built the damn thing; they all look the same.

And the names are just goofy, prius, smart, passat, kompressor (what's next, the spark plug?) integra...gaaak.

Is a prius REALLY more aerodynamic than a corvette?

[SoCalDem]

50. Many of the "newer cars" remind me of jelly beans ..

The hunchback look of them..and the extreme roundness of many of them, make most undistinguishable from another..no matter the year or brand..

"Back in the day", you could tell a car, its year & even the model..by the silhouette..(and of course by the gurgling sound of the engines too):)

I know the days of the big muscle cars are gone forever, but there are few people these days who "need" the big engine & with it, the speed.. Surely the "look" of the car could be reborn..even if in a smaller more refined way.

Look at Mustang... for years, those cars barely sold, and then they started making them LOOK like the Mustangs of old, and voila..Mustangs started selling well again:)

[bullwinkle428]

35. "Form follows function" - it's amazing how beautiful something will look

when gasoline goes to $5 or more per gallon!

[Kalyke]

47. Nope.

Because most of the electric/hybrids are also more expensive to PURCHASE than the other cars.

Most people do not want to spend $32,000 on something they don't like when they can spend $25,000 on something they do.

But, give them something they LIKE for $32,000 and they'll buy it.

[JHB]

36. While we're at it...

Like this...


or this...

[gravity]

37. Those are heavy and not aerodynamic

Electric cars look ugly because they have to make the best out of the limited energy supply. You are designing a car around a gas tank that only holds a couple gallons.

[Evoman]

38. Lesson 1 of Car-Making: The more a car looks like a penis, the more people will like it.

Seriously.

Look at almost any thread about cars....you'll see that my words are true. Long, shaped hood. Smaller back end.

:rofl:

[MindPilot]

40. ummm, without getting TOO personal here...

If that is the shape of your penis, you may want to seek medical attention. :D

[Evoman]

49. BWAHAHAH

:rofl:

You got me!

[Poiuyt]

54. That's the most preposterous thing I've ever heard

[IDemo]

41. It's too bad electric cars have to be so ugly, right?

[SoCalDem]

51. Those cars you posted are quite nice looking...

but truth-be-told, until the masses can afford one, and are willing to junk all their old non-electric ones, nothing's gonna change all that much..

In MY perfect world, the roofs of cars would be "solarized", so they would constantly be recharging..and every garage roof & yard storage building would have a solar array, just for re-charging of vehicles.. They would also be sold like the "gun-buyback programs"..Can't buy one unless you turn in an old gas guzzler (in working order of course, to get it off the road)..

[IDemo]

52. There's also this technology to convert existing cars to plug-in hybrids for around $3500

http://www.poulsenhybrid.com/

Make your car a Plug-in Hybrid





Not a "pure" electric vehicle, but probably more usable and much cheaper for most people.