Comments on: Who Killed the Electric Car? Debate Rages On

By: Larry Dean

Larry Dean — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:44:54 +0000

To add to one of the numerous songs by the late great John Lennon of the Beatles, Imagine...

Imagine there's no oil. It's easy if you care. Clean air above us. Electric cars everywhere...

By: Bill Reinert from Toyota confronted at conference by plug-in battery advocates who do not like hearing the truth « Hydrogen Car Revolution

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 17:25:22 +0000

[...] by saying “Poor Bill Reinert.” The following excerpt from an earth2tech blog entry titled “Who Killed the Electric Car? Debate Rages On” shows where I was coming from [...]

By: 71 things everyone should know about hydrogen cars « Hydrogen Car Revolution

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 11:54:53 +0000

[...] The following earth2tech blog entry discusses how Bill Reinert from Toyota was confronted at the recent plug-in conference in [...]

By: Al Gore and T. Boone Pickens Hydrogen Education Challenge, Day 32 of 50 « Hydrogen Car Revolution

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 22:37:17 +0000

[...] following earth2tech blog entry discusses how Bill Reinert from Toyota was confronted at the recent plug-in conference in [...]

By: Top 25 quotes from Toyota and Honda executives criticizing plug-in battery technology « Hydrogen Car Revolution

Mon, 04 May 2009 17:25:42 +0000

[...] Earth2Tech article – June 15, [...]

By: Memo to GM: Drop Dead « Earth2Tech

Memo to GM: Drop Dead « Earth2Tech — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:00:25 +0000

[...] have been producing a mediocre product for decades, and have fought cleantech at every turn (remember the EV1?). They’ve earned their failure, and should be allowed to go into bankruptcy so that their [...]

By: The Daily Sprout « Earth2Tech

The Daily Sprout « Earth2Tech — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:30:33 +0000

[...] 2008 at 5:30 pm in Misc Toyota Puts Tesla, Fisker & Volt on “Death Watch”: Bill Reinert, a Toyota technology manager and antagonist in Who Killed the Electric Car?, said that some at [...]

By: GoJack

GoJack — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 05:03:30 +0000

Don’t worry about the critics that’s all they are and will always be. Once we have the electric powered cars on the road with a little bit more time a power pack that will be suitable for all needs will be in play. Just push thought the first step by getting electric cars on the road, despite the vested interests. All I can say is the first car company that gets it out will be the WINNER!

By: Paul Scott

Paul Scott — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 01:38:31 +0000

As one of the people involved in the "discussion" with Bill Reinert, I can assure you that the writer's description is accurate.

And ask one of the owners of the Toyota RAV4 EV, I can assure Tom Gray that his take on EVs is completely off base. We saved some 1,000 of the production EVs from destruction and virtually all of them continue to drive oil-free and pollution-free today. Many of the RAVs have exceeded 100,000 miles without the need for repairs or maintenance. Battery degradation is just stating to appear in the vehicles with the most mileage, but considering how far they've gone, we're quite pleased. Even with a little degradation, they are still viable commuting cars. And that's with batteries designed over ten years ago.

The newer LiIon batteries will prove to be even better. Once you've had the opportunity to drive an EV, you'll never want to go back to gas.

By: Dan

Dan — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 20:16:12 +0000

And…there, their, and they’re are all different words.

By: Dan

Dan — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 20:12:39 +0000

You could, but it would be less efficient than using one larger battery.

With the two batteries, you would be using one to charge the other. Since we have no 100% efficient process of generating energy (hence no perpetual energy machines) this would loose energy due to mechanical inefficiencies in the alternator and chemical inefficiencies in the battery.

There would be no situation where you would be better served having one battery charging another one, rather than having just a larger battery that is able to do more work.

By: Steve

Steve — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 18:08:50 +0000

I’m no scientist nor a mechanic, but would it be possible to implement a dual battery system into an EV? While one battery is in use, the other battery could be charging via something similar to an alternator? Sorry guys just a random curious thought.

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:54:55 +0000

Allan Lloyd (CARB) killed the electric car. Even if the program had been left in its tiny scale (a few hundred cars in California) we’d be in so much better shape with this technology than we are now. Heck, if the car companies complained so much, then the gov’t should have paid the $20 million or so a year to keep the technology active and evolving. A bit cheaper than spending a trillion dollars in Iraq, don’t you think?

By: EVcast

EVcast — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 09:46:57 +0000

I love a good conspiracy as much as the next guy. However, I tend to see the 1990's EV simply as an idea ahead of its time. Gas was cheap (relatively speaking), Al Gore's "Inconvenient Truth" was not around, there was no Iraq war, etc. While I am sure there were "forces" out to kill the program, the demand of the people simply was not enough to overcome these forces. Today is different. As we are seeing, top execs cannot ignore the demand.

Bo Bennett, host EVcast.com

By: tom c gray

tom c gray — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 06:09:00 +0000

Nobody needed to kill the crappy battery-only electrics that appeared with the EV-1 – as Angus MacKenzie pointed out, the EV was DOA. No one is today proposing or threatening to build an EV anything like the EV-1 or Toyota Rav4, despite the many designs in the works.That alone should convince everyone that those 1990’s EVs were doomed then and are still obsolete and not viable technologies. Those who shill for them avoid mention of the critical economics of battery costs and battery lifespans. They instead narrowly brag about how cheap electricity is. There, in a word, total frauds.