Honda FCX

[CD5Passion]

Originally Posted by GT40FIED

This is true...but eletric cars have 0 emissions, not even water. And while it's true that 70% of the earth is covered in water, that becomes pretty irrelevent when you consider the energy required to extract the hydrogen from water. Not to mention that hydrogen is incredibly volitile.

That said, I don't like the current eletric car technology. That Tesla is certainly an improvement in terms of distance on one charge, but until a big name auto manufacturer gets on board no one will buy them. Mostly because that's the only way things like service will become widely available. I mean...the closest Tesla service center to me is in Chicago. You think I wanna have my car towed to Chicago if something goes wrong? Besides, when it comes to fuel saving tech, the Europeans will always beat us to it. I'll become more optimistic when there's a ton of electric cars on Europe's streets.

true true, it probably just takes the kind of person. I'm really into small cars, and I'm a huge fan of SMart cars. btw i just took a look at the Tesla, and that thing is sexy.

how volitile would the hydrogen be though? you would think they wouldn't put a platform on a bomb....of course gasoline isn't exactly risk-free

[GT40FIED]

Well really man...there are a lot of people out there like you and me. I'd absolutely drive an electric car if they could make one that looked and (most importantly) drove like a conventional car. The problem is that a lot of people won't buy these cars simply because they aren't generally available. Without a lot of people owning them, they almost become a niche product.

And how volitile is hydrogen? Well...they built a bomb around it. I'm sure the principle is pretty different, but it's still incredibly flamable in liquid/gas form.

[Robert]

Originally Posted by GT40FIED

Well really man...there are a lot of people out there like you and me. I'd absolutely drive an electric car if they could make one that looked and (most importantly) drove like a conventional car. The problem is that a lot of people won't buy these cars simply because they aren't generally available. Without a lot of people owning them, they almost become a niche product.

And how volitile is hydrogen? Well...they built a bomb around it. I'm sure the principle is pretty different, but it's still incredibly flamable in liquid/gas form.

THey say right now what holds electric cars back are teh batteries. We've held onto the same battery technology in many cases for 30-40+ years. The increase in storage and ability to rapid charge could see the electric car become more possible.

Service, there is little service required unless something breaks. According to the GM service guide, every 5000miles for a tire check and rotate. You could have the breaks done anywhere.

Personally I'm looking at getting a tesla. The 1 year wait time has me concerned though, alot can change in one year. However I know I dont drive more then 200 miles/day on average when I'm driving around town so that is alot better then the 120 miles you could go in the GM electric car and those had waiting lists for them.

Starting a new car company is risky, but with the technology shift it might be wise for all manufacters to develope alternative fuel cars under different brands. It will protect oil burning cars from becoming 'dirty' compaired to electric/hydrogen.

[Robert]

Originally Posted by CD5Passion

true true, it probably just takes the kind of person. I'm really into small cars, and I'm a huge fan of SMart cars. btw i just took a look at the Tesla, and that thing is sexy.

how volitile would the hydrogen be though? you would think they wouldn't put a platform on a bomb....of course gasoline isn't exactly risk-free

The smart car company has an interesting concept, the problem is they make no money. Actually they are running at a lose and seeking to be bought out. Merc is looking to unload them.

How dangerous is hydrogen? If you were rear ended with a full take it would explode like a bomb. A full tank in a car would more then level a home. Steve is right, hydrogen bomb.

[CD5Passion]

Originally Posted by Robert

The smart car company has an interesting concept, the problem is they make no money. Actually they are running at a lose and seeking to be bought out. Merc is looking to unload them.

How dangerous is hydrogen? If you were rear ended with a full take it would explode like a bomb. A full tank in a car would more then level a home. Steve is right, hydrogen bomb.

do you have a reference when you say they don't make money? because SMart is supposed to be a fairly popular company in europe. not to mention that SMart, which stands for Swatch-Mercedes Art, is the brain child of Swatch products and Mercedes-Benz. Needless to say Mercedes makes a damn good amount of flow.

[Robert]

Originally Posted by CD5Passion

do you have a reference when you say they don't make money? because SMart is supposed to be a fairly popular company in europe. not to mention that SMart, which stands for Swatch-Mercedes Art, is the brain child of Swatch products and Mercedes-Benz. Needless to say Mercedes makes a damn good amount of flow.

I dont have any documentation for this. However a friend of mine worls for mercedes was explaining their situation. They lose money in the making of the cars, they have such 'green' practices that for example there is no A/C in the building. So when it gets over 100f they either pay extra or shut the factory down.

He explained to me the lose about 15-20% on each car. They are attempting to correct the problem but it hasn't happen.

This is why for example in Canada there is only one version of the car available. They have decided not to roll the others out and focus on one vehicle.

This source has given me very good information prioviously so I deam it accurate. Side note VW is in major trouble in the US.

[CD5Passion]

Originally Posted by Robert

I dont have any documentation for this. However a friend of mine worls for mercedes was explaining their situation. They lose money in the making of the cars, they have such 'green' practices that for example there is no A/C in the building. So when it gets over 100f they either pay extra or shut the factory down.

He explained to me the lose about 15-20% on each car. They are attempting to correct the problem but it hasn't happen.

This is why for example in Canada there is only one version of the car available. They have decided not to roll the others out and focus on one vehicle.

This source has given me very good information prioviously so I deam it accurate. Side note VW is in major trouble in the US.

ok, touche. Now whats with VW?

[Robert]

Originally Posted by CD5Passion

ok, touche. Now whats with VW?

If they dont make up better sales in 2007/2008 you might seem them leave the market place. Where as Audi has done far better with their better designs/features.

VW as a brand has a poor image in America. It's the small german car without any power. It's had the same boxy image for the last 20 years and consumers have been caught up in the sexy jap. cars.

THis is what I'm told, their line of cars is some of the worst in sales in the industry (when looking at the US market - in europe they sell).

[CD5Passion]

Originally Posted by Robert

If they dont make up better sales in 2007/2008 you might seem them leave the market place. Where as Audi has done far better with their better designs/features.

VW as a brand has a poor image in America. It's the small german car without any power. It's had the same boxy image for the last 20 years and consumers have been caught up in the sexy jap. cars.

THis is what I'm told, their line of cars is some of the worst in sales in the industry (when looking at the US market - in europe they sell).

i'm not so sure it matters much since audi and vw are one in the same, not to mention that Audi is only a more expensive VW and with more problems so I've heard. as far as the boxy designs, i really don't see it. especially with their new Scirocco in design. I for one really like the Eos.

in any case it can't be much worse than Mercedes lol

But what is striking about Mercedes' performance is its consistency. Of the 11 models reviewed by Consumers, none are recommended. Seven are left off of the list because of poor reliability; the remaining four are considered too new to predict.
Mercedes has the worst record of any automaker with that many models. For a brand that claims to be "engineered like no other car in the world," that is fairly frightening.