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Review: Tesla Motors pioneers all-electric performance sports car

Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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However, the only way the price tag is going down anytime soon is if more people develop an interest in electric cars and are willing to purchase them. This will create an efficient system of supply and demand for electric cars, more e-cars will be manufactured, and competition may arise from other e-car companies that join the movement to switch from gas to electricity.

World's first high-speed all-electric sport utility truck to be launched by Phoenix Motorcars

Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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Like other electric cars under development, this model can accelerate with great speed, from 0-60 mph in 10 seconds. However, performance electric cars from other companies like Tesla Motors can go from 0-60 mph in a whiplash-inducing 4 seconds. According to the website for Phoenix Motorcars, the company "manufactures zero-emission, freeway-speed fleet vehicles. It is an early leader in the mass production of full-function, green electric trucks and SUVs for commercial fleet use.

The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of Oil, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century

James Howard Kunstler
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This is one of the main reasons that electric cars have been such a flop during the past decade: The batteries could not be improved to make them significantly less bulky or lighter, or to increase the travel range between charges. What's more, electric cars would have carried a base price 30 percent higher than comparable gasoline models, while the batteries would have to be replaced every few years for many thousands of dollars more. These problems left the electric car in oblivion.

Review: Tesla Motors pioneers all-electric performance sports car

Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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While most electric cars prior to the Tesla Roadster could only go a maximum of 60 miles per charge, this model is more than just a commuter car and easily achieves 250 miles per charge. The instruments inside the car even indicate to the driver how many miles can be driven before it needs to be recharged. The dashboard tells you the correct time, tire pressure and even the fastest acceleration for the day. Still, until more cities and towns provide recharging outlets on the road, or at least near major districts of the city, this is not a car than can easily be driven cross-country.
This will create an efficient system of supply and demand for electric cars, more e-cars will be manufactured, and competition may arise from other e-car companies that join the movement to switch from gas to electricity. Included with the Tesla Roadster are all of the basic features, like air-conditioning and power locks, as well as two heated sports seats with inflatable lumbar support, a leather-trimmed interior, and a Homelink universal transmitter that is compatible with garage, gate and home lighting/home security systems.

World's first high-speed all-electric sport utility truck to be launched by Phoenix Motorcars

Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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Off-board charging can be accomplished with a special charger in as little as 10 minutes, and a company called GreenIt is planning the construction of rapid-charging stations for electric cars. Phoenix Motors is generating a lot of interest from consumers, and may start selling vehicles to the general public in the next two years. Actor and environmental activist Ed Begley, Jr., has recently purchased one and sees it as the car of the future. "This electric vehicle is rising from the ashes of the failed electric car industry," said Ed Begley, Jr. "This is a cool vehicle.

101 Things You Don't Know About Science And No One Else Does Either

James Trefil
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A word about the market for electric cars: they will be used mainly for commuting and city driving ?no one would want to take one across the desert. Peugeot has been testing a car with a nickel-cadmium battery in La Rochelle, France, for the past few years, and is so encouraged that it produced 5,000 electric cars in 1995. An interesting sidelight is that market studies find that people's main concern with electric cars is the fear of having the batteries run down while they're out on the road.

Five must-see videos for health-aware consumers, parents and thought leaders

Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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You'll be amazed to see how auto makers actually confiscated electric cars and had them shredded in order to get them off the roads! Features Tom Hanks and other celebrities. Trailer at: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6923835633598627078 Meet Your Meat Want to know where that chicken, pork and beef really comes from? If you dare, watch this utterly frightening video narrated by Alec Baldwin. Personally, as I'm a supporter of the human treatment of all animals, I couldn't get past the first five seconds.

The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of Oil, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century

James Howard Kunstler
See book keywords and concepts
What's more, electric cars would have carried a base price 30 percent higher than comparable gasoline models, while the batteries would have to be replaced every few years for many thousands of dollars more. These problems left the electric car in oblivion. But they were developed in the first place not in expectation of oil shortages but to mitigate the separate problem of air pollution. In 2001, the California legislature mandated that 10 percent of all cars sold in the state be low-emission vehicles by 2003.
In 2003, having failed abysmally to interest the public in buying electric cars, California rescinded the mandate. Meanwhile, General Motors shelved the development of its once-touted EV (electric vehicle). As of late 2003, both Ford and General Motors were turning their attention to fuel-cell cars instead—the idea being that a fuel-cell car would be in effect an electric car, using an electric motor, only without the bothersome batteries. However, fuel-cell cars are problematic for reasons already discussed pertaining to hydrogen and natural gas.
For instance, why not just devote nuclear power to electric cars? With cars the battery/range-of-travel issues still pertain. With a railroad, the electricity supply runs continuously along the track, overhead or on a third rail, so the range of an electric engine is theoretically infinite. Before World War II, U.S. railroad electrification was about on par with other industrialized countries. After the war, not only did U.S. electrification come to a standstill, but it also started to decline and be dismantled. In Europe, the Soviet Union, and Japan electrification resumed with renewed vigor.

Review: Tesla Motors pioneers all-electric performance sports car

Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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So far, the response has been strong with all eyes on the company's new Tesla Roadster. Nothing seems to have prevented Tesla Motors from finding business success since the company was launched. The initial production run of the Tesla Roaster sold out in four months, and current reservations for the 2008 model year are on a first-come, first-served basis. Demand right now is high, considering that the company is doing such a small initial production run of the model, with an anticipated delivery date in Fall 2007.

101 Things You Don't Know About Science And No One Else Does Either

James Trefil
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For one thing, the battery has to store enough energy for the car to have a reasonable range (the distance you can go without recharging). Most electric cars now have a range of sixty miles or so, but that will have to increase to over one hundred miles for the cars to be commercially marketable. The battery has to have enough power to accelerate the car quickly (the "golf cart syndrome" is a major bar to the sale of electric cars). It has to perform well for hundreds of cycles (ideally, you should never have to replace a battery pack during the car's lifetime), and it should recharge quickly.
Peugeot has been testing a car with a nickel-cadmium battery in La Rochelle, France, for the past few years, and is so encouraged that it produced 5,000 electric cars in 1995. An interesting sidelight is that market studies find that people's main concern with electric cars is the fear of having the batteries run down while they're out on the road. In La Rochelle, people typically recharged their batteries every night, usually when they had about 70 percent of their energy left. The Impulse (a GM demonstration car with lead-acid batteries) has a "lock down" mode built in.

The Body Electric: Electromagnetism and the Foundation of Life

Robert Becker, M.D., and Gary Selden
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When superconducting cables are introduced, they'll increase the field strength around power lines by a factor of ten or twenty. electric cars, magnetically levitated transport vehicles, and microwave-beam satellites for transmitting solar power to earth would each add strong new sources of electromagnetic contamination. A proposed electromagnetic catapult that could shoot satellites into space from mile-long rails built up the side of a mountain would require the combined output of the country's thousand generating stations for the few seconds of each launch.

101 Things You Don't Know About Science And No One Else Does Either

James Trefil
See book keywords and concepts
An interesting sidelight is that market studies find that people's main concern with electric cars is the fear of having the batteries run down while they're out on the road. In La Rochelle, people typically recharged their batteries every night, usually when they had about 70 percent of their energy left. The Impulse (a GM demonstration car with lead-acid batteries) has a "lock down" mode built in. When the batteries get low, the car first shuts off all auxiliaries (like air conditioners and radio) and then won't go over 20 mph. Engineers call this the "limp home" mode.

Nontoxic, Natural and Earthwise

Debra Lynn Dadd
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Sells all the components you need to convert small cars (Hondas, VW Bugs, Chevettes, fiberglass kit cars) to electric cars that run on rechargeable batteries. B Also has a battery pack that can be recharged from solar cells. KSA jojoba. Jojoba-based automotive products include lubricants for standard and automotive transmissions and regular and high-performance two-cycle racing engines, plus an all-purpose industrial grease. These do contain some petrochemicals, but no animal by-products.

101 Things You Don't Know About Science And No One Else Does Either

James Trefil
See book keywords and concepts
Because California has been discussing the requirement that "zero emission" (that is, electric) cars be sold in the state, there is a major drive to produce marketable electric cars right now, and a concomitant interest in battery technology. Planners differentiate between midterm goals (to meet the California requirements) and long-term goals (to replace the internal combustion engine). The midterm goal, roughly, is a car with a range of 100-125 miles and a cost for the batteries of about $5,000. There seem to be three horses in the battery race.
The battery has to have enough power to accelerate the car quickly (the "golf cart syndrome" is a major bar to the sale of electric cars). It has to perform well for hundreds of cycles (ideally, you should never have to replace a battery pack during the car's lifetime), and it should recharge quickly. It has to operate in all temperatures and be essentially maintenance free. The battery should be cheap and, when its life is over, it should be recyclable. And that, my friends, is quite a list of requirements!



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ABOUT THE CREATOR OF NATURALPEDIA: Mike Adams, the creator of this NaturalNews Naturalpedia, is the editor of NaturalNews.com, the internet's top natural health news site, creator of the Honest Food Guide (www.HonestFoodGuide.org), a free downloadable consumer food guide based on natural health principles, author of Grocery Warning, The 7 Laws of Nutrition, Natural Health Solutions, and many other books available at www.TruthPublishing.com, creator of the earth-friendly EcoLEDs company (www.EcoLEDs.com) that manufactures energy-efficient LED lighting products, founder of Arial Software (www.ArialSoftware.com), a permission e-mail technology company, creator of the CounterThink Cartoon series (www.NaturalNews.com/index-cartoons.html) and author of over 1,500 articles, interviews, special reports and reference guides available at www.NaturalNews.com. Adams' personal philosophy and health statistics are available at www.HealthRanger.org.

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