more my speed and hopefully my price is the (the little white one)
2012ish Audi A1 All Electric
yes i am studying up for the learners permit!!
thats very exciting skin. very! looks like a 4door vw is out there too.
either would be fine, VW looks more room, Audi sleeker
audi is super cute and out this year, the vw cool but next year. the fun is in the comparisons. so many interesting choices. is leasing an option? i wonder who is the reliable opinionator. motor week? consumer reports? mark?
If you have any self-respect you must learn the manual transmission (do they still make those?)
a lease off the bizz would be best:>)
first i must get the license!!
following what alex said about a manual transmission. i hadnt thought about it but an all electric car doesnt actually need a transmission since the motor doesnt idle (that doesnt account for reverse), but a hybrid would need one, i guess. some mention of it here.
Erin's parents have a first gen Prius. It has a transmission, operating it seems to be pretty much the same as operating an automatic - put it in drive and go.
The Times gave the Chevy Volt a good review. It's electric mode range is only 40 miles or so but that's usually plenty for urban commuting, after 40 miles a gas engine starts up to power the generator which recharges the battery (sort of) Driving the Volt across the country would be the same as driving a gas engine car. The trip would be pretty much impossible in an EV. Until charging stations are commonplace electric vehicles risk getting stranded. Nissan Leaf review
Alge based bio fuel seems promising. I wonder whether could work politically.
I can teach you to drive a stick, my Subaru has a new clutch.
Skinny doesn't need to mess with a stick.
:)
edmunds car reviews > hybrid/electric
audi a1 e-tron concept test drive
Well, perhaps the stick is like cursive writing: no longer really matters; still, you won't win many drag races (and we talking a guy who once owned (but could not drive) a Super Bee...)
Sadly, the stick is going away. Even the europeans are getting to be like lazy Americans. If you're driving a small engined diesel or gasoline powered car, a stick is a must. With electrics (and most likely all hybrids) a manual won't be applicable.
(Editorial aside: In the sporty end of the spectrum, double clutch electronical shift-o-matic gizmotrons are taking over. As those cars age and migrate into the hands of racers, there's a problem. For big budget racing, super-high performance automagic is hunky dory. For regular folk racing, that dog don't hunt. They'll get broken and cost way too much to fix. Slush boxes (traditional automatics) are just awful all the way around.)
I haven't looked at the Audi and VW. For someone whose use case supports a full electric, there's a tremendous advantage from the standpoint of simplicity. Hybrids are more complicated than either conventional cars or electric cars. Old Prii(?) will be a pain to maintain.
The Volt was described as an electric with a gas powered generator. But as delivered, the gas engine can participate in delivering power to the wheels. Presumably this compromise was made to allow reducing the peak power requirements of the electric drive system.
Electric-diesel hybrids are common in trains. The diesel drives a generator that powers a electric motor that drives the train. Designing an electric motor to work over a wide range of speeds is easy, so a transmission isn't required. Having an internal combustion engine that does not have to work over a wide range of speeds allows for a design that more optimized. There are many compromises in conventional engines to allow them to work well at both low and high rpm.
So plug-in hybrid cars with a internal combustion engine -> generator -> electric motor configuration could have some advantages in the efficiency of the internal combustion part of the configuration.
One more aside. I was laughed at for an idea I had back in the mid-sixties: all electric car with an optional generator-on-a-trailer for rare long-distance trips. I still think it's awesome, but only if the long-distance trips are rare.
i hope if i get a license to have an all electric small car, no long trips for that GAS:>)
|
2012ish Audi A1 All Electric
yes i am studying up for the learners permit!!
- Skinny 2-06-2011 1:29 pm
thats very exciting skin. very! looks like a 4door vw is out there too.
- bill 2-06-2011 1:42 pm [add a comment]
either would be fine, VW looks more room, Audi sleeker
- Skinny 2-06-2011 7:29 pm [add a comment]
audi is super cute and out this year, the vw cool but next year. the fun is in the comparisons. so many interesting choices. is leasing an option? i wonder who is the reliable opinionator. motor week? consumer reports? mark?
- bill 2-06-2011 8:21 pm [add a comment]
If you have any self-respect you must learn the manual transmission (do they still make those?)
- alex 2-06-2011 10:02 pm [add a comment]
a lease off the bizz would be best:>)
first i must get the license!!
- Skinny 2-07-2011 9:42 am [add a comment]
following what alex said about a manual transmission. i hadnt thought about it but an all electric car doesnt actually need a transmission since the motor doesnt idle (that doesnt account for reverse), but a hybrid would need one, i guess. some mention of it here.
- bill 2-07-2011 12:20 pm [add a comment]
Erin's parents have a first gen Prius. It has a transmission, operating it seems to be pretty much the same as operating an automatic - put it in drive and go.
The Times gave the Chevy Volt a good review. It's electric mode range is only 40 miles or so but that's usually plenty for urban commuting, after 40 miles a gas engine starts up to power the generator which recharges the battery (sort of) Driving the Volt across the country would be the same as driving a gas engine car. The trip would be pretty much impossible in an EV. Until charging stations are commonplace electric vehicles risk getting stranded. Nissan Leaf review
Alge based bio fuel seems promising. I wonder whether could work politically.
I can teach you to drive a stick, my Subaru has a new clutch.
- steve 2-07-2011 4:19 pm [add a comment]
Skinny doesn't need to mess with a stick.
- jim 2-07-2011 4:51 pm [add a comment]
:)
edmunds car reviews > hybrid/electric
- bill 2-07-2011 5:26 pm [add a comment]
audi a1 e-tron concept test drive
- bill 2-07-2011 6:51 pm [add a comment]
Well, perhaps the stick is like cursive writing: no longer really matters; still, you won't win many drag races (and we talking a guy who once owned (but could not drive) a Super Bee...)
- alex 2-08-2011 1:09 am [add a comment]
Sadly, the stick is going away. Even the europeans are getting to be like lazy Americans. If you're driving a small engined diesel or gasoline powered car, a stick is a must. With electrics (and most likely all hybrids) a manual won't be applicable.
(Editorial aside: In the sporty end of the spectrum, double clutch electronical shift-o-matic gizmotrons are taking over. As those cars age and migrate into the hands of racers, there's a problem. For big budget racing, super-high performance automagic is hunky dory. For regular folk racing, that dog don't hunt. They'll get broken and cost way too much to fix. Slush boxes (traditional automatics) are just awful all the way around.)
I haven't looked at the Audi and VW. For someone whose use case supports a full electric, there's a tremendous advantage from the standpoint of simplicity. Hybrids are more complicated than either conventional cars or electric cars. Old Prii(?) will be a pain to maintain.
The Volt was described as an electric with a gas powered generator. But as delivered, the gas engine can participate in delivering power to the wheels. Presumably this compromise was made to allow reducing the peak power requirements of the electric drive system.
Electric-diesel hybrids are common in trains. The diesel drives a generator that powers a electric motor that drives the train. Designing an electric motor to work over a wide range of speeds is easy, so a transmission isn't required. Having an internal combustion engine that does not have to work over a wide range of speeds allows for a design that more optimized. There are many compromises in conventional engines to allow them to work well at both low and high rpm.
So plug-in hybrid cars with a internal combustion engine -> generator -> electric motor configuration could have some advantages in the efficiency of the internal combustion part of the configuration.
One more aside. I was laughed at for an idea I had back in the mid-sixties: all electric car with an optional generator-on-a-trailer for rare long-distance trips. I still think it's awesome, but only if the long-distance trips are rare.
- mark 2-15-2011 5:54 am [add a comment]
i hope if i get a license to have an all electric small car, no long trips for that GAS:>)
- Skinny 2-15-2011 11:51 am [add a comment]