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I'm not currently smoking anything: here's what a quick google tuns up

I think it's still happening in places.

Definitely still happening.

Some really extreme stuff shows up at Burning Man.

They were leasing at a loss because they made LESS THAN TWO HUNDRED of the damn things. A production run of them would bring the price per unit down hugely. As said below, the problem with electric cars is that they are _too good_, they're too reliable and they don't break down. The only secondary industry other than smash repairs and tyres is replacing the battery packs, and that's not something a car company like GM wants to retool to become.

If they were genuinely not a good product, and that's all there was to it, then why would GM have recalled and quietly crushed them instead of just letting people buy out the leases? Don't say liability or maintainence reasons, they're easy to get around with contract terms.

You're right - we'll never see a battery powered Hummer.

Wanna bet? ; )

(FYI: the point of this is not efficiency, but rather that an electric motor is quieter than a diesel engine so they can sneak up on enemies more easily.)

Is there a reason for that? That seems to be the way things like this go. We have a world changing invention thats super cheap and safe! We'll make a couple of 'em and see how it works out. . . Or maybe theres some validity to the theories that 'the powers that be' keep this kind of thing under wraps and prevent it from really taking off, because something like this could really upset the balance of power in the world currently.

Based on a new concept of local vehicle production and sales, MDI promote regional manufacturing license rights in the form of franchised turnkey factory systems. Such a turnkey factory will have a normal production capacity of 2000-4000 vehicles per year and will employ some 130 people. A model factory is being constructed in Brignoles, France.

Mexico has been using this tech for several years now, though this is a bit smaller than the taxi vans.

Which makes it all the more fun for the electric vehicle racers when they blow your Corvette/Viper off the road. :P

Electric Mazda RX-7 vs Viper RT/10

Electric 1972 Datsun 1200 running a 12.15 1/4 mile.

Yes, it's sad to see a symbolic engineering marvel like the EV1 go, but all this does is shift the pollution elsewhere.

Two thoughts: 1 - Even if what you say is true, at least the pollution is moved to a central source, where it is easier to control. 2 - This is all the more reason to move more and more of our electricity generation over to cleaner sources such as nuclear.

Not to mention not being very practical at all.

Is any new technology "very practical" when it first comes out? Also, were you aware that the Toyota RAV4 EV easily attains over 100 miles per charge? Considering that the average person drives less than 40 miles a day, that sounds pretty dang practical to me.

Why not concentrate on GM's current hybrid timeline, or on vehicles that are actually useful and that normal people might buy...

Why not concentrate on something more innovative, like electric cars? They're better than you think. The only reason they're not "actually useful" is because big coporations refuse to throw all their money behind them.

And no, in fact my electricity does not come from fossil fuels.

It didn't die, it was Murdered.

The excuse holds even less water when dealing with an urban environment and trying to justify an SUV or truck based on "occasionally" needing to haul things. Put some of the money saved with everyday gas savings and rent a damned truck or pay for delivery when you really need to move something too big to fit into the car. Even small towns often have a U-Haul franchise in town and in cities one can easily find a good deal on renting a pickup or van for a day or two.

The cars are apparently so light that to inspect them they do not submit to an awkward point-by-point inspection regimen, they merely turn the car upside down and shake vigorously, solving the problem of both inspection and payment, by relieving the owner of all loose change under the seats.

Here you go.

If you want to see 1/4 mile electric beasts go visit the National Electric Drag Racing Association.

BTW The NEDRA rules have been officially incorporated into the NHRA's rulebook and electric cars can set records at any NHRA sanctioned track/event.

Of course video speaks louder than words (please don't attack me for the format types, I didn't make the dang things):

DC Electric Mazda RX-7 conversion beats a Viper RT/10

VIper just barely beats a home brew 1972 Datsun 1200 EV conversion

Various drag races. Some EV vs EV some EV vs ICE. The black electric dragster (near lane) vs white suped up gas pony car (far lane) about 1/5 of the way through the video is rather amusing. I'm sure the driver of the gas car was not pleased at getting beaten so thoroughly.

If organized racing of electric, or even hybrid, cars were to take place...Education of the public

Unfortunately, it is already happening, and the public has not noticed. Nik Berg's Prius Rally Car finished 14th in the 5000 mile Midnight Sun to Red Sea Rally. The Panoz Q9 hybrid finished 12th at LemManns. Jerry Unser beat several normal cars when she did the Pikes Peak Hill Climb with an electric. NEDRA has been drag racing electrics since 1998, and the NHRA now has rules for electric drag racing. Guess what? The public doesn't know and/or doesn't care. Until EVs and HEVs are consistantly *WINNING*, the public won't notice. I wish it were not that way, but it is.

If organized racing of electric, or even hybrid, cars were to take place...Education of the public

Unfortunately, it is already happening, and the public has not noticed. Nik Berg's Prius Rally Car finished 14th in the 5000 mile Midnight Sun to Red Sea Rally. The Panoz Q9 hybrid finished 12th at LemManns. Jerry Unser beat several normal cars when she did the Pikes Peak Hill Climb with an electric. NEDRA has been drag racing electrics since 1998, and the NHRA now has rules for electric drag racing. Guess what? The public doesn't know and/or doesn't care. Until EVs and HEVs are consistantly *WINNING*, the public won't notice. I wish it were not that way, but it is.

1) Lead batteries are the most recycled product on the face of the earth. No kidding. The only part not always recycled is the plastic shell. The lead and electrolytes are all reused.

2) There are plenty of them (and tons that drive more like the gas econoboxes that are more common than the gas sports cars). You can see some here, here, here, here, and here. Or peruse the entire album of EVs great and small, ugly and beautiful, slow and fast at the EV Photo Album.

Also see The National Electric Drag Racing Association and the electric supercar, the T-Zero

3) I'm sorry when did you get a muscle car with a 400 mile range? Generally (even with an oversized gas tank) these cars come in at the 200-300 mile range per fill-up at best. Are EV's there yet? Not quite. 150 miles per charge is about the upper limit right now. But guess what? 95% or more of most Americans driving is less than 50 miles per day.

4) Since the car is plugged into the wall every night and charges while you sleep you're not having to blow 5-10 minutes pumping gas and that's excluding any time and effort it takes you to detour to the gas station.

However, a significantly shorter recharge is easily done with higher Amperage circuits in your home (typical EV car can recharge in only a few hours anyway) and/or a battery based dump station that can recharge your pack in 10 minutes or less. The EV dragsters use such (admittedly somewhat frightening) dump packs on a regular basis.

5) Oh and most of these supposedly wimpy electric car conversions can eat your American muscle car for lunch. It's nice being able to have your full torque available through your entire power curve.

Heck some electric cars can even eat exotic sports cars for lunch.

Actually EV's (even working almost entirely on home brew old technologies and sealed lead acid batteries) can already hit the price-point, speed, looks, and power that you talk about.

In fact a vehicle converted from electric to gas is frequently _more_ fun to drive (and still looks the same from the outside) as your full torque is typically available through the entire power curve. Think EV's have to be wimpy golf carts or suppository shaped? Checkout the amateur monsters that race in the National Electric Drag Racing Association or the high performance electric supercar, the T-Zero.

Now there are two points that will most likely keep Joe Shmoe from buying one.

1) Limited range - the best EV's still get only slightly over 100 miles to the charge. Despite the fact that most Americans drive less than 40 miles a day 95% of the year, people feel more comfortable knowing that they can drive for 200-400 miles on a tank of gas. Most people are also used to gas vehicles that give little or no warning (save for the questionable accuracy of a fuel low, float gauge operated, warning light) before running out of fuel. When an electric hits the end of its pack charge performance begins to lessen giving the driver ample (and definitive) warning that they need to find a place to recharge. Oh and there is no need for fancy schmancy thousand dollar connectors to be installed to recharge, that's all about the auto manufacturer's wanting to reduce liability concerns. Most of the EVers I know running custom conversions use their standard 110v or 220v connectors to charge. Also charging does not have to be an 8 hour fiasco. Even on a 15-amp 220-volt circuit you can recharge most packs in less than half that time. Happen to have access to a 50-amp circuit? The time to charge improves greatly. Plus as you plug the car in every night your fully charged every morning ready for a full day of driving. You never have leave your normal route to use a gas station again. Run out of power somewhere? Generally you can find someone with an outlet willing to let you charge up for a little while so that you can make it home. There are more places with electrical outlets than there are with cans of gasoline lying around.

2) Noise - Now this is one that I think most people adjust to (and grow to appreciate), but electrics make little or no noise beyond the sound of tires on pavement. To a lot of gear heads this is a deal breaker. They (understandably) like the roar of a V-8. The turbine like whine of a high revved electric just doesn't quite do it for them. As a fan of all high performance vehicles I know where they are coming from and know that it is futile to argue a matter of taste so I won't spend too long on this. Basically I think most people will find the quiet of an electric appealing after they give it a chance. There is something addictive about being forced back into your seat as you rocket off the line to little more than the sound of the wind rushing bye.

Cars definitely have recurring revenue. Lots of car owners (myself included) take their ever-more-complex cars to the dealer to be serviced even when they're out of warranty. Auto manufacturers are also notorious for making it hard for third parties to make replacement parts for mechanical failure and especially for accident repair.

Also, VW's US sales figures are not a very good example. GM sold more cars than that - 465,843, according to this press release - in July 2002! (I bet VW sold a hell of a lot more cars in the EU than in the USA.) And remember, any little turd that GM feels like making is going to sell to the "buy American" dorks, corporate fleets, and rental car companies. Of course, they could sell even more if they would sell electric cars instead of crushing them despite their owner's desire to buy them but that's even further OT...

Wait just a minute friends. As much as I love technology, and the idea of a 'zero-emmission', radically designed vehicle is awful fun to think about, lets get real please.

GM is presently taking the State of California to court over its ZEV rules. It cancelled its EV1 - which was arguably the best ZEV around...

Now we hear of GMs * new real big commitment * to introducing a method for us to get off-the-oil, and its only (in the best flying-car style promise) 8 years away! They promise, there not kidding - just give them some time to deveolpe this new best thing, all the while allowing them to continue with the filthy ICE vehicles they produce now -- they promise to get us off the junk Real Soon Now(TM).

No wonder GM is winning awards for GreenWashing

Dont get your chequebooks out just yet friends, this sounds like allot of smoke-mirrors FUD to give their Lobbyists some time to convince(bribe) the Plutocrats in Washington to ease off the legislation.

In conclusion: Fuck GM.

Maybe they should spend some of that $1.5B on reaching some economies-of-scale for their ZEV EV program .... instead of killing it. For Conspiracy-Prone: I guess their buddies in the oil business didnt like the idea of not having a product to sell.. but i guess Hydrogen Filing Stations is all the same to them...

According to this article by Western Driver http://www.westerndriver.com/information/test-driv e/2001-corbin-sparrow.html the vehicle registers as a motorcycle, so I'm sure it meets all the safety requirements of one. It also says in most states it doesn't require a helmet or a motorcycle indication on a license, but that it might be hard to find insurance.

This article has a lot to offer about performance and potential problems of the car: http://www.electrifyingtimes.com/corbinsparrow2000 .html Its written by an owner doing their 2000 mile review.

Check this out

http://www.electrifyingtimes.com/guynegre.html

and

http://www.zeropollution.com/zeropollution/index.h tml

basically it's an air compressed car that goes at about 60mph top speed that can go for about 120 miles between charges. To charge it you basically plug it in an electrical outlet, and the compressor compresses the air to fill the tank.

It's also interesting that, due to some carbon filters, the exhaust air is cleaner than the air that goes in ;)

I wonder why there's not more buzz about it, it seems really cool for short range movements, I know if I had one I would surely use it for the work/home commute...