Looks like the big three are being lined up for a bail out. Instead of doing that, how about the federal government buy 5,000-10,000 Tesla Roadsters for local police forces to use as short distance interceptors? They're small, they're agile, they're green, they're fast and they're American. Not only would that sudden influx of capital enable Tesla to expedite its work on new lines of electric cars, it would probably cost less than 1/10 of a percent of a bailout of a single member of the big three.
The latter reason is probably why it's not being considered.
The latter reason is probably why it's not being considered.
This is a bit of a tangent, but I don't see electric cars, whether plug-ins or nextgen hybrids like the Volt becoming widespread until after a decade or so. You have to remember that people who don't own garages or park in the street (like me) can't reap the benefit of charging their cars and most parking structures don't have the infrastructure to service electric vehicles.
The number of people who would benefit from a plugin hybrid is still more than high enough to create a market for them. Furthermore, it wouldn't be that hard for companies to offer a recharge option as an employee benefit in the company parking garage.
I'll tell you what. Uncle Sam can just buy me one and we'll call it even. With the distance available from a single charge I'd have no problem charging it up at home.
Same here. I wish there were a Tesla dealership in Northern Virginia; this area is plenty rich enough to support one, especially since it looks like we'll get four more years of McCain dumping money in our laps via defense spending.
I was in the mall last night and they had a Vectrix in there. The Vectrix is an all electric scooter. Its a pretty good looking scooter and at about $8800 its not really much more than comparable traditional scooters of its size.
The problem with electric vehicles, of course, is that a great many people will still need to keep a gas powered vehicle as traveling in an electric would be difficult/impossible.
An electric scooter would kick ass for me. My commute is 5 miles through streets with lots of lights.