Electric cars are viable with off the shelf deep-cycle lead-acid batteries (also known as Golf Cart or Marine Batteries) if the individual does not need to drive more than 80-100km a day. Which a vast majority of people do not need more than that. If you watch discovery channel you will know a 16 year old kid did this to a pick-up truck that he uses to drive where he need to go and he did it on his check as a part-time lifeguard. The funny thing is it costs about $0.10 to fill up
much cheaper than gasoline.
The funny thing is that it only costs 10c a liter to fill up with ethanol. If one makes it themselves the price is even cheaper. Its a great alternative combined with electrical infrastructure upgrades. Currently with the price of electricity and TOU rates which will rise (after all we still have the old government) electricity it will add another 100 to the bill since the batter will have difficulty in holding the charge for any given point of time. It looses power regardless of use. While a person did electrify his car this is not a viable solution for everyone. Most people I know do drive past 100km a day as they not only commute as the current job market demands, but there is added pressure of live such as needing the car for transportation for families, food and other requirements. Keep in mind also that these off the shelf batteries are also not environmentally friendly. We are talking about acid which needs special care when recycling and there is the added cost of maintenance since said battery is going to use power which otherwise an alternator would take pressure off of. Because of this it can cause massive faults as the voltages changes. Especially true when winter rolls around and the reasons electric cars are simply not safe on our highways. Adding to that is when an accident does occur emergency personnel have to be careful not to be shocked. I agree electric "golf" cart cars such as very small micro cars along with scooters makes good sense along with not having to have a license fee that pertain to them as long as the speed and voltage is caped.
With people living in the city and not needing to go far then sure. But as far as your typical house hold family need of transportation then ethanol becomes a viable alternative.
I will admit the electric grid probably would have problems but like dealing with Net Neutrality issues this can be fixed and addressed by infrastructure upgrades.
Agree, but unlike the issue with net neutrality where the infrastructure is already in place and upgraded it is not so easy with electricity. As a form of energy it is currently as expensive or sometimes more so than gasoline. I can at least park my car in the odd times. I cannot turn off my fridge. So what do I do?
