Can Volts Ever Match Pistons?

DVSTT · Postby **DVSTT** » April 12th, 2013, 7:24 pm

Seems more and more manufacturers are moving towards electric cars, both plug-in and those that use an engine to produce electricity. Do you think electric cars can ever match gasoline cars in terms of performance? I say no as there will be no engine sound, exhaust note, blow off valve sound etc, plus at the moment the range of fully electric cars is minimal and they take hours to recharge. Additionally, the batteries will at some point go bad and won't be able to hold a charge.

krisjoseph_2000 · Postby **krisjoseph_2000** » April 12th, 2013, 7:54 pm

From trains to subways and electric trains we can see it might be viable but then again........

black start · Postby **black start** » April 13th, 2013, 1:32 am

With all that torque, it may eventually become faster, but will it be as fun to drive?

Rory Phoulorie · Postby **Rory Phoulorie** » April 13th, 2013, 1:48 am

DVSTT wrote:. . .Do you think electric cars can ever match gasoline cars in terms of performance? I say no as there will be no engine sound, exhaust note, blow off valve sound etc. . .

What you have stated here has absolutely nothing to do with performance. Blow off valve sound? Pppppppsssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! Really? That is what you call performance?

With the electric motors, you could get full torque instantaneously. But if they do that, tyres will be shredded and crashes will most likely occur very frequently. If the engineers want to, they can unleash the full performance of the electric motor and outrun any internal combustion engine powered car.

. . .plus at the moment the range of fully electric cars is minimal and they take hours to recharge. Additionally, the batteries will at some point go bad and won't be able to hold a charge.

Have you looked at the performance of the Fisker Karma and Tesla Model S? Tesla is setting up "supercharger" stations across the US where you can get half a charge (150 miles of range) in half an hour's time at no financial charge (pun intended). Any upgrades to the Tesla's computer operating system is transmitted to all the cars wirelessly.

Battery technology is also improving. Just to give an example, first generation Toyota Prius battery packs are lasting over 10 years without any degradation in performance.

I would not say that the internal combustion engine days are limited, but pretty soon, fully electric and hybrid vehicles will be selling in the same numbers.

If finances permit, I would have a Chevrolet Volt (actually the Holden equivalent which is right hand drive) and a Tesla Model S in my garage.

roadracer7 · Postby **roadracer7** » April 13th, 2013, 11:49 am

Failure to embrace the technology will result in a lot of scratch head,

The future is here and now.

http://green.autoblog.com/2007/12/19/ev ... tric-vide/

as mentioned above ,tyre technology is still in the dark ages to this kind of power.

roadracer7 · Postby **roadracer7** » April 13th, 2013, 11:56 am

see what i mean ?

roadracer7 · Postby **roadracer7** » April 13th, 2013, 12:22 pm

the future is here now

DVSTT · Postby **DVSTT** » April 13th, 2013, 1:21 pm

Rory Phoulorie wrote:
DVSTT wrote:. . .Do you think electric cars can ever match gasoline cars in terms of performance? I say no as there will be no engine sound, exhaust note, blow off valve sound etc. . .

What you have stated here has absolutely nothing to do with performance. Blow off valve sound? Pppppppsssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! Really? That is what you call performance?

With the electric motors, you could get full torque instantaneously. But if they do that, tyres will be shredded and crashes will most likely occur very frequently. If the engineers want to, they can unleash the full performance of the electric motor and outrun any internal combustion engine powered car.

. . .plus at the moment the range of fully electric cars is minimal and they take hours to recharge. Additionally, the batteries will at some point go bad and won't be able to hold a charge.

Have you looked at the performance of the Fisker Karma and Tesla Model S? Tesla is setting up "supercharger" stations across the US where you can get half a charge (150 miles of range) in half an hour's time at no financial charge (pun intended). Any upgrades to the Tesla's computer operating system is transmitted to all the cars wirelessly.

Battery technology is also improving. Just to give an example, first generation Toyota Prius battery packs are lasting over 10 years without any degradation in performance.

I would not say that the internal combustion engine days are limited, but pretty soon, fully electric and hybrid vehicles will be selling in the same numbers.

If finances permit, I would have a Chevrolet Volt (actually the Holden equivalent which is right hand drive) and a Tesla Model S in my garage.

I'm not saying the sounds equal performance more that they were part of what makes a car exciting IMO. Electrics will be more powerful and more clever but practicality and overall fun to drive factor may be their downfall. A silent car, with no gears to shift really isnt my cup of tea :/.

As a technological achievement the electric drive SLS is astounding but to own one might be a different story. I remember reading an article, think it was from the UK where cyclist and pedestrians who were hit by hybrids complained that they never heard the car coming. That was with Priuses, imagine what would happen with silent 750HP cars. This is also a problem that they would need to address, think it was Tesla that was planning on putting speakers outside the car.

The Fisker is a car for the Elite, and it uses an 2.0 turbo engine as a generator to produce electricity to drive the electric motor. It's a clever set up and I do see it catching on, however can it be considered as being independent of fossil fuels? Yes the plug ins do get electricity from coal plants etc but there are increasingly green energy generating ways being implemented across the world as well as nuclear and hydroelectric.

roadracer7 · Postby **roadracer7** » April 13th, 2013, 2:35 pm

fossil fuel was yesterday
electric power is today
what's for tomorrow ?

and much more

Picasso · Postby **Picasso** » April 13th, 2013, 3:45 pm

Picasso · Postby **Picasso** » April 13th, 2013, 3:55 pm

nigie · Postby **nigie** » April 14th, 2013, 12:38 pm

Volts has already matched and surpassed pistons.....get real

rspann · Postby **rspann** » April 14th, 2013, 7:33 pm

They could record the sound of a big block chevy,put two speakers where the muffler supposed to be and there we have it,a real sexy sounding electric car.

roadracer7 · Postby **roadracer7** » April 14th, 2013, 9:13 pm

just imagine when we have harnessed the UFO technology.

reaching your destination without a sensation and sound.

the future is here, and now.

MG Man · Postby **MG Man** » April 15th, 2013, 9:14 am

electric is cool n stuff, but is it really saving the planet?
When you plug in your electric car at night, where's the power coming from? Fairies?

roadracer7 · Postby **roadracer7** » April 15th, 2013, 2:02 pm

MG Man wrote:electric is cool n stuff, but is it really saving the planet?
When you plug in your electric car at night, where's the power coming from? Fairies?

wind generators
sun generators
water generators

right now i'm putting those soon to be obsolete oil drums to use as a hi-torque wind generator

the future is here and now

Mr. Wheeler · Postby **Mr. Wheeler** » April 18th, 2013, 10:40 am

Been following the electric car progression since my love of Scalextric - Cars started in the 80's...

Surprised no one mentioned the X1 Wrightspeed

http://youtu.be/uEXcLYqRcSs

It's basically an Ariel Atom with an Electric Powertrain...