Recent Comments:
First all-electric police car takes to the streets {Engadget}
Aug 24th 2007 5:21PM The full quote "The cruiser cannot operate in heavy rain because standing water could destroy its electrical circuits. Light rain and snow are not an issue."
I'm not sure why you couldn't shield it from water being sprayed upwards by the tires, unless by standing water they mean going thru water up to your batteries? Perhaps this is due to it being a prototype.
There are definitely places for electric vehicles - postal delivery, UPS trucks, etc. For the police, I think a hybrid would be better. Still can sit in idle with the engine off when needed, and get the instant electric-power boost when you need to go. Obviously the Prius doesn't handle the terrain a police cruiser needs to cover (or tuned for heavy acceleration), but there are more options now, like the Ford Explorer. Isn't there a Malibu hybrid now or coming soon? I would think the police would be all over those options.
First all-electric police car takes to the streets {Engadget}
Aug 24th 2007 5:15PM Some points: Your cost for labor is obviously a wild guess, this is mentioned several times it is a prototype, ie. one-of-a-kind. You hand-build something, you won't get volume discounts. They didn't mention what they could sell the engine, radiator, muffler, etc. for. As for the cost of electricity, it's in the part you quoted: 35 cents/day.
Oh, so a Hummer is NOT greener than a Prius {Autoblog Green}
Oct 7th 2006 1:24AM Okay I need to clarify that. CNW's report shows that large SUVs use considerably more energy over their lifecycle than small hybrids. But they claim that most energy is in building and disposing the car, not in driving it (they 'helpfully' included the cost of landfills (while somehow forgetting the hybrid battery recycling that keeps them out of landfills), but neglected the road repair that large multi-ton vehicles impose). This means that vehicles that travel more miles have a lower energy cost per mile than shorter lived cars, and then they use the 270K+ number for SUVs and 109K for hybrids, so they can report that SUVs use less energy per mile when all factors are considered. Toyota rightly disputes the building and disposal estimates (100's of thousands of dollars per vehicle, which is clearly out of line) but surprisingly I don't see that they've disputed the absurdly low 109K estimated life.
Oh, so a Hummer is NOT greener than a Prius {Autoblog Green}
Oct 7th 2006 1:07AM Okay Nobs_here, Toyota does have a vested interest in this. But clearly, large SUVs use more energy than small hybrids. Even CNW's research shows this, if you read the actual report, but they deflected it in their press release by reporting *lifetime* cost, then claim that the average Tahoe, Suburban, Expedition will last over 270K miles, whereas the Prius and Honda Civic Hybrid will only last 109K miles. If they increased that to only 128K miles the SUVs lose their advantage. Several Prii have already been driven well over 200K miles on their original batteries, and given that the average hybrid is less than 4 years old, this lifetime estimate is severely flawed. You do have valid points in that your commute and your house are part of the energy equation as well. I use about 12 gallons/month, I think that is a more important figure than mpg). I put in good windows, a good furnace, even changed jobs for one closer to home, etc. Getting 50 mpg in my Prius as I do doesn't give me a right to be smug, but driving a smaller, more efficient car is still clearly the right thing to do (if you can't bike or walk to work).
