[Tundra_Man]

Look up how many gas powered vehicles burn per 100,000 compared to electric. News companies sensationalize electric vehicle fires. It’s something like 1000 plus per 100,000 for gas and 25 per 100,000 for electric.

I agree that the danger of electric vehicle fires have been over exaggerated from a frequency standpoint.

One thing with fires in the electrical vehicles is they're much more difficult to put out compared to a gasoline fire. As the technology gets more widespread, I'm expecting fire departments to be better equipped to fight these types of fires.

Once the flames start it's likely your vehicle is totaled at that point, gas or electric. So the biggest difference is the risk of setting something else on fire as it burns for a longer amount of time.

 

[syscore]

I think the issue with electric right now is charging. A single WaWa or Speedway can refuel a couple hundred cars an hour (to full long range capacity). This would require an acre of chargers and parking spaces, let alone the additional grid capacity to power it. And it won't be 5 minutes in and out. So you are really reliant on at-home charging, which takes quite a long time, even with upgraded chargers. I don't know when they will get to the point where charging a car is as fast as gassing a car, so unless they upgrade the limits of residential electric service (to 480v), I don't see us progressing to electric as fast as some states say they will. I don't even see cities putting forth much of an effort of creating the infrastructure we need for the electric cars currently on the road. I do think we will eventually get there, just I and most of us will be dead before then.

 

[Red Cloud]

The concept of electric bicycles is similar to RV camping to me. Where do you draw the line? Are you really camping if you're sitting inside a $50,000 trailer with all the accommodations of home. Are you really bicycling if you never pedal the bike by foot.

 

[Christopher_2]

The concept of electric bicycles is similar to RV camping to me. Where do you draw the line? Are you really camping if you're sitting inside a $50,000 trailer with all the accommodations of home. Are you really bicycling if you never pedal the bike by foot.

I work with people who use an electric bicycle for commuting. They can park at work by entrance and don't have to park in an out lot and shuttle to work, get a parking permit for a ramp or pay for daily parking. One guy estimates he saves 15-20 minutes off of his commute time every morning, saves about $1000.00 per month in parking, maintenance and fuel.

 

[syscore]

That certainly makes sense if your commute is that short and parking that expensive. Your average decent car costs $500 to $600 a month total (including gas etc), for all of your driving. Can't imagine a situation where just going to work is $1000 a month.

 

[Rusty Arse]

The concept of electric bicycles is similar to RV camping to me. Where do you draw the line? Are you really camping if you're sitting inside a $50,000 trailer with all the accommodations of home. Are you really bicycling if you never pedal the bike by foot.

Oh you have to peddle lol. You can shut the motor if you want to, but that defeats the purpose. It’s pedal assist. The difference is I’m huffing and puffing up a 6% grade @ 18mph instead of huffing and puffing up the same grade @ 6mph. Works the same for a strong head wind.

 

[Christopher_2]

That certainly makes sense if your commute is that short and parking that expensive. Your average decent car costs $500 to $600 a month total (including gas etc), for all of your driving. Can't imagine a situation where just going to work is $1000 a month.

I agree his parking alone would be a little over $180 per month to lease a ramp parking spot downtown and he still has a 5-10 minute walk to work. Otherwise he would have to park in an out lot and get shuttled to work. Hospital has bicycle parking by building entrances.