Electric Cars

Anyone have any experience with electric cars here?  I like the idea of them, and I'm thinking I may do some serious consideration once I get my use out of the one I have now.  I like something that I can take care of and be able to pass onto someone else who can take pride in it.  You know, if you are going to do something might as well do it right, something that's worth going to the trouble in the first place.  I'm not sure how the maintenance works on the batteries and stuff.  Hybrids can be included too.  For a car I prefer something with some zip but feel free to talk about your own preferences and experience.

I think the age of private car ownership is coming to a close.  I think driverless, electric cars are so much safer and cheaper that in 20 years, driving your own car will be seen a little like smoking today- anti-social, dangerous, worthy of heavy regulation and tax.  By 2050, driving your own car will probably be left to the very poor and the very rich.  Past some tipping point, I doubt that transportation infrastructure will even support a private driver.  My plan is to try to make my two old hondas last another 5 years or so, after which I expect that I can give up car ownership if favor of a little car that comes on command and takes me where I want to go for probably less than what I spend today on gas alone.

How are electric cars public cars?

I don't care about a car as long as it works

Good question.  In brief, the idea is that most transportation will be handled by tiny, lightweight subway cars that come to you on demand, take you where you want to go, can join into high density trains linked by remote sensor that allow for massive efficiencies in acceleration and braking; cars that drop you off and go clean and refuel and park themselves in publicly held facilities.  Privately held cars are perfectly possible in such an environment.  At some point, non-electric cars will be taxed as high polluters and become anachronisms held by the rich, or old, or eccentric.  The advantages of a public system is that it ought to be very cheap, say 20-50% of present American average car costs per year and very safe, reducing traffic deaths by 96% at implementation and improving thereafter.

I would guess that you, Alec, don't like the idea of such fundamental govt. control.  I do think that there are public private partnerships like airlines today that might work- although I'm not sure that the present US airline system ought not to be more public.  If we could get to a system where a small car fit out like a tiny motel room -  toilet, bed, desk, tv could take you at a true 80mph or maybe even 100mph for, let's say $100/day- how much airline traffic would lost to a autonomous electric sleeping car/taxi/train?

Huh?