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Electric van will save the US Industry if they want to do it.

2 messages,  Last post on Dec 03, 2008 at 9:50 PM

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What is this discussion about? Electric Cars, Fuel Efficiency (MPG), Future Vehicle, Van

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#1 of 2 Electric van will save the US Industry if they want to do it. by hurdda Aug 07, 2008 (6:57 am)
Ok I am a Gen-X person who has 2 mini-vans and a car. Say what you want, I have 4 kids so a car is not an option with air-bags being what they are in the front seat. Is it my fault I have so many children? Well apparently the US auto industry thinks so by removing as many of the mini-van and SUV options I had 2-3 years ago.   Therefore I will contend the US auto industry can save itself if it offers an electric mini-van option to consumers who want it desperately.   When I was a kid in the 1980’s we had a 1981 Olds Delta 88 Diesel that had a 30 gal tank and got 30MPG. It saved my parents tons of money. It could haul everything and was a great road trip car. That is if you had a big enough garage, which most new homes don’t have now. Still it was Diesel and somehow we always had a time where we got the wrong winter graded and the fuel froze. Nothing like being stranded in rural Iowa when that happens. The only other option was the popular Taurus Wagon. Ugly, but they were functional. Still too small as well. Then Chrysler came out with their mini-vans. They sold a ton and soccer and sports teams went into overload as now one had the space for equipment. It saved an industry.   So , like many other consumers, I want an affordable high production volume vehicle be built so the US auto industry will actually be viable again. Sure one can appease for a while with small cars that get good mileage, but it is a band-aid on the present. People still have to carry 2-3 cars to make it work. 1 car for commuting for its optimum mileage and the other 1-2 being vans for kids and sports. It is a loosing proposition in registration, taxes, depreciation, fuel, and the rest.   With an electric van place all flexible sheets of solar cells on the roof and body sheets. When it is sitting out it is recharging. No need to worry if you have it facing south for optimal angle for the sun +/- 15 degrees for your given latitude as with self turning solar wings. More importantly for the Mid-west, the sheets then would be heating the battery to keep it from freezing and/or loosing cranking power in the winter months. You will not see an electric car in the Midwest until they do this as weather is the real concern. You try to starting any car sitting out when it is below -40 degrees without a jump and you will know why this is important. The sun is providing the proper power needed to heat the car to minimize colleting snow on the roof and to charge the battery. The bonus then would be a warm van to get into when it is cold and a vented interior when it is hot in the summer so one is not using as much power for air-conditioning when you get in the car after work. This works well since not every place or employer will provide a station to plug-into. If you go the route of gas-electric then you can skip the gas powered option as most people live within 20-60 miles of their work so no need to kick in the gas for a recharge will be there.   Then get the price down by selling in volume. No short runs or experimenting with different types of cars. Make the van have seating for 7 standard and let the people take the 3rd row out if they want for families of 4 or less. The space also should be enough so the commercial buyers and delivery companies can have a benefit. I loved being able to put 7 sheets of ply-wood in the back when I did my basement. My Terraza cannot do this. Still when I got my 2006 7 passenger, leather, DVD, wireless headset and all power Terazza for 18K it was a real deal. Gets 22 MPG in my wife’s loop. Still Buick killed it. Now I can get a standard 4 person Venture with nothing close for standard options for over 25K. I have to go into the 30K+ range to replace what I have present in options. So I will put off buying anything until a decent priced van comes along, but if the US industry wants to save itself it will build what I “need”. This is not a “want” in my case and I know millions of others “need” the same thing I do. GO BUILD IT FOR DELIVERY IN 2009-2010 AND NOT 2015.   Thoughts!   Hurdda73 Illinois
#2 of 2 I do NOT want an electric van by hansienna Dec 03, 2008 (9:50 pm)
The original Caravan was TOO small with TOO little cargo space. The original Grand Caravan was "JUST RIGHT" with comfortable seats, adequate cargo space, decent fuel economy with adequate performance with a V6 engine.   "BIGGER" is not always better...but too many Americans want the biggest, most powerful vehicle they can get.   An electric vehicle described above would not re-charge in areas where it is cloudy most of the time or where winter inversions also block the sunlight.

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