no joke.  the only good looking electric is http://www.fiskerautomotive.com/en-us

Quote from: muskrat on March 03, 2012, 08:11:15 AM
no joke.  the only good looking electric is http://www.fiskerautomotive.com/en-us

Yeah, the $95,900 starting MSRP might be a stretch for quite a few people.

It might look good, but the performance from a MPG or MPGe standpoint is pretty weak.  ~32 on electric (after a 6hr charge), then 20MPG?? 

Quote from: Randimus Maximus on March 03, 2012, 03:10:38 PM
Yeah, the $95,900 starting MSRP might be a stretch for quite a few people.

It might look good, but the performance from a MPG or MPGe standpoint is pretty weak.  ~32 on electric (after a 6hr charge), then 20MPG?? 

It's a start though.
It's good to see some others giving it a try, some good innovations might come out of it.
You'd think when pushing into such high price ranges doing a diesel/electric would make more sense.

Quote from: lethe on March 03, 2012, 03:14:51 PM
It's a start though.
It's good to see some others giving it a try, some good innovations might come out of it.
You'd think when pushing into such high price ranges doing a diesel/electric would make more sense.

Not when you can buy a gas powered car for $10k that gets the same or better mileage.

How much gasoline can you buy for the difference in price?  $85,000?  Let's say gas is $5/gallon.  that's 17,000 gallons of gas.  At only 30 MPG that's over 500,000 miles driven.

It's just not worth it to pay $95k for an electric car for gas mileage purposes if it gets under 200 mpg.

Quote from: ducatiz on March 03, 2012, 03:32:09 PM
Not when you can buy a gas powered car for $10k that gets the same or better mileage.

How much gasoline can you buy for the difference in price?  $85,000?  Let's say gas is $5/gallon.  that's 17,000 gallons of gas.  At only 30 MPG that's over 500,000 miles driven.

It's just not worth it to pay $95k for an electric car for gas mileage purposes if it gets under 200 mpg.

so really it just is about making a statement or just having something uncommon

Quote from: lethe on March 03, 2012, 03:14:51 PM
It's a start though.
It's good to see some others giving it a try, some good innovations might come out of it.
You'd think when pushing into such high price ranges doing a diesel/electric would make more sense.

The Prius was a start, way back when, too.  It's MSRP at that time...$19,995.

It would make sense for a setup like the Fisker to use diesel/electric as it's only form of propulsion is the electric motors (much like a locomotive).  Using diesel to drive the wheels in addition to charging batteries doesn't make much sense however, because both diesel & electric are high torque at low RPM.

It will be interesting to see how the Tesla Model S sells at it has a much lower price point ($50K for the base model), has seating for 5 (Karma & Volt are 4 passenger) & IMHO looks much better than the Karma.

Quote from: Randimus Maximus on March 03, 2012, 03:35:11 PM
The Prius was a start, way back when, too.  It's MSRP at that time...$19.995.

It would make sense for a setup like the Fisker to use diesel/electric as it is only form of propulsion is the electric motors (much like a locomotive setup).  Using diesel to drive the wheels in addition to charging batteries doesn't make much sense however, because both diesel & electric are high torque at low RPM.

It will be interesting to see how the Tesla Model S sells at it has a much lower price point ($50K for the base model), has seating for 5 (Karma & Volt are 4 passenger) & IMHO looks much better than the Karma.

should be some interesting things coming out of all this

Quote from: lethe on March 03, 2012, 03:51:47 PM
should be some interesting things coming out of all this

Not to mention, the next Acura NSX that everyone is drooling over will be a hybrid.

Quote from: lethe on March 03, 2012, 03:34:13 PM
so really it just is about making a statement or just having something uncommon

Arguably, buying any vehicle over $25,000 is just about making a statement or just having something uncommon.  Realize that the median household income in the USA is ~$50,000 for two adults, two kids and a dog.

I was commenting on the looks factor.  If you can afford a 100k  car who gives a shit about mpg's.   

Quote from: muskrat on March 05, 2012, 08:24:57 PM
I was commenting on the looks factor.  If you can afford a 100k  car who gives a shit about mpg's.   

I agree, but the whole basis behind these cars isn't performance, it is economy.

All of the companies making high-end performance electric/hybrids are either going out of business or out. 

It will be interesting to see if Acura's hybrid NSX will be a loss leader.  They can afford to sell it under cost.  Fisker, et al cannot.

Point is, there are plenty of guys who know how to tear down a carb or a fuel injector.  Scaling that up to a Lambo from a Fiat isn't a big deal.

There aren't enough electric-car techs around yet, and buying a 100-200k car with an unproven technology is just dumb.