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Toronto, Ontario, Canada
My passion is also my business, as I am with the Toronto based Hav-A-Kar Auto Group. I sell or lease any make of car, van or truck available in Canada. My interest in all things "car" has helped me with my many clients in Ontario over the past 25+ years. Please give me the opportunity to assist you.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Dec 20: Electrifying?

There are many things I just don't get  -  1000's of apps on the new Smart phones, the 100 k/hour speed limit on the 401 and people buying electric cars. Sure sounds like a great idea to pay thousands extra for a pure electric car and then have absolutely no hope at all of ever recovering any of that money thru gas savings. Yes, I know that is probably not the point......apparently it's the principle of the thing.

2012 Nissan Leaf


Take the unfortunate looking little Leaf above. Apart from the driver being stuck in someting that looks like it should have never left the design studio, there is a very real question of exactly how far (or how short) a distance it will actually go on a charge. And keep in mind that you'll need a 240 volt charging system that will set you back over $2000. There was an excellent article in last Saturday's (Dec 17th) Star Wheels section by Peter Bleakney about his experience with a Leaf (http://www.wheels.ca/). Anyway one looks at these cars they are 100% impractical (and expensive).

But what if they made them stand out, so that at least you'd be driving a great looking car? Take a look at what happened between the concept and the reality of the much more practical Chevy Volt.......



A "electrifying" looking electric went to a pudgy little compact sedan that stands out only if one is checking the sticker price. But with a secondary gas motor at least you have a chance of getting where you are going.

Pure electrics? I just don't get their point. Save gas and use electicity  -  where is the savings?

Until next time........
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1 comment:

  1. UnknownDecember 20, 2011 at 6:44 AM

    I'm not big on the "all electric" thing unless your sources of electricity are all green.

    According to Wikipedia, Nearly 30% of Ontario Power Generation's electricity comes from fossil fuels, and over half is from nuclear power (which, depending on your opinion, can be really good, or really bad).

    So unless you own a wind turbine and have solar panels covering your roof, your electric car isn't very green unless green happens to be the colour.

    Could we be better off investing in developing engines that burn cleaner and use less fuel, renewable fuels (like bio-diesel) and technology like better transmissions to make cars more fuel efficient?

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