If you've been around me much over the past year you've probably already heard me ranting about this company. But if you haven't been, don't think you're safe from my rants! :)
Wow, I will consider adding them to my stock portfolio.
The biggest problem I see though is not having enough charging stations around yet. I'd be worry about getting one and then travelling in an area where there are no charging stations, and running out of power and getting stranded. I guess that's a chicken-and-egg problem though. Maybe at some point it will reach a critical mass and suddenly there will be an avalanche of people switching over.
Regarding getting stranded, there are a few things they're doing to help with that. In Israel and Denmark they're covering the entire country before selling the first car. Logically they are both transportation islands, so it solves that problem. Shai said, "if your car is driving outside of Israel, it's been stolen."
Obviously they can't do that in the U.S., but the GPS is smart enough to know how far you can go and get back again, so it won't let you get stranded without a warning. If you ignore the warning and get stranded anyway, your service plan comes with free roadside assistance. They can provide towing, in-place quick-charge or a small external battery to get you to the next battery switch station.
The first episode -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfTiRNzbSko -- covers some good points, while the rest are real-world looks and drives in alternative-fuel vehicles. This includes wondering how long a quick-charge station would take to charge an iMiev (never fully answered 'cause it was finished before he checked on it after eating a sandwich), to recharging at a hydroelectric station, to covering a couple guys driving down the length of Britain in a Tesla, to the latest episode talking with Ghosn about the future of electric cars and energy in general for the 21st century.
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The biggest problem I see though is not having enough charging stations around yet. I'd be worry about getting one and then travelling in an area where there are no charging stations, and running out of power and getting stranded. I guess that's a chicken-and-egg problem though. Maybe at some point it will reach a critical mass and suddenly there will be an avalanche of people switching over.
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Obviously they can't do that in the U.S., but the GPS is smart enough to know how far you can go and get back again, so it won't let you get stranded without a warning. If you ignore the warning and get stranded anyway, your service plan comes with free roadside assistance. They can provide towing, in-place quick-charge or a small external battery to get you to the next battery switch station.
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Have you seen that web series? http://www.youtube.com/user/fullychargedshow
You may recognize the host...
The first episode -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfTiRNzbSko -- covers some good points, while the rest are real-world looks and drives in alternative-fuel vehicles. This includes wondering how long a quick-charge station would take to charge an iMiev (never fully answered 'cause it was finished before he checked on it after eating a sandwich), to recharging at a hydroelectric station, to covering a couple guys driving down the length of Britain in a Tesla, to the latest episode talking with Ghosn about the future of electric cars and energy in general for the 21st century.
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Carpool with Robert Llewellyn - Chelsea Sexton:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJPant1UPb8
BTW, his name has far too many L's in it - he's hogging them all and not leaving any for anybody else!
I also liked Chelsea Sexton's T-shirt, "I am The Stig." :)
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n46ROh3C8YU
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