Predicting an increase in electric cars

https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-ev-oil-crisis/


This is the best news I've read in a while.  A very realistic forecast for the end of the fossil fuel era in a very short period of time.  

Got me thinking about the folks who have divested from fossil fuel investments.  This will be more proof that nice people do finish first!

Electric cars as they are now are not for every climate or situation. One night trying to get home in a bad snow storm in the foothills of the Colorado rockies I burned the gas that would have gotten me 250 miles in 35 miles and was able to stay warm and keep my windshield clear with the waste heat from the motor rather than using power from the batteries to stay warm and power the car. With any of the electric cars made today I would have been stranded with dead batteries on a road no one else would use until the next day. It's possible electric cars and there batteries will improve enough to handle a situation like that but there is a reason the first ones where sold only in warm areas.

That's an interesting point, Fred.  I think you've hit the nail on the head.  In the past, electric cars couldn't manage a situation like the one you describe.  What the article is saying is that the technology is improving at an incredible rate and it won't be long before it can offer a better solution in than a petroleum based fuel.  I know it's necessary to keep warm, yet I shudder to think of all that fuel spent on it.  I remember a time when a friend was stuck in the Rockies during a white out.  There were several cars stranded where they closed the highway.  There was a bus there too.  Instead of each person staying in their own car wasting fuel, they all piled into that bus.  That way they managed to keep warm together and save fuel.

But I'm getting distracted.  I see this article as saying that electric car technology is improving much faster than most people can imagine and in 10 years or less, they will probably be more affordable and practical (even in unexpected situations) than petroleum based vehicles.  

My family has two electric cars and we love them!!  We have a 100% electric e-Golf, which has a range up towards 100 miles, but realistically will have a range more like 68 miles in severe cold weather.  Our other car is a Ford C-max, the plug in hybrid version, so it has an extra battery and can run on electricity only for about 20 something miles, then it switches over to acting like a hybrid.

If we are travelling long distance, we take Max, but for my daily commute EV (Evie) is perfect.  She is SO zippy, you have to be careful not to jack-rabbit out of red lights too much, you might get a ticket.  Since my work is less than 20 miles away, I don't worry about hoarding energy and will indulge in luxuries like heating the seat.  I consider crazy accelerations to also be a luxury.

I was able to drive EV from Portland Oregon to the coast on a single charge.  We were unable to get her to the top of Mount Hood, but that was because the charging station near Government Camp was out of order.  At least it was simple to get her back to Sandy (all downhill)!