Electric vehicles in Austin (Houston, San Antonio: buy, inspection, prices)

[verybadgnome]

We are very fortunate. The Chevy Volt* will be sold in Austin starting in early 2011. The 2012 Ford Focus EV will be available in late 2011. For both of these cars we are part of the early roll out of select cities. Looks like for the Nissan Leaf, however, we'll have to go to Houston if we want one by Xmas. Luckily Austin Energy and the city have been proactive in getting infrastructure to overcome range anxiety. There are only two charging station as of now at Whole Foods and Dell but they are plans for a company called Coulomb to install many more. Since these vehicles (aside from the Volt) have zero mobile emissions and won't be leaking engine/transmission oil all over the place, it will be a definite improvement over the status quo. Plus they are much more affordable than a Tesla.

*-has an internal combustion as a secondary power source

[jazznblues]

Althought this is interesting news and fun for Austin, it is no less than a gross exaggerration to say that today's cars leak oil and transmission fluid everywhere. Hyperbole is so tiring.

[verybadgnome]

Originally Posted by jazznblues

Althought this is interesting news and fun for Austin, it is no less than a gross exaggerration to say that today's cars leak oil and transmission fluid everywhere. Hyperbole is so tiring.

Have you ever been to a Wal-Mart parking lot? Unfortunately it doesn't take a lot of oil to do damage:

Used Oil Management Program | Common Wastes & Materials | US EPA

And then you have stories like this:

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/04/10/0410jiffylube.html (broken link)

[jazznblues]

Originally Posted by verybadgnome

Have you ever been to a Wal-Mart parking lot? Unfortunately it doesn't take a lot of oil to do damage:

Used Oil Management Program | Common Wastes & Materials | US EPA

And then you have stories like this:

Austin news, sports, weather, Longhorns, business | Statesman.com (http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/04/10/0410jiffylube.html - broken link)

Yes I have been to a Walmart. In fact the primary thing I buy at Walmart is oil because they have the best prices. I change my own oil and recycle it (usually at Walmart).

Cars today do not leak much oil. Transmissions are closed systems and almost never leak. Much different today than 20-30 years ago where the pavement at a traffic stop glistened from car drippings.

The Jiffy Lube story is of course despicable. But they were caught and are hopefully paying the consequences.

You should realize that eventually, if electric cars become commonplace, that we will be talking about used batteries dumped as trash instead of recycled, much like you talk about oil.

[verybadgnome]

Originally Posted by jazznblues

Yes I have been to a Walmart. In fact the primary thing I buy at Walmart is oil because they have the best prices. I change my own oil and recycle it (usually at Walmart).

Cars today do not leak much oil. Transmissions are closed systems and almost never leak. Much different today than 20-30 years ago where the pavement at a traffic stop glistened from car drippings.

The Jiffy Lube story is of course despicable. But they were caught and are hopefully paying the consequences.

You should realize that eventually, if electric cars become commonplace, that we will be talking about used batteries dumped as trash instead of recycled, much like you talk about oil.

No we aren't going to be throwing away the batteries because the rare earth minerals in the batteries are valuable enough to encourage recycling.

And for every Jiffy Lube that is caught there are a thousand shade tree mechanics that dump their oil down the drain.

Anyway your internal combustion engine still loses out when looking at emissions due to the fact that power plants are better at controlling them then a million individual vehicles. Given that the average age of a car on the road today is 9.4 years there are bound to be issues with the emissions equipment and even cars that should not be on the road are due to the fact that some stations sell fake stickers. For example:

http://www.kvue.com/news/Constables-...102646149.html

[Dr.Mom]

Originally Posted by jazznblues

Yes I have been to a Walmart. In fact the primary thing I buy at Walmart is oil because they have the best prices. I change my own oil and recycle it (usually at Walmart).

Cars today do not leak much oil. Transmissions are closed systems and almost never leak. Much different today than 20-30 years ago where the pavement at a traffic stop glistened from car drippings.

The Jiffy Lube story is of course despicable. But they were caught and are hopefully paying the consequences.

You should realize that eventually, if electric cars become commonplace, that we will be talking about used batteries dumped as trash instead of recycled, much like you talk about oil.

Actually, I heard a story about the Leaf the other day on NPR and they said the batteries are no longer powerful enough when they diminish to 70% of their original capacity but there are other uses for them such as collecting and storing the power from solar panels. Thought that was pretty cool. DH is dying to get a Jeep when we move to Austin, but I'd love for him to get a Leaf instead. We'll see.

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by verybadgnome

No we aren't going to be throwing away the batteries because the rare earth minerals in the batteries are valuable enough to encourage recycling.

And for every Jiffy Lube that is caught there are a thousand shade tree mechanics that dump their oil down the drain.

Anyway your internal combustion engine still loses out when looking at emissions due to the fact that power plants are better at controlling them then a million individual vehicles. Given that the average age of a car on the road today is 9.4 years there are bound to be issues with the emissions equipment and even cars that should not be on the road are due to the fact that some stations sell fake stickers. For example:

Constables go after drivers with fake inspection stickers | kvue.com | KVUE News | Austin, TX | Breaking News

I don't believe dumping oil down the drain is commonplace. It WAS common, but it is pathetically easy to recycle oil now. Most shade tree mechanics are attentive to their cars (hence doing the work themselves) and are diligent enough to recycle the oil.

[eepstein]

Do you honestly think that anyone in the Austin area would even look at a Chevy Volt on the showroom lot if it's parked next to a Tahoe or Silverado? Or a Ford Focus parked next to an F-150 or Expedition?. The people of Austin don't give a damn about fuel efficiency--does no one understand this?? If you don't, just spend some time "searching for a car" on austin roadways.

Originally Posted by verybadgnome

We are very fortunate. The Chevy Volt* will be sold in Austin starting in early 2011. The 2012 Ford Focus EV will be available in late 2011. For both of these cars we are part of the early roll out of select cities. Looks like for the Nissan Leaf, however, we'll have to go to Houston if we want one by Xmas. Luckily Austin Energy and the city have been proactive in getting infrastructure to overcome range anxiety. There are only two charging station as of now at Whole Foods and Dell but they are plans for a company called Coulomb to install many more. Since these vehicles (aside from the Volt) have zero mobile emissions and won't be leaking engine/transmission oil all over the place, it will be a definite improvement over the status quo. Plus they are much more affordable than a Tesla.

*-has an internal combustion as a secondary power source

[Trainwreck20]

[Trainwreck20]

This is kind of interesting:

Texas Clean Car Parking Incentive

The City of Austin's "Drive Clean--Park Free" program gives city-registered owners of hybrid vehicles that receive an EPA air pollution score of 8 or better a $100 pre-paid parking cards to park in any of the city's 3,700 parking meters. Owners must submit an application to the city and receive a bumper sticker showing their participation in the program. Eligible vehicles must be purchased at certified dealerships within the Austin City Limits. For more information go to City of Austin - Buy Green, Drive Clean.

The City of San Antonio allows owners of hybrid vehicles to park for free at street parking meters. A City ordinance, which took effect immediately after City Council approval on May 4, 2006, requires all owners wishing to take advantage of the one-year pilot program to register their hybrid vehicles with the City’s Parking Division located at 243 N. Center Street. Registered hybrid vehicle owners can park at any of the City’s 2,010 street parking meters without charge, including the pilot Pay & Display locations. All drivers must follow street parking meter rules such as parking for only the time allotted at the respective meter. For more information, call (210) 207-8266.