[EV] Volvo Says "Get over it" Regarding Range

[Audrey]

I agree with him. We need more infrastructure in the USA for long range trips besides cars. More trains or just better maintained/on time trains would be a start.

Video: Range Anxiety? Volvo Says, ‘Get Over It’ | Autopia | Wired.com

[candyfiesta]

I agree as well! We need to invest in our infrastructure, and not just maintaining what we already have (though we do a poor job of that . . )

[BondiBlue]

Originally Posted by candyfiesta

(though we do a poor job of that . . )

That's the only way I get to test my car's handling...when I get to weave around all the potholes.

[grafxman]

Trains are fine for densely populated areas that have already have good public transportation. The NE USA and the Chicago areas come to mind. I live in Florida and our governor recently turned down the billions for a train between Orlando and Tampa and I'm glad he did. A whole host of questions arise regarding a train there. Tampa and Orlando require excellent and frequent public transportation such as buses. If they're like many cities in Florida they don't have anything like that. Public parking would be required near the terminals. It doesn't currently exist. There is already an interstate, I-4, between Orlando and Tampa and it's pretty busy but it's a lot more convenient than having to deal with a train.

[Audrey]

The train could move more people and freight with a lower environmental impact. It takes less energy per person than if they each drove a car. For that reason, I think, trains or mass transit (buses sure) are ideal. The problem is infrastructure (as you mentioned a lack of facilities) and quality; in the Pacific NW trains are usually several hours to half a day off. It's impossible to plan a trip around. Also, they parallel the interstate, which isn't helpful if I want to get to anywhere else.

[Corvair]

The reason we don't have trains is people stopped taking them in the '50's. Also air travel. If money could be made, the railroads whould have passanger cars.

Let the marketplace deside.

[psi chick]

i never even realized that range of a car was a serious concern. the guy is right, most people don't drive too far from their own home, and even when you do usually there are plenty of gas stations around. i never had an issue in my CJ, even off roading, and i was lucky to get 15mpg in that thing.

as for the train issue.....trains actually generally are much more convenient for local travel. those that don't have trains don't realize the benefit of having them. i can go anywhere i need to in the city for $2.25, and no matter where i need to go there's a train station within two blocks. that sure beats driving in, dealing with traffic, paying tolls, circling for a half hour to find parking or paying $50 for a lot. i'll take the $2.25 thanks.

long distance trains are another story though. i would rather drive somewhere than take a train for various reasons. one, when i get there i wouldn't have a car. sure some trains you can bring your car with you, but that leads to the second issue of price. it's much cheaper just to drive somewhere than take the train. i just looked up the price on amtrak and it would have cost us $590 to take the train to DC. we drove down about two weeks ago, it cost us $80 in gas total. why on earth would i pay an extra $510 to take a train???? flying would have cost us $520. it just makes no sense to take a train anywhere.

before we start thinking about adding in trains, let's work on fixing the roads, bridges and tunnels that we have. they're in terrible shape and literally falling apart.

[Audrey]

Originally Posted by Corvair

The reason we don't have trains is people stopped taking them in the '50's. Also air travel. If money could be made, the railroads whould have passanger cars.

Let the marketplace deside.

They thrive all over the rest of the world. Air travel, while convenient, is not as economical for the average person as a regular means of travel. I am talking about subways in cities and lightrail connecting outlying communities with the regular train system from major hubs (equivalent to air availability) that we have now.

[Audrey]

Originally Posted by psi chick

let's work on fixing the roads, bridges and tunnels that we have. they're in terrible shape and literally falling apart.

We need to do both or it will never happen.

[grafxman]

Trains are great in areas of dense population. I've traveled on trains in Japan, NYC and Paris. Large cities with no place to park, heavy pedestrian traffic, heavy auto traffic, etc. are ideal for trains. In other words I'm talking about Europe, Japan, NE USA, Chicago and perhaps a few other areas.

There is one other area that is ideal for trains that hasn't been mentioned much. That is for long distance travel between two large metropolitan areas. Trains used for this purpose should be subsidized to keep fares low. I have ridden the French TGV from Marseilles to Paris several times. TGV stands for Train à Grande Vitesse which means high-speed train. The damn thing goes so fast, about 180 mph or more, that you literally cannot look at the country side pass by. It only has one stop in Lyon. The distance is about 400 miles and takes about 3 hours. It costs $73 according to a web page I just checked.

I suspect a TGV train from Toronto to Boston to NYC to Washington to Orlando to Miami would probably do well if the price was low enough. There's been a lot of talk over the years here in Florida about a statewide high speed train system. I and a lot of other people are dead set against it. There just isn't enough people or infrastructure or public transportation to make it viable. It would be yet another boondoggle that we would have to pour money into.

We already have our own boondoggle here in Jacksonville. It's called the people mover. It's an elevated slow moving rail system downtown. It was ballyhooed as a horizontal elevator. It's never come close to breaking even and is just a drain on our tax dollars. It was built by a French company, is only a few miles long, doesn't go anywhere and never will. If I and a lot of other tax payers had our way they'd knock that damn thing down and use the concrete debris to build more artificial reefs.