Back in 2012 when Oregon was installing charging stations for electric only cars I got pretty wound up. Bottom line, I shouldn't care what other people drive as that's their choice. But I was feeling the societal pressure that driving my old car was an offense.

Well there was a recent article in the Eugene Oregon newspaper discussing charging stations in downtown Eugene. It turns out that the average use was once every 14 days. They also found several that no longer worked. Now they're in the process of removing some of these charging stations.

So it looks like technology isn't there yet and I'll continue to enjoy driving my old cars. Feeling a little less pressure from those who don't appreciate our beloved Oldsmobiles


John

 

The technology is there, just not the need.

 

Just curious, did users have to pay?
Do electric car owners pay any road taxes?

 

Around here you have to pay by credit card before the charging station will operate. Some cities mandate a percentage of tenant parking spaces in shopping centers and apartments have the stations installed. Still a small amount used. I have seen several charging stations but on them in use. I was reading in the paper the other day that sales are dropping due to the decrease in gas prices and cars getting better miles per gallon.

 

We have one at our dealership. Its never used, I guess you have to sell some first.

 

Around here, in SF Bay Area, chargers are everywhere but so are Tesla cars and bunch of other Hybrids.
I have to admit that Tesla looks very nice and drivers are much better on the road than Prius drivers.

 

There is one over in Macedonia in a parking lot of a big plaza. I've never seen anything plugged into any of the boxes, but there are 5 or 6 boxes over on the one side of the lot.

 

Well we gotta save the planet. China builds coal fired power plants while we get expensive cars that take hours to charge and go less than 200 miles when using the heater/air conditioner. What strikes me is not only the huge expense to these various green elephants but also the sheer futility of it. But then again it never was about saving the planet, not really.

 

There's a few out at the Big box hardware store at the local mall complex, but I've never seen one in use. Battery powered vehicles aren't famed for their endurance in sub-zero climes.

Personally, I'd welcome a good plug in hybrid. Gimme the first hundred miles on clean solar or hydro generated power ... with the ability to go further when needed. That's just plain smart thinking to me. If it takes 8 hours to charge for that first 100 miles, so be it ... so long as I'm not stranded thereafter. Swappable battery systems make still more sense. Let my batteries charge up from a solar array at home while I'm out and about. Having to charge batteries overnight when all solar isn't producing is a tough sell. If I didn't use the entire charge in one day, I'm not stuck with the decision of do I charge tonight or don't I? Park the car, a robot arm pulls the old one out, slaps the new one in, and takes the evening to analyze the pulled on so that when the solar array comes on line in the morning, it knows exactly how fast or slow to refill it to keep that battery at it's best. Give the robot access to the local weather guessers and it can even decide if solar is gonna be a bust and just use the local grid to pump it full of electrons.

 

Year ago We received a grant for a brand new ford ranger electric pickup. Lease only. Our guys are a little rough on vehicles so it was to be my shop truck. We pay to have a charger installed. days turned into weeks. Weeks into months. Always being assured it was right around the corner. One day we have a alternative fueled vehicle seminar on campus. I signed up for a free jacket. Next day someone from ford calls. Say's I seem to be interested in a new electric vehicle. I told them ford did not make an electric vehicle. The assured me they did and would sell me all the golf carts I wanted. I expalined my ranger problem and again said. Ford does not sell electric vehicles. I was told I would receive a call and sure enough some big wig at ford called and assuered me my ranger would be in my possesion in less than a week. 2 weeks later ford scrapped their electric vehicle program and went for hybrids. Never got to see or drive the ranger but had that charger mounted for years.

 

Prof, we have a plug in Prius model. Get yourself one.

 

When did that happen? I'm kinda stuck with a full driveway at the moment ... but the missus's Malibu can't possibly last much longer.

 

I think 2013?

 

I looked over the Toyota.ca site .. it's vaguely mentioned, but details are hella sparse. The biggest mention at all is a graphic saying 'you don't need to plug it in'.

I'm guessing it's not being pushed very hard here. Is it available on all models, or is it a special order item?

Just checked the Wiki on it ... electric range, 17 miles. Yeah ... that's not gonna be a high return on investment item.


OMIGAWD ... 2012-2014 US sales of the Prius Plug in:36,680. Canada same period: 338.