How do I get involved with developing electric car technology?

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Q. I have recently watched the movie,"Who killed the electric car" It was great. Now I want to work in this field. I have my degree in BA. I'm not really interesting in going back to school, but wonder what company could I work at to get started?

Answer
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This is a tough one, because a job in a startup electric vehicle company could be risky. On the other hand, I couldn't think of a better time to take a chance on the future of electric vehicles. There's a lot of activity in battery research, and prototype electric vehicles.
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Some exciting battery companies to work for:
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EEstor makes a revolutionary battery replacement - the ultracapacitor:

http://www.eestor.us/
(This webpage is under contruction because they haven't launched their product yet. Read about EEstor here:)

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1141599010468&call_pageid=970599109774&col=Columnist971715454851
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123 Systems makes an improved Lithium Ion battery:
http://www.a123systems.com/html/news/articles/051102_news.html
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Firefly Energy has invented an improved lead-acid battery. This is exciting because they will be light, cheap to make, can drop right into existing lead-acid applications, and will have greatly improved performance.

http://www.fireflyenergy.com/ffy.html
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Here's another improved Li-Ion battery, using nanotechnology:

http://www.altairnano.com/
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Next, here's a few companies building electric cars:
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http://www.teslamotors.com (California)
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http://electrovaya.com/innovation/zev_tech.html
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http://www.feelgoodcars.com/ (Canada)
This company has made a deal for the EEstor ultracapacitors.
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http://phoenixmotorcars.com (California)
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There's more, too, I keep finding new stuff every day.
Best of luck!
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How much pollution does the production of an electric car cause?

Lesley

I am finding this a difficult question to find the answer to but how much pollution is produced when an electric car is made? I mean the actual in factory production? Any help appreciated.

Answer
lets compare here:

these are the very basic steps on how the electric car is made

1: Lead (essential battery ingredient) is mined in africa (environmentalists scream bloody murder when its mined)

2: Nickel (essential battery ingredient) is mined in Canada (environmentalists scream bloody murder when its mined)

3: Nickel and Lead are turned into car batteries in the USA (fossil fuels were used to ship it there)

4: Batteries are flown to Japan, and put in Toyota's Electric cars

5: Cars are distributed all over the world for purchase

6: buyer purchase's his electric car from his local Toyota dealer, 50 km's from his house.

7: due to the lack of range, he gets 20 km/s from his house, and runs out of electricity

8: He plugs it in an electric socket, and after the 16 hour charge cycle is complete, he goes home. Now, before you say thats a price worth paying, lets not forget that the electricity put in the "tank" is from a coal power plant, which the environmentalists want torn down.

Now, lets see how a gasoline powered car is made

1: engine is designed and built in Japan

2: engine is placed in car, which was made in Japan

3: Cars are distributed all over the world for purchase

4: buyer purchase's his electric car from his local Toyota dealer, 50 km's from his house.

5: he gets home safely, has dinner, then goes and shows off his new car to his friends.

As well, top gear took a toyota prius (granted, its a hybrid, but the technology is very similar) and a BMW 3 series, and drove the prius at its grip limits (which are highway speeds, and put the beamer behind it, at the exact same pace. the prius ran out of gas 15 minutes before the BMW

as well, the best electric car (which is a prototype right now) can only do 100 km's, and as mentioned, needs 16 hours to charge, where the electricity is from the already heavily strained coal powered electricity system.

also, as a side note, the audi quattro won the WRC rally championship in 1984, and gets 30mpg. Most of 2011 electric cars get 34mpg, (if the math is done accurately & precisely) and the people are stunned by the incredible savings, and fuel economy?????? yyyyyeeeeeaaaaah. ok then.

conclusion: not only are electric cars harder on the environment than gas cars will ever be, but they have terrible mileage at the end of the day

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