RonDawg
Contributor
Sasquatch:Also, the cars I've most recently heard about had a 200 mile range on a four hour charge. Not a great road tripper but excellent for commuting in metro LA I would think.
According to the Wikipedia article about the GM EV-1 (which is arguably the most advanced of the ones available in the US), it was only capable of 55-95 miles on the VRLA (lead acid type) batteries, and 75-150 miles on NiMH batteries. The phrase "Your mileage may vary" definitely applies here, as most users had ranges that were closer to the low end. A "typical" LA commute is fast approaching 60 miles in each direction, with 100 miles not unheard of.
As far as charging, not only did it take 6-8 hours, but required the use of a special "paddle" type magnetic charging system; you simply couldn't plug it into a standard household (or even 220 volt) outlet. So on top of purchasing the car, you had to purchase part of the charging infrastructure to go with it, and hope your employer (and anybody else you would visit with the car) does the same.
The Honda EV Plus and Toyota RAV-4 EV was similar to the GM EV-1 in range, with a slightly shorter charge time (5 hours). The Ford Ranger Electric had even worse range with longer charging times, not surprising as it's lugging a heavier vehicle with often heavier loads. The Toyota and the Ford used a similar magnetic charging system to the EV-1's, I'm not sure about the Honda.
While it would work for most people's commuting needs, people were loathe to buy (or in almost all cases, lease) a car that would ONLY work for commuting and nothing else. You can't use it to go to the beach, or the park, or grandma's house, unless they were very close by (round trip within the range restrictions) or had the necessary charging infrastructure. Plus, the leases at least matched that in price of an ordinary car, and sometimes were that of a luxury car. Most people couldn't have it as their only car, and couldn't afford having a "normal" car as a standby on top of owning the electric.