Charging lithium batteries doesn't cause hydrogen fumes. My electric car goes 200 miles on $6 worth of electricity.

We make the electricity right here in the USA. Oil for gasoline comes from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Iraq, Iran, Russia, Canada, etc. Let's keep more of our money in this country, instead of helping oil sheiks buy bigger yachts.

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Sorry but I think the government wasted time and our money when bailing out GM and Chrysler and should have let the market decide this. I do think the government did a good job of avoiding a full depression as we are not all in bread lines like in 1932. Unfortunately we have to have laws to make people and corporations do the right thing because they are always motivated by money to do the wrong thing.

ABG I thought the EAA in CA had the biggest membership of all EVAs. We here in Oregon at the OEVA have just as many members as Seattle.

Our grant was denied here in Oregon, it was similar to Seattle's. I don't think Oregon put enough LNG propelled vehicles in there plan, seems U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Steven Chu favors NG over electric propulsion and made sure the state where he hails from had enough NG in there plan to qualify for the grant. I believe the plan that was submitted from Oregon was around 15 million and included matching funds from businesses for 1,500 charging stations and electric cars from Think, Mitsubishi and Nissan. Politics go figure. Mr Chu would have looked inept if his state did not qualify for a grant now wouldn't he.

Blackbird, my EV takes about $1.50 to go 100 miles, price of electricity is cheap here in the Northwest. There are not many EVs that go 200 miles other than Tesla. What EV do you drive?

Each Leaf buyer will get a charger? The Leaf has it's own on board charger why do they need chargers unless it is a high speed charger.

McDonald's may install fast chargers to encourage patronage of there establishments, employers that encourage green cars will install charge stations, rest areas are candidates for quick charging and parking down town will have charge stations as we have now in Portland OR. Establishments that install charging stations will be able to make a small profit from them when in use.

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"How much is it going to cost the owner to charge the battery every day for eight hours."

You wouldn't need to charge 8 hours every night unless you were going over 3000 miles per month (36,000 miles per year)- most people would only need to top it off. Typical car usage in this country is around 1000 miles per month (12,000 miles per year). The Nissan LEAF goes a little over 5 miles per kWh (it only uses ~80% of its capacity for durability reasons). That means a typical user would consume 200 kWh per month to power the car. At a US average of 14 cents per kWh, that would equal less than $28 per month...If a business were to offer 220v 15A free to constomers, it would cost them 46 cents per hour of charging. A quick charge (in less than 30 minutes)for 100 miles of range would cost less than $3 in electricity.

A 25 mile per gallon car would consume 40 gallons per month to go 1000 miles. at $3 per gallon, that is $120 per month- so the cost of electricity to power a vehicle is less than 1/4 the cost of gasoline.

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"What about the hydrogen fumes at a charging station one spark then boom."

What about the gasoline fumes at a gas station? One spark, then boom.

Or maybe you've *never* noticed the "no smoking" signs at every gas station?

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A "battery powered lawnmower" is a bit different from an EV, most use a cheap lead acid battery, and it goes from fully charged to very low to maximize the run time. That makes for a rather short lifespan, but the battery is small and cheap enough to be readily replaced.

An EV, on the other hand, has a much bigger and more expensive battery, so the battery controls are designed to prevent both full charging and full discharging to maximize the lifespan. Keeping the battery "State of Charge" between 85% and 25% makes for a much longer lasting battery and reduces warranty replacement costs.

The "charge time" depends on how much charging is needed and how much power is available. Shorter daily drives use less electricity, thus need less charging. A higher power 220 volt charging outlet also reduces charge time. The cost to recharge depends on local rates and the amount of driving, of course, but typically is 1/3 to 1/5 the fuel cost of equivalent gassers.

The batteries used in the Nissan Leaf are LiIon, they don't produce any hydrogen and are designed for the durability and safety needs of automotive use. Only batteries containing water, like lead acid batteries, produce hydrogen, and even then only when at maximum charge or overcharged. Every gasser on the road contains a lead acid battery that could produce hydrogen, yet it doesn't seem to be all that great of a hazard, certainly less of a hazard than gasoline itself.

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