Porsche takes on Tesla
 

Porsche confirmed they are working on an all electric Boxster to take on Tesla.

http://inhabitat.com/2010/07/27/porsche-confirms-plan-to-develop-all-electric-vehicles/

I don't understand the hype behind electric cars. The car gets filled up with electricity that comes from a coal power plant most likely, which is more polluting if anything.

The only thing electric cars do is pass the blame from your car to the power company, but it doesn't fix the environment at all.

From the differences between the Tesla and the Elise, I would expect an electric Boxster to be

-heavier
-less agile
-more expensive
-more limited in range
-maybe faster off the line, but slower to 60 and in the 1/4 mile
-un-sports car quiet

What's the point?

The path to extract coal, collect the heat from coal, turn it into electricity, move it through the grid, convert it to different voltages and frequencies along the way to the car and then try to store it in a battery is terribly inefficient. Anyone driving an electric car expecting that it's the savior of the environment is kidding him or herself. There are alternative sources for electricity like wind and solar that are obviously less polluting, but they are not widely used.

What it does do, though, is move the energy source away from the mid-east and towards the US, which has the obvious political benefits.

See where I am at in Vancouver Canada most of our power comes from hydro electric dams. There are many clean power options out there hopefully the US will move towards more nuclear power ect and away from coal and allow electric cars to thrive. I'd personally love a Tesla!

For those of you who are doubtful about using energy from electricity, remember that gas has to be processed from oil as well. THAT in itself requires a lot of energy and pollution.

Yes, using electricity does come mainly from coal powered plants. However, you will still end up polluting less than you would driving a gas powered car.

HTH

Where are you getting your information?

What's the pollution break down between gasoline production and electricity production? How much pollution is created in constructing the electric car vs the gasoline powered car? How much of the car is recycle-able when it's done it's job?