Toyota Concept Electric Car Resembles Recliner Chair

From News Max.com (May 1):

Toyota has come up with a personal concept vehicle that can hit 20 mph and resembles a souped-up Barcalounger.

The i-Real electric personal vehicle is controlled by two joysticks and was unveiled at the 2012 Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, London’s Daily Mail reported. [read more]

This vehicle is only meant for customers in China. Only 20 mph huh? I guess it is not meant for highway driving. This electric car is going to make all the environuts happy in China and over here.

Here’s something to ponder: If the demand for electric cars goes up in the future that could put stress on the electric grid just like when everyone put their air conditioners on when it gets very hot out. The only way around this is to make the cars run on solar power. Or the owner has a solar generator he can plug the car into.

And if the battery goes dead in an electric car (or even a hybrid for that matter) the car becomes a dead weight, ie it totally locks up. You can’t even it try to push it like you would with a regular gasoline car. Or in a hybrid if you run out of gas even if the battery is fully charged the car shuts down. Popular Mechanics tested this scenario. The car manufacturers do this to protect the battery because it is so expensive to make.