What steps will Big Oil companies take to ensure that very few people buy electric cars?

Same thing they did for the EV-1... petition government to keep oil standards low, wage a media war against them as being weak, unsafe, bad for business, and even un-American.

(Or say stupid stuff like Greed above - especially when the energy that it does take to charge a car is a fraction of the amount of energy that goes into an automotive gas combustion engine for the same amount of mileage... Not to mention that even with the US's "dirty" power grid, electric car's secondary emissions would still be less then half of of the total emissions by a conventional US gasoline auto.

But then again, which industry would have the most to lose if the US did upgrade our power grids??? So, who can we expect to put up obstacles to that as well?)

Oil companies didn't want electric cars true, but to say the killed it is a false hood. First electric cars still use petroleum. What lubes the drive axles and gears? Petroleum! Next Democratic Senators and Representatives have stock in oil also so how can you say Republican oil companies? My big question is why are they pushing ethanol? It depletes the soil of nutrients and requires more energy than it makes to grow, transport and process. It actually adds to green house gasses but the Democrats seem to love it. A: The United States has one of the largest natural gas deposits in the world. B: Animal waste produces natural gas that can be burned to produce electric and actually reduces green house gases. C: Garbage decomposing produces natural gas that can be burned to produce electric and reduces green house gases. Why are these methods not being pushed over ethanol? Money! Natural gas engines last longer than gas or diesel engines., because they burn cleaner. Want to look into something look into these facts and as always you will find money protects itself!

Nothing direct, because EV's are not really here just yet. Mostly either home builts and a handful of early production cars that cost more than a Corvette.

I would suspect they are relying on the public's fear of the unknown at first. Many will be skeptical about them. Scared they will get stranded, not able to go just anywhere at anytime they want to, worried about the batteries, from charging to getting in a wreck with one.

Then once they have a pile of horror stories put together, viral emails will go out about the untold dangers of EV's. Something like, 'Little girls dies in wreck, not from the wreck, but from battery acid.' Something like that.

Then there will be those studies that bring about doubt.

Basically wait out to see what happens first. It think Big Oil would be more concerned if batteries were able to exceed a tank of gas, particularly in price to charge the battery. If you could go twice the distance for cheaper would be their fear, but it's the opposite, about a quarter to a third of the distance, all under a 100 miles a charge, some closer to 50 miles a charge.

It is easy to pick on corporations as the problem. There is a lot that is wrong with them.1 But maybe it is not simply a corporation that is an issue. Perhaps it is also owners who are trying to to gather as much wealth as possible.2 And politicians who play to those with money.3 Perhaps it is consumers who don't particularly care about the direction the country or world is going as long as they can drive to work and continue to buy what they want. Perhaps it is all of us who have invested so heavily into the current state of affairs that we dare not even look at other possibilities.

If I was a moderately smart oil company exec, I might put questions like this one in places where people would answer them to gather ideas. Then I might pick and choose what would work with other programs.

You can also look at my answer here (4) and realize that "oil companies" don't have to do anything that they have not already done.

EDIT: There is enough grid capacity to charge more than 70% of our present fleet if they were switched to electric: http://www.redherring.com/Home/pages/print/posts/?... US use of coal is 48% and dropping as more renewables come on line. Some electric cars are presently recharged with photovoltaic panels.

Its is not just big oil. Until someone figures out a way to properly charge electric cars for their fair share of road use taxes, currently collected through gas taxes, the administration is against them.

The big oil co's fix the price of fuel. They now have maximised it as time is running out for them. Once the price of alternative transport comes down they will drop their prices dramatically to keep competing for as long as they can.

Apart from that, there is not much they can do legally.

They don't need to do anything.

EV's are overpriced, have long charge times, have unproven reliability, and use valuable space which could be used for moving people around to haul around large heavy very expensive batteries.

Where is the electricity to charge the car going to come from - mostly coal, gas, and oil.

lower the price of oil

Your entire post is demonstrating a huge lack of understanding of the issues involved. Then because you don't understand the issue, you see conspiracy.

Grow up and get an education.