All-electric Cars Will Arrive soon.

Discussion in 'General Science & Technology' started by Read-Only, Jan 16, 2009.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    10,296
    As I, and a few others who have been looking at the bigger picture, have been telling you for years:

    As a motor fuel, hydrogen is dead! (Actually, it never had a chance anyway.)
    Bio-diesel and methane will be downgraded to niche fuels.
    Ethanol is dying quickly. Billy T and Brazil will have to drink the stuff rather than ever sell it to the U.S. as fuel.
    The Middle East will also have to find a way to drink their oil.

    Granted, the last two items are a bit of exaggeration because of the petro-chemical industry, but no exaggeration at all in regards to motor fuel.

    Also, Europe and the rest of the Western nations will quickly follow suit.

    The primary roadblock has been storage battery technology and it appears that is about to soon become a non-issue.

    News article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28659906/
     
  2. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  3. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    33,264
    Electric vehicles have been touted as the next big thing for longer than you might think.
    The first electric carriage was conceived back in the 1830s by a Scotsman, Robert Anderson. It ran on non-rechargeable cells, as did the first small-scale electric car, designed in Holland by one Professor Stratingh.

    In 1899, a Belgian-built electric racing car � La Jamais Contente � set a world land speed record of 68mph. That same year, electric cars outsold petrol and steam-powered rivals in the US. They were not as noisy or smelly, and did not require gear changes � something that was tricky on early petrol-powered cars.

    But as the popularity of the car grew, people wanted to travel longer distances. This was the electric car�s Achilles� heel. Crude oil was also getting cheaper, meaning petrol was more affordable. And most importantly, Henry Ford started mass production of the petrol-powered Model T, driving down prices and leaving the more expensive electric technology behind.




    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

     
  4. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  5. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    10,296
    Yes, that's all true - but it has nothing at all to do with where we are today. Oil is no longer cheap and has many other VERY valuable uses that didn't even exist at that time (plastics, pharmaceuticals, and many, many other synthetics). So your comparison is completely invalid give our circumstances today.

    And, as I recall, you were one of those who sang the praises of the so-called "hydrogen economy" and never seemed to able to grasp the reasons why it was doomed to failure even when it was first dreamed up.
     
  6. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  7. John99 Banned Banned

    Messages:
    22,046
    Someone told me that these cars recharge themselves. How do they do that?

    Isnt charging them with electric power kind of similar energy wise?
     
  8. ElectricFetus Sanity going, going, gone Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    18,523
    I really still think everything is still competing, but if I had to put bets I would say PHEV and BEV will make it in the longterm for cars.
    http://www.greencarcongress.com/
     
  9. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    54,036
    Yes, electric cars are actually coal powered or natural gas powered (mostly, in the US).
     
  10. (Q) Encephaloid Martini Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    20,855
    Great news, but this would obviously have to result in a substantial increase in hydro/nuclear electric generating plants, or the need for some serious r&d into solar cells.
     
  11. John99 Banned Banned

    Messages:
    22,046
  12. ElectricFetus Sanity going, going, gone Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    18,523
    Even off 100% coal an electric car populates as much as a hybrid car.
     
  13. synthesizer-patel Sweep the leg Johnny! Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    2,267
  14. swivel Sci-Fi Author Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    2,494
    Coal plants aren't as dirty as people think. Not in the United States, at least.

    But we really need to build 30+ nuclear reactors over here before we phase out petrol. Another case of misguided hippies harming the planet despite the best of intentions.
     
  15. ElectricFetus Sanity going, going, gone Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    18,523
    Hey look at all the nuclear accident deaths/damage and expensive energy Frances has (sarcasm).

    Seriously coal has killed far more than nuclear power and wind (and other renewables) are intermittent: there is a need for a baseline power plant and only nuclear at present can provide with the least pollution. third generation plus and fourth generation reactors can provide safer, cheaper, less waste producing sources of energy then present reactors.
     
  16. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    10,296
    I can only assume you meant to say "pollutes."

    That's just one of the reasons to build more nuclear plants.
     
  17. Nasor Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    6,231
    The best gasoline engines are only around 30% efficient, while electric motors can easily be 90%+ efficient. Also, the electricity generators at large power stations are usually much more efficient than the gasoline engines in cars; they have the space etc. to do things like use clever heat-exchanging schemes to capture what would have been waste heat. You have some extra losses from transmitting the electricity across the power lines, but in general you still come out ahead energy-wise if you power your electric car with energy from a large generating station.

    Which is why driving electric cars costs so much less per mile.
     
  18. ElectricFetus Sanity going, going, gone Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    18,523
    me spell check bad.

    Electric cars only limitation is the price of batteries, which can be drop by mass production and battery recycling.

    An electric car charged at home every night with 100 mile range could satisfy 95% of an average drivers drives. Add in some rapid charging stations which can charge a battery in 10min and driving range is no longer limited by charge times. It would be nice to need to see a gas station only a few times a year.
     
  19. John Connellan Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    3,636
    They probably partially recharge by using their potential energy when coming down hills etc. Probably very efficient energy wise.
     
  20. PsychoTropicPuppy Bittersweet life? Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    1,538
    ah, yeah, i saw a docu about that. the only problem is that if you have a flat, or if you need to drive longer distances..

    • endurance of the battery
    • power supplier
     
  21. John Connellan Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    3,636
    I know a guy who own a hybrid Toyota which does that now. Unbelievably expensive car but saves in the long run

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

     
  22. PsychoTropicPuppy Bittersweet life? Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    1,538
    generally i'm not very persuaded by the "hybrid" method.
    i'd rather go for a 100% electric car since i live in the city.

    though, i fear that the technology, so far, hasn't reached the level where you'd be able to drive from france to germany without having the need to recharge the battery.(inconvenient) not the fact that you need to recharge the batteries is inconvenient, but the low chances of finding a power supplier. (the fuel stations, etc. don't have this available)

    but when you live in the city, and never go for long distances then an 100% electric car should do the job.

    edit: but then there is another thing that intrigues me. the production of electricity. i mean if you get the electricity from an environmentally unfriendly power producer, then it kind of defeats the purpose of going all "green".
     
  23. John Connellan Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    3,636
    Well, it's not going "all green" nor claims to be. Just more efficient way of using the petrol which is still environmentally green
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page