Of course burning fuel in power plant instead of in a car is more efficient... However the actual building of electric cars is very toxic/bad for the environment. So on balance those cars are probably not better for the environment.
What do You Think About Hybrid and Electric Cars?
by Village Idiot 45 Replies latest social current
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bohm
Hoser:
I have issues with the current range of electric vehicles. When they can travel up to a thousand km on one charge in 40 below zero temperatures I might consider one.must...resist...
Ha! A thousand km is only slightly more than the average commute from Berlin to London. Wake me up when a normal person like me can use them for my daily commute from Berlin to Athens in -50C, 7 days straight, on a single 30 seconds charge from a USB port on my old Motorola smartphone. Before THAT happens electric vehicles are not useful for ANY normal person.
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hoser
I'm not sure where everyone is coming from here but travelling 1000 km in one trip happens on a regular basis in my life and many others who live in remote northern communities. People have to travel for medical appointments, shopping or just to get out. A fully electric vehicle would not only need to propel itself but also provide heat for defrosting windows and keeping it's occupants from freezing.
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bohm
hoser: 1000 km is about a 8-10 hour drive... you really do that regularly without taking a 30-minute break to eat or go to the bathroom where the car could charge?
Arguing that "electric vehicles are not useful before they can do X" where X is some extreme task very few people do is a misunderstanding of what the primary utility of electric vehicles would be, namely replacing cars that often goes into cities. city driving is the conditions where electric vehicles will be most efficient over combustion engines, the range is not a great factor since the typical commute is about 10-20 km in my country and it is where removing pollution (including noise) will have the most impact on people's lives.
It is like someone invents the mechanical weave and someone says: yes, but can it make a wedding dress?
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hoser
I never did say electric vehicles are no good. They just wouldn't work for me at this time. Right now they are meant for people who live in cities with short commuting times.
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Village Idiot
Hoser,
I'm not sure where everyone is coming from here but travelling 1000 km in one trip happens on a regular basis in my life and many others who live in remote northern communities.
As I mentioned, Priuses (Hybrid, not electric) can get 50mpg multiplied by a 10 gallon gasoline tank. If that is not enough for you between gas stations then what do you do when you make such long trips? I never heard of a regular car having a 600 mile (1,000 km) range. Don't you stop at gas stations in mid-trip to fuel up?
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Still Totally ADD
I know this is a little off subject but the other day I was at home depot looking for a new weedeater I ended up buying a 56 volt battery run weedeater. It's quiet, lightweight, no gas or oil. The price was a little lower than the gas ones. I live on one acre and it works great on one charge. When I was there they now have a full size battery operated rider mower. They claim it will mow 2 acre's on one charge. They want $2,500 for it. I could see in 10 years all lawn equipment will be battery run. It looks like to me the day of going to the gas station will be a thing of the past. Still Totally ADD
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bohm
hoser: Well, obviously there will still be some use cases where gas powered cars will remain useful.. what matters is the typical use case for cars and yours (1000 km driving without significant stops in arctic conditions) is not one of them. For every person like you, there is someone who hasn't driven longer than 40 km on a single day in a decade... I remember more than 10 years ago with the first electric cars that the discussion was about the 100mile range and why that meant electric cars would never be of any use.
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hoser
What you said is incorrect bohm. For every person like me there are 100 who drive only short distances. That is why there is a market for this product.
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Bungi Bill
A good rule of thumb when evaluating motor vehicles is to note which ones are commonly used as taxis. Taxi operators very quickly get to know what vehicles work okay, and which ones are not so good.
The majority of taxis that I have travelled in over the last nine years have been hybrid vehicles, with the Toyota Prius being the most common of these. Without exception, the taxi drivers spoke highly of their hybrid vehicles. (I did a lot of travel by taxi while working on a Fly-in / Fly-Out basis in such places as Queensland, South Australia, the Pilbara and Papua New Guinea).
Simon does make a very good point, however, that in urban areas at least, mass-transit systems make by far the most sense. (Particularly rail).