What are the problems with electric cars?

@maporsche,

Quote:

You must understand that generating electricity from even a coal power plant and using that to drive a vehicle is more efficient than that vehicle using an internal combustion engine (ICE) to propel itself. The CO2 released by the powerplant is less than that of the car, per mile.

Can you provide a link for this please? I couldn't find any exact numbers, but the Scientific American article suggests that if you are using exclusively coal power you aren't reducing carbon.

I think that your fact is wrong.

1 Reply

@maxdancona,

maxdancona wrote:

The narrow mindedness here is ridiculous.

https://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/hitlerparody/images/a/aa/Hitler-finds-out.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130704032316

I will deal with all the narrow minded people!

1 Reply

@centrox,

Really Centrox,

So you are going to bring Nazis into every thread... even if it is about electric cars.

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http://www.porscheprototype.com/uploads/1/2/8/1/12813977/7005512_orig.png?0

Und here, mein Führer, the battery! 500 mile range! That Elon Musk will eat our dust!

1 Reply

@centrox,

Plus one Centrox. You made me chuckle with that! Wink

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@Ponderer,

Quote:

What if every light pole along highways had solar panels?

Pond thanks, I've long entertained such thoughts. Yea, but there's be come disadvantages there, too; less sun onto our veh's

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@Ponderer,

Quote:

on-board, football-size, efficient combination gas turbine/alternator

Erer, you'll hafta 's'plain to an old fella with head diseases. Probly you've already done so but I don't 'mem'

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@mike94,

Rather than a fuse box it has an ugly 40 spaces 200 amp electric panel.

You are obligated to carry a long extension cord.

The motor when gets old sounds like an outside generator of a three floor building.

Rain days might caused it short circuit

When you charge the car in your garage a four blocks neighborhood lights start flickering

Car can't fart due to missing exhaust pipe

Pedestrians blind people unfriendly because lack of noise

Easy to steal using a screwdriver, pliers and a voltmeter.

Gas station attendant will spit on your cap of coffee

1 Reply

@cameronleon,

Leon thank you for that but I sure wish you had included each remark to which you respond. No offense atall

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@dalehileman,

Nstedv a Lrge trbn lyk ona jt pln, a smal trbn cld spn 'n altrnatr to chrg batry
n Wl-Mrt prkng-lt or n trfc jms. ( or n drv-wa )

1 Reply

@dalehileman,

Mabe outbrd bttr.

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@dalehileman,

I'm aware, thanks.

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@Ponderer,

Quote:

Nstedv a Lrge trbn lyk ona jt pln, a smal trbn cld spn 'n altrnatr to chrg batry
n Wl-Mrt prkng-lt or n trfc jms. ( or n drv-wa )

Sorry Pon but at my age I lose track. You've proposed in place of the usual kind of jet engine, a much smaller power source could be used to charge a car battery, which seems to suggest that some cars must use jet engines

1 Reply

@dalehileman,

I've only seen a prototype. I think it was made in the 60's. They said it sounded like a vacuum cleaner and got bad mileage.
Just googled "turbine car " '63 Chrysler. See "Start up and rev! 41,000!"
PS: Nu y'd undrstnd.

1 Reply

@maxdancona,

Maybe you're right about exclusive coal (but maybe not, I don't have time to look; I have a really hard time believing that a small IC engine and it's 16% efficiency is better than a power plant though). But coal only makes up like 35% of the nations power output and my main point is that 10 years from now that ICE car will spew the same amount of CO2 while our nations power grid is becoming more renewable every day. So electric cars get more and more green every year. No matter what Trump does, that trend is not reversing.

1 Reply

@maporsche,

maporsche wrote:

But coal only makes up like 35% of the nations power output

It makes up a much greater portion of our baseline power supply that is used to charge most electric cars (which are usually charged overnight when power demand is the lowest).

maporsche wrote:

and my main point is that 10 years from now that ICE car will spew the same amount of CO2 while our nations power grid is becoming more renewable every day. So electric cars get more and more green every year. No matter what Trump does, that trend is not reversing.

Most renewable energy is not presently suitable for baseline power generation. There are people who are working on changing that, but thus far it has not been achieved.

It remains to be seen whether renewable energy can provide 100% of our electrical demand. If that happens to work out, great. But it might not work out that way. And if the nation switches over to electric cars, the electrical demand is going to increase massively.

Personally I think plug-in hybrids are the way to go. When gasoline is cheap they can use that (and use it efficiently). When gasoline is expensive they can draw off the electrical grid. When gasoline becomes cheap again they can go back to burning gasoline.

1 Reply

@oralloy,

oralloy wrote:

maporsche wrote:
But coal only makes up like 35% of the nations power output

It makes up a much greater portion of our baseline power supply that is used to charge most electric cars (which are usually charged overnight when power demand is the lowest).

And that baseline power supply is shifting as well. Hydroelectric, wind, and nuclear could all replace coal bit by bit.

And there is also carbon sequestration technology that could be applied to coal plants too...eliminating up to 90% of their CO2 output.

Quote:

maporsche wrote:
and my main point is that 10 years from now that ICE car will spew the same amount of CO2 while our nations power grid is becoming more renewable every day. So electric cars get more and more green every year. No matter what Trump does, that trend is not reversing.

Most renewable energy is not presently suitable for baseline power generation. There are people who are working on changing that, but thus far it has not been achieved.

Yes, and Rome wasn't built in a day. We are further now than we were 10 years ago, and in 10 years we'll be further still. No one is talking about replacing every car with a Tesla in the next 10 years. It's not possible.

Quote:

It remains to be seen whether renewable energy can provide 100% of our electrical demand. If that happens to work out, great. But it might not work out that way. And if the nation switches over to electric cars, the electrical demand is going to increase massively.

Well, it can be done for sure. It just may not be cost effective for a few decades. But technology is getting better and better all the time. I just wish the government would support it and provide incentives to innovate.

Quote:

Personally I think plug-in hybrids are the way to go. When gasoline is cheap they can use that (and use it efficiently). When gasoline is expensive they can draw off the electrical grid. When gasoline becomes cheap again they can go back to burning gasoline.

I love plug in hybrids as a transition vehicle. Nothing wrong with them at all.

1 Reply

@maporsche,

maporsche wrote:

And that baseline power supply is shifting as well. Hydroelectric, wind, and nuclear could all replace coal bit by bit.

Hydroelectric has expanded about as much as it can. Wind is not yet reliable enough to be a baseline power source. Anti-nuke zealots prevent the expansion of nuclear power.

maporsche wrote:

And there is also carbon sequestration technology that could be applied to coal plants too...eliminating up to 90% of their CO2 output.

True, but I expect that the left will block it from widespread implementation.

maporsche wrote:

I love plug in hybrids as a transition vehicle. Nothing wrong with them at all.

I like them as an end goal. I'd much rather have both electricity and gasoline as options, not just one or the other.

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@oralloy,

oralloy wrote:

I like them as an end goal. I'd much rather have both electricity and gasoline as options, not just one or the other.

Well, for your lifetime it seems likely to be the case.

50 years from now, I expect something different to be true.

1 Reply

@maporsche,

Why would people choose electric-only over something that could use either electricity or liquid fuel?

I could see replacing the internal combustion engine with fuel cells. But foregoing liquid fuel just limits your options.

1 Reply

What are the problems with electric cars?

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