Adam Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 There was a lot of talk from the automotive industry- a guy from Nissan was saying that they could produce the country's first fully electric car by 2010 and have it mass produced by 2012. Others were talking about at that point cars could be bought on rebates for practically nothing and you would buy miles like you buy minutes on a cellphone. Fuel cost would be about the equivalent of $1.50 a gallon and the electricity could be generated from a number of sources. A very good thing that was brought up is that is could drive the cost in the US of oil below $10 a barrel, basically because it would be worthless here. If there are any economists out there- I have a question- if this panned out, could it be a bigger lift than the dot com boom was for the economy? A definite boost to my day, as I am already nervous about my flight tomorrow (I hate flying ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SD Jarhead Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 I don't want to sound like a party pooper, but where is the additional electric capacity going to come from? We already have MAJOR strains on the grid here is S. Cali. during the summer when its hot. Unless we can quickly bring nuke plants online, the electricity has to be generated using some type of energy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SD Jarhead Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 Oh yea...and if oil gets to under $10 a barrel-why drive an electric car? Just keeding! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GG Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 I don't want to sound like a party pooper, but where is the additional electric capacity going to come from? We already have MAJOR strains on the grid here is S. Cali. during the summer when its hot. Unless we can quickly bring nuke plants online, the electricity has to be generated using some type of energy. You are correct. A simple math would be to estimate the BTUs required to power up the electric cars and then match it up with both generating and transmission capacity. The bottleneck, just like the Internet & the real highway will be close to the home, because the grid wasn't built to handle this kind of electric traffic. Look what started happening in the summer time when people could afford $100 A/C units and fired them all up on hot days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blzrul Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 I don't want to sound like a party pooper, but where is the additional electric capacity going to come from? We already have MAJOR strains on the grid here is S. Cali. during the summer when its hot. Unless we can quickly bring nuke plants online, the electricity has to be generated using some type of energy. So be a man and turn off the AC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SD Jarhead Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 Great assumption Deb, but I live on the coast and do not need it. I get my AC au natural by opening my window and letting the ocean breeze cool me. And FWIW, I am an energy Nazi. If you could speak to my wife and kids you'd understand. My highest EVER combined gas/electric bill was $280. That was in the winter when we had to heat the house. I'm man enough without AC...thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
/dev/null Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 So be a man and turn off the AC. You can have my AC when you pry it from my cold dead hand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 So be a man and turn off the AC. Like Babs and AlGore? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wacka Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 So be a man and turn off the AC. Kind of hard when it's 110 outside. California isn't like that swamp you live in Berkeley north. Also the cars only go like 60-80 miles before plugging them in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
/dev/null Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 Also the cars only go like 60-80 miles before plugging them in. Thats more than I need to get to/from work, buy beer, hit a drive thru, and everything else I drive to in a single day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 There was a lot of talk from the automotive industry- a guy from Nissan was saying that they could produce the country's first fully electric car by 2010 and have it mass produced by 2012. Others were talking about at that point cars could be bought on rebates for practically nothing and you would buy miles like you buy minutes on a cellphone. Fuel cost would be about the equivalent of $1.50 a gallon and the electricity could be generated from a number of sources. A very good thing that was brought up is that is could drive the cost in the US of oil below $10 a barrel, basically because it would be worthless here. If there are any economists out there- I have a question- if this panned out, could it be a bigger lift than the dot com boom was for the economy? A definite boost to my day, as I am already nervous about my flight tomorrow (I hate flying ) Full electrics have been tried and found wanting. There was a neoleft movie a while back..."Who Killed the Electric Car?". It was a slam on GM, and their EV-1 which was released on a test basis in 1998. The same year, Honda did the same, with the all-electric EV Plus. Released on the same basis - lease only. Like GM, they evaluated the feasibility, then took the vehicles back. However, Honda is of course on the right hand of God, and GM got kicked in the nuts. Have you seen the Honda ads about their fuel cell vehicle yet? 300 test units over three years under carefully-controlled circumstances. How craven of Honda. Fuel cell vehicles are far from "prime time". Distribution of gaseous hydrogen is extremely difficult for several reasons, including hydrogen embrittlment of piping and assemblies, the problem of freezing of water condensate, as well as the big bug-a-boo...the water vapor exhaust is a far more powerful greenhouse gas than CO2. Shhh - that's the dirty little secret we don't talk about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverNRed Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 So be a man and turn off the AC. Kinda easy to say when you live in Seattle and it's been over 75 degrees approximately once so far in 2008. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted June 27, 2008 Author Share Posted June 27, 2008 I don't want to sound like a party pooper, but where is the additional electric capacity going to come from? We already have MAJOR strains on the grid here is S. Cali. during the summer when its hot. Unless we can quickly bring nuke plants online, the electricity has to be generated using some type of energy. One of the people on it (no clue who) said it wouldn't take much wind power if it was done at night. I don't know the logistics in building windmills or any of that, but the general consensus was that it is windier at night, and that power is not tapped in to- he said if we used that, there would be enough to power every car in the country and have some left over. OK, I am not a genius, but I know that windmills generate power by turning- I look at the cars and when moving the wheels are turning. Isn't there a way to use that, and basically have the batteries recharge just by driving them? That may sound simplistic, but it seems to make sense to me. Either way, whether we drill or not, the MAIN focus has to be getting away from oil, particularly foreign oil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 Great assumption Deb, but I live on the coast and do not need it. I get my AC au natural by opening my window and letting the ocean breeze cool me. And FWIW, I am an energy Nazi. If you could speak to my wife and kids you'd understand. My highest EVER combined gas/electric bill was $280. That was in the winter when we had to heat the house. I'm man enough without AC...thanks. Mine never goes on either, even when it was 105 last week. If you're a energy Nazi I must be.....hell, what's worse than a Nazi? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
/dev/null Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 what's worse than a Nazi? Off the top of my head: Smokers Global Warming® doubters Oil Executives Hailburton® Fox News® Bitter Bible Thumping Pennsylvanians With Guns Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 OK, I am not a genius, but I know that windmills generate power by turning- I look at the cars and when moving the wheels are turning. Isn't there a way to use that, and basically have the batteries recharge just by driving them? That may sound simplistic, but it seems to make sense to me. It's already being done, and it is called regenerative braking. Hybrids use deceleration to impart charge to their batteries. It's part of their very high complexity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SD Jarhead Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 One of the people on it (no clue who) said it wouldn't take much wind power if it was done at night. I don't know the logistics in building windmills or any of that, but the general consensus was that it is windier at night, and that power is not tapped in to- he said if we used that, there would be enough to power every car in the country and have some left over. OK, I am not a genius, but I know that windmills generate power by turning- I look at the cars and when moving the wheels are turning. Isn't there a way to use that, and basically have the batteries recharge just by driving them? That may sound simplistic, but it seems to make sense to me. Either way, whether we drill or not, the MAIN focus has to be getting away from oil, particularly foreign oil. I don't disagree at all. As far as it being windier at night, I'm not a scientist but do surf. I know that the wind usually comes up with the sun and tends to die down in the evening. I may be wrong, but that's my observation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted June 27, 2008 Author Share Posted June 27, 2008 Off the top of my head: Smokers Global Warming® doubters Oil Executives Hailburton® Fox News® Bitter Bible Thumping Pennsylvanians With Guns And we can change this by fixing the education system, and teaching who the Nazis actually were. Hitler is seen today as a guy with a funny looking mustache....and thats a crime There is nothing wrong with Fox News®. I find them very amusing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwight Drane Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 You are correct. A simple math would be to estimate the BTUs required to power up the electric cars and then match it up with both generating and transmission capacity. The bottleneck, just like the Internet & the real highway will be close to the home, because the grid wasn't built to handle this kind of electric traffic. Look what started happening in the summer time when people could afford $100 A/C units and fired them all up on hot days. Don't worry....they'll be taxing those pretty soon too! Is there any better feeling in the world than crashing onto a fresh kingsize bed after turning the hotel room thermostat to 65 degrees when you first arrive after a long day of travel? Well, maybe the bucket of Sam Adams from room service and the $500 call girl that shows up an hour later....but, you get the idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted June 27, 2008 Author Share Posted June 27, 2008 You are correct. A simple math would be to estimate the BTUs required to power up the electric cars and then match it up with both generating and transmission capacity. The bottleneck, just like the Internet & the real highway will be close to the home, because the grid wasn't built to handle this kind of electric traffic. Look what started happening in the summer time when people could afford $100 A/C units and fired them all up on hot days. Do you think we could solve this energy problem for less than we pay to get all the oil in the middle east? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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