Quote:
Originally Posted by Efthreeoh
If I lived within a 1/2 mile of a store, I'd walk the 2,640 feet there, buy what I need and walk the 2,640 feet back home. Anything farther and I'd take public transportation; hopefully an electric bus or electric subway so the carbon pollution is in someone else's back yard. Either way I'm still going to die from GWCC (Global Warming Climate Change). Heck, my barn (where I fix my cars) is about a 500 foot walk from the house. On a good weekend I walk over and back at least 10 times a day. I'm doing my part. 
I know I rant all over this i3 Forum, but it's just because I hate this crap about being "Green". You make great points, EVs are excellent solutions for city environments and electric motors are ideal since they consume no energy at idle, which is the whole point when compared to ICEs. And yep, ICEs are much better suited for long-distance travel (my need). And just to let you know, I was an "early-adopter" of the 1st electric garden tractor (the GE Electrac) in the early 1970's, so I'm no stranger to the benefits of EVs.
Battery technology will get better, but I'm not sure it will ever reach the energy density of carbon fuel. But if we're talking tech, then I think the R&D dollars could be better spent maximizing the efficiency of the internal combustion engine/vehicle drivetrain to get near the level of efficiency the electric drivetrain (i.e. little or no energy use at idle). It makes more sense to me, considering the level of energy density of carbon fuel. Unfortunately, the political incorrectness of burning carbon fuel will never allow for the volume of R&D dollars being spent to improve battery energy density to be shifted to improving the efficient use of carbon fuel in the automotive drivetrain. I think cars like the Volt are a better solution towards improving the efficiency of using carbon fuels. An automotive drivetrain that can consume carbon fuel at a 90 - 95% efficiency rate by converting the energy in the fuel to a storable form (like electricity in a storage battery) and then dispense that reformatted energy as dictated by the load of the mobility requirement is a better solution than carrying around a 500 pound battery that has the equivalent energy of 1 gallon of gasoline. |
Wow you need to read up a little on your understanding about battery technology and efficiency of internal combustion engines. You are way off the mark on how much energy 500 lbs of batteries can hold. Also you should bone up on how much work has already been invested in internal combustion engine efficiency and how little additional efficiency can conceivably squeezed out of them.
The volt is one of the poorer examples for your plan, it only gets around 38 mpg on gasoline while the Toyota Prius plug-in gets around 50 mpg. Also the volt is one of the less efficient EV's too.
Not all of us live where public transportation in available nor can we carry the groceries we need by hand. However I am sure you would suggest we make multiple walking trips to the store.
Anyhow not going to argue with you as I suspect it would be a waste of my time, sounds like you are set on these issues. However try reading up on these things before you spread more incorrect information. For example there is way more to EV efficiency then just the ICE not running at idle.