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Electric Vehicle Pros & Cons

1586 messages,  Last post on Oct 23, 2009 at 4:19 PM

You are in the Electric Vehicles Forum. Your Host is pf_flyer

What is this discussion about? Alternative Fuels, Coupe, Hatchback, Truck, Sedan, SUV


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#36 of 1586
Re: Going the distance [tpe] by rorr
Aug 04, 2006 (12:30 pm)
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Replying to: tpe (Aug 04, 2006 11:52 am)

California may not use any (much) electricity from coal, but large portions of the rest of the country do. BTW - just how much excess electrical production is available to Californians? Probably a moot point since most EV recharge demand would be at night when the current grid DOES have enough capacity.
 
"How much electricity are they assuming an EV uses per mile/kilometer?"
 
I wish I could tell you. Unfortunately, I haven't taken enough time to fully digest that study (particularly the electrical production side of it). To be honest, all I did was look at their assumptions for emissions from their 'average' ICE vehicle fleet and compare those assumed emissions levels to what I know is achievable with CURRENT technology in an ICE vehicle. Just my heavy-handed approach to refuting the assertion that production of electricity for EV use was always cleaner than ICE (regardless of how advanced ICEs may be, though this was not explicitly stated).
 
Correct, not all hybrids are low polluting. However, since the technology DOES exist (and is currently being used in California), then it follows that all fuel efficient vehicles (which are naturally lower in CO2 emissions) COULD also be lower in other emissions.
 
So, IF we are talking about the emissions aspects of hybrids compared to EVs, then my point is that the technology is currently in place and being used on a wide-scale (I consider use in all of California wide-scale) for very clean hybrids.
#37 of 1586
Re: Going the distance [tpe] by rorr
Aug 04, 2006 (12:39 pm)
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Replying to: tpe (Aug 04, 2006 12:02 pm)

Using less gas/oil = 'good' is not a political issue.
 
Making the assertion that the only reason we 'fight foreign wars is to stabilize foreign oil fields' is a different matter. It basically translates to the old old old anti-war chant of "no blood for oil".
 
And that IS a political issue.
 
"Its like curing disease or reducing crime."
 
Stating you are in favor of reducing crime is not a political issue. Stating that we should reduce crime by spending more money on (fill in the blank) Government program (or less money or whatever) makes it a political issue.
#38 of 1586
Re: Going the distance [rorr] by tpe
Aug 04, 2006 (1:11 pm)
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Replying to: rorr (Aug 04, 2006 12:39 pm)

The goal is not political. The methods to achieve that goal may very well be. I am talking about how EVs can reduce fuel consumption. I don't see anything political in that position. When you start advocating tax breaks to encourage EVs or hybrids then it becomes political. The worst criticism is that EVs might not be all that environmentally friendly. Fine. It accomplishes something positive while being neutral at worst from an environmental perspective.
 
This is the Tesla Roadster thread so lets put it into that perspective. If a person was debating whether to purchase the Tesla Roadster or a Dodge Viper, IMO, the Tesla would be a better purchase from a US best interest point of view.
#39 of 1586
Re: Going the distance [tpe] by rorr
Aug 04, 2006 (1:18 pm)
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Replying to: tpe (Aug 04, 2006 1:11 pm)

Fair enough. I think we've (I've) spent more than enough time discussing the environmental aspects of EVs in general and not enough on the Tesla in particular.
 
Curious about something concerning the Tesla: I know that the range is supposed to be pretty good; and the video was self-explanatory regarding the performance ( ). My question is, what kind of range do you get if you include 1/4 mile run like that?
 
A seperate question (and this gets back into the whole EV vs. ICE question): how quick is a standard Honda powered Ariel Atom compared to the EV version (Tesla roadster)?
#40 of 1586
Re: Going the distance [rorr] by tpe
Aug 04, 2006 (1:50 pm)
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Replying to: rorr (Aug 04, 2006 1:18 pm)

I'm sure that driving style definitely impacts range. They advertise a range of 250 miles per charge but the CEO has stated that he doesn't expect to get more than 200 with the way he drives.
 
As fast as the Tesla Roadster is it could be quicker. When I first heard about this car I assumed that there were 4 separate electric motors driving each wheel. This is very doable with EVs. The Tesla car has one motor driving the rear wheels. Their claim of 0-60 in four seconds is probably limited by the point wheel spin occurs. An all-wheel drive EV will be capable of unmatchable acceleration.
#41 of 1586
Re: Going the distance [michael2003] by dhanley
Aug 05, 2006 (5:41 am)
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Replying to: michael2003 (Aug 02, 2006 2:35 am)

"Although I love the idea of having an all electric car for daily commuting, I can't get over that I also have a need for a car that I can use to take long trips with."
 
As the electric car technology is refined, it will become relatively easy to add a small and very efficient internal combustion motor that will start when the batteries are below, say, 50% and start producing energy to recharge the batteries. The engine would run at WOT and at low RPMs, and would therefore be more efficient than if it were driving the wheels directly.
#42 of 1586
Re: Going the distance [rorr] by prm2000
Aug 05, 2006 (9:12 am)
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Replying to: rorr (Aug 04, 2006 6:32 am)

"Thanks for posting the link to the Electric Vehicle of Canada link comparing emmissions of ICEs to that of power plants supplying the electricity for replacement EVs."
 
Here are a few more interesting docs to look at:
 
This is an interesting Wheel-to-well analysis for Japan. Of course it is not apples to apples with US, because their power mix is different. I find it interesting that their numbers show a large advantage for BEV over FCV, but their conclusion states "BEV is a little better than FCV both in terms of required energy and CO2 emission, but still needs total evaluation including driving range per charge.". They have to discount their own numbers because BEV comes out to well!
http://www.jhfc.jp/data/seminar_report/04/pdf/06_h17seminar_e.pdf
 
This is a fairly recent large, very detailed Wheel-to-well analysis of energy use and emissions from Argonne National Labs and GM. They compare 18 different future vehicle/fuel systems. Guess which future vehicle/fuel system was not considered in the comparison? While there is some very good info here, this is the kind of government study that really pisses me off because government policy will be made based on it without accounting for the glaring omission.
 
http://www.transportation.anl.gov/pdfs/TA/339.pdf
 
Here is a similar Japanese study by Toyota (just to show I am not biased towards GM!) It basically does the same thing.
http://www.mizuho-ir.co.jp/english/knowledge/documents/wtwghg041130.pdf
#43 of 1586
GREET Software by prm2000
Aug 05, 2006 (1:24 pm)
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I just stumbled across something very cool. It should help with the discussion on emissions. I just loaded it up and haven't done much with it yet, but I thought I would pass it along.
 
http://www.transportation.anl.gov/software/GREET/
#44 of 1586
Battery power by 3745
Aug 08, 2006 (2:54 am)
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I've posted this link before on other Edmunds chats but I think it belongs here.
 
Electric cars with their batteries charged by nuclear power stations are the only way to go. The link describes safe nuclear generating plants.
 
http://www.eskom.co.za/nuclear_energy/pebble_bed/pebble_bed.html
#45 of 1586
Re: Battery power [3745] by tpe
Aug 08, 2006 (3:56 am)
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Replying to: 3745 (Aug 08, 2006 2:54 am)

Electric cars with their batteries charged by nuclear power stations are the only way to go
 
I agree that it is a very good way to go and far superior to generating electricity from coal. My objection to expanding nuclear energy has to do with the fact that we live in a world with terrorists and that's not going to change. Nuclear plants and their waste materials are going to be very attractive to these people that want to do us harm. The cost to provide security for these facilities will be considerable and will only increase as the threat becomes more sophisticated.
 
I think from a domestic security perspective we are best off generating our electricity on the most local level possible. Homeowners producing their own electricity through wind, solar, etc., being tied together in a small community grid.

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