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Some type of hybrid system is really the way to go. But I think best-of-breeds are vehicles like the Chevy Volt and BMW i3, essentially pluggable EVs with a gasoline engine as a range extender (gasoline engine optional in the i3).
Honestly, as we look to offload our minivan, some type of hybrid system looks like the best way forward. My wife’s driving is basically perfect for it, and my cheap car at over 40mpg doesn’t merit a replacement.
I don't drive an electric vehicle because I care about the environment. Mining is the most fossil-fuel intensive industry and the damage to the Earth is permanent. And a lot of the countries where the cobalt and lithium are mined are poor stewards of the environment and have few laws protecting children and slaves from performing the work.
Recently it was discovered that a Tesla charging station in Germany was powered by a diesel generator. When "called out" on it their reply was that diesel powered generators are more fuel efficient than diesel powered cars. Maybe, but that doesn't count the huge environmental and human impact of producing the battery and the giant strip mine being operated under conditions that would be illegal here.
I do believe that electric vehicles are the future*, but we don't yet have the technology to produce and operate them with a smaller environmental footprint than the alternatives.
I was kind of hoping hydrogen-powered vehicles would be developed because the hydrogen can be produced using renewable electrical energy and burned in a regular internal combustion engine with less pollution but it is difficult to store and transport and is not very energy dense giving the vehicles no more range than a vehicle with a battery.
*They can make biodiesel with algae but to scale up the production to levels that could compete with other alternatives they would have to use GMO algae and there is a segment of the population that believe any type of GMO product is evil and they are generally the same demographics who believe "green" technologies are better so long as we can export the strip mining and child slavery somewhere far enough away that they can pretend it doesn't exist. The other downside to algae biodiesel is that like any other plant algae needs to be fed fertilizers. If the people buying their non-GMO spirulina smoothies knew the mind-boggling amount of petroleum-based chemical fertilizers their spirulina was fed their heads would spin off their necks.
So I'm driving a gas guzzler. The model I have is a "flex fuel" meaning it can take up to 85% alcohol if they ever invent a way to make it that uses less fossil fuels than not using alcohol to begin with.
Last edited by terracore; 01-20-2020 at 05:50 PM..
Some type of hybrid system is really the way to go. But I think best-of-breeds are vehicles like the Chevy Volt and BMW i3, essentially pluggable EVs with a gasoline engine as a range extender (gasoline engine optional in the i3).
Honestly, as we look to offload our minivan, some type of hybrid system looks like the best way forward. My wife’s driving is basically perfect for it, and my cheap car at over 40mpg doesn’t merit a replacement.
The Chevy Volt is a hybrid, not an EV w/ range extender like the BMW I3.
The Chevy Volt is a hybrid, not an EV w/ range extender like the BMW I3.
Technically you are right, but it has always been programmed to act at an EV more than a hybrid, starting with battery capacity and EV-only range. Something like a Prius will use the gasoline part much more willingly than a Volt. The Volt is actually my sweet spot in terms of hybridization, primarily an EV, especially driven correctly, but capable of playing the role of a normal everyday hybrid, or an normal everyday car.
Do you travel at all? I drive places all the time. Electric is fine if I'm just hanging around town, but if I decide to drive 5 or 8 hours its different.
Don’t you refuel your car or take bathroom or meal breaks on these trips? Depending on the EV you have, the time difference for ICE and the longer range, faster charging EVs are pretty small. It adds a bit more extra time, but that’s not a killer unless you’re doing these long trips weekly or more often than that.
Logistics and convenience. If I am stranded in cold weather, I'll be dealing with lack of heat very soon....not good. Also, terrible for road trips due to charging.
Don’t you refuel your car or take bathroom or meal breaks on these trips? Depending on the EV you have, the time difference for ICE and the longer range, faster charging EVs are pretty small. It adds a bit more extra time, but that’s not a killer unless you’re doing these long trips weekly or more often than that.
Refueling is a lot faster. I tend to not take meal breaks doe, I snack in the car til quittin’ time.
A report by the Ricardo consultancy estimated that production of an average petrol car will involve emissions amounting to the equivalent of 5.6 tonnes of CO2, while for an average electric car, the figure is 8.8tonnes. Of that, nearly half is incurred in producing the battery. Despite this, the same report estimated that over its whole lifecycle, the electric car would still be responsible for 80% of the emissions of the petrol car. More recently, an FT analysis used lifecycle estimates to question the green credentials of electric cars, especially heavy ones.
"Electric cars’ green image blackens beneath the bonnet"
What it boils down to is this- an EV battery is expected to last 8 years. After that point the car has to be completely scrapped or the battery has to be replaced (with a huge environmental impact). My farm truck is 25 years old and still runs great. It burns gas but has lasted over 3 times as long as it would if it was an EV and I have no reason to believe it's going to quit tomorrow. It could easily last 5 EV car lifespans. Also, how much does an EV pickup truck even cost? What would my carbon footprint be trying to earn that much money?
"There are plenty." I'm just not going to show you any of them
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