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I though rare earth elements were one of the main issues regarding EVs and their batteries. Fortunately for us the U.S. is going to reopen our biggest mine in CA.
Oh, great idea. Why use lithium manganese oxide when you have dolomite right there in California?
Quote:
"The associated minerals in the region include Calcite, Barite and Dolomite, and the metals to be mined include Yttrium, Cerium and Lanthanum (additives in diesel fuel), Europium (needed in CFLs) and Neodymium (magnets in wind turbines and electric vehicles)."
Maybe the EPA can issue an order on that.
Last edited by Wilson513; 01-17-2011 at 06:56 AM..
It wasn't your thread. It was a news article celebrating the Leaf, an ill advised technology shift supposedly to reduce the US dependence on foreign oil. I will save you the pain of seeing quotes of your posts about batteries above.
Never said it was MY thread, it was a thread focused on the car, how it drives, the mileage, the handling etc.... My Post #53 I posed some scenarios that I had some concerns over with the car and wanted to see how other people thought...
In your opinion it's ill advised technology, but to a city dweller who drives round trip to work roughly 60 miles it's an excellent vehicle.
Lets just sit back let a few rich people buy them and use them for a few months and then have them give us the goods and bads about the car...
We have to be willing to try different things, electrics only in the city, the hybrids on the interstate, who knows... It's about time we let the designers let the ideas flow...
Never said it was MY thread, it was a thread focused on the car, how it drives, the mileage, the handling etc.... My Post #53 I posed some scenarios that I had some concerns over with the car and wanted to see how other people thought...
In your opinion it's ill advised technology, but to a city dweller who drives round trip to work roughly 60 miles it's an excellent vehicle.
Lets just sit back let a few rich people buy them and use them for a few months and then have them give us the goods and bads about the car...
We have to be willing to try different things, electrics only in the city, the hybrids on the interstate, who knows... It's about time we let the designers let the ideas flow...
The government won't let the process take a normal course. They have picked the winners and the losers and now have to assure those outcomes.
How about high efficiency diesels? How about clean coal? How about nuclear power? No, what we have is top down control and it extends to these stupid polluting batteries made from raw materials we have to beg China to sell us.
the leaf is not 100% zero emissions free it comes from when you charge it at the power plant and the darn thing will only go 100 miles on a charge forget it. iv'e also noticed they havent said how much the 220 volt charger is yet total waste of money. give me a diesel engine anyday
Not a fan of these battery cars, they're not for me but may be for those who are more concerned about being green than making financial sense.... which is fine by me.
I would think in 8 - 10 years the batteries will be much less expensive than they are today. I have a couple concerns though:
These batteries require a limited natural resource - we'll run out someday
How are these batteries being properly disposed of without causing an environmental issue?
Leaving my driveway the first morning, with 100 miles until empty showing on the dash, I thought I was well prepared for my 26.4-mile commute to work and felt that I also would be able to get back home in the evening without having to do any charging while at work.
Wrong.
Here's the real scoop: By the time I got to the interstate highway that leads to my downtown office — the entrance ramp is about 2.5 miles from my house — the miles-to-empty readout had dropped from 100 to 81, indicating that I already had used 19 miles of the battery's power.
By the time I got to work, the meter read “51 miles” left, indicating I had used almost twice the actual miles I'd driven. Luckily, I'd had the foresight to bring the charging cord with me; I'd almost left it at home, believing at that time that I would have plenty of juice to get to work and back, and maybe even take the Leaf out somewhere nice for lunch.
At work, I found a 110-volt outlet attached to the building, in a company parking lot, and plugged in the Leaf. And when I came out nine hours later to drive home, the dash meter showed 77 miles left to go.
I went straight home, and when I got there, the meter was all the way down to 27 miles — 50 miles lopped off for the 26.4-mile commute. . . . .
Just like every piece of new technology out there, I will wait until there is a 2nd generation of electric vehicles and many of them have become used and more affordable before I snap one up. Until then I'm riding out my 4cyl Mazda6 until it quits running
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