[Fot] Electric cars

[Larry Young]

The problem with electric cars is that they run on whatever produces the 
electricity, usually natural gas or coal, both produce green house 
gases. The way you're doing it, Bill, makes more sense.  To have a 5 
year payout, Hawaii must have exceptional incentives for installing 
solar panels.  Payout periods are usually 10 to 15 years. The problem 
with incentives is that they usually change and rarely for the better.
Larry

On 4/1/2013 4:41 PM, Bill Babcock wrote:
> Like any other emerging infrastructure, it's not as "good" as the technology
> it replaces. Of course if we were starting off fresh with no transportation
> technology a piston-driven internal combustion engine would the the very last
> possibility considered. Horrible design choice, but after a hundred years of
> development it's pretty tough to compete with either the design or the
> infrastructure that supports it. It's SO entrenched that hybrid cars use it as
> a generator driver when a turbine-derived design would be so much more
> efficient, and a small fuel cell would be even better.
>
> Electric and other technologies will replace gasoline as a fuel, and it's
> conceivable that a piston-driven engine will be replaced. Such a hideous and
> intrinsically limited design.
>
> My next car for Maui will definitely be electric-based. I can and will run it
> for "free". I generate about 200KWH per week with photovoltaic panels, and
> I'll double that next year. Given Maui's electric rates and the cost of
> gasoline they pay for themselves in five years. I don't have any other
> investments that come anywhere close to the ROI. I can do math, so until the
> engine in my jeep drops out onto the road I'll probably still be using that,
> but given expected battery life an electric vehicle pencils out very nicely
> here.
>
> I've also built an electric bicycle here that I use for shuttling myself when
> I do downwind runs (drop the bike off, drive to the start, do the run, drive
> the bike back to pick up the jeep. Yes I could pedal, but after paddling a
> stand up surfboard ten miles a little boost is nice. My bicycle runs on the
> same 4S 5000MAH lithium polymer batteries that I use for my quadcopter drone.
> I just slot four of them into a case I made and it's good for about thrity
> miles with hills.
>
> I also made an electric tricycle that everyone in the Northwest is really
> tired of seeing in the pits. It does 50 MPH on the flats and I've done a
> century ride with it--over Mount Hood. A "short" ride with it is 50 miles.
> Great little grocery getter.
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YC_o66ABn6M
>
>
> On Apr 1, 2013, at 8:07 AM, Randall <tr3driver at ca.rr.com> wrote:
>
>> ---- RACER BUD <budscars at comcast.net> wrote:
>>> What happens to The electric cars when the batteries are  no good
>>> anymore..?..and what does it cost to replace tham..or..what becomes of the
>>> car?
>> They're kind of expensive to replace; buddy of mine said the battery for his
> 1st gen Prius was $7k but he convinced Toyota to cover half (which I suspect
> means the wholesale price is closer to $3.5k).  (Yes, I realize a Prius has a
> relatively small battery, it's just a data point).
>> When the car isn't worth the price of a new or rebuilt battery, it gets
> scrapped just like any other car that isn't worth repairing.
>> At the moment, AFAIK the nearest Li-ion battery recycling facility is in
> Canada.  Toxco was supposed to open a new plant in Ohio last year, but it
> doesn't seem to have happened yet.  At the moment, lithium is so cheap that it
> doesn't pay to recycle it; but likely that will change if electric cars gain
> more acceptance.
>> Personally, I don't see full electric as ever replacing internal combustion.
> There is certainly a niche market for them, short distance commuting and so
> on.  But the advantages aren't nearly as great as some folks like to claim.
> They aren't anywhere close to "zero pollution"; its just that most of the
> pollution comes out somewhere else.  NFI, YMMV, etc.
>> Randall
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