It is being rumored that the biggest car-makers world-wide are slowly "caving-in" to governmental pressure to eliminate fossil fuel burning in vehicles, possibly much sooner than we'd expect. The alternative vehicles are still "iffy" in my opinion. Are we possibly seeing an entirely new aura of innovation on the horizon? Commute to and from work via alternate means? Hope I live long enough to see the impact. Frank
@Frank Sanoica I heard on the news today that a British billionaire who saved 3.000 jobs of a steel factory in Whyalla , South Aust ...has now put in a bid for the closed Holden factory in SA ...to make electric cars on the old car processing plant Holden’s closed in Adelaide in December after,making cars since 1948 https://www.theguardian.com/austral...s-electric-car-plan-for-former-holden-factory
I don't believe the current electric grid in the US can handle the load if even 25% of the cars are electric. Solar charging stations are being built but I don't see how they can be enough.
@Sheldon Scott Good point! With millions of cars operating electrically, the "juice" has to come from somewhere: Power Plants which largely burn fossil fuels, thus removing the burning of gasoline but increasing the burning of the other. Unless additional electric production means are quickly instituted (not likely given today's red-tape), we may even see rationing of power availability. Frank
Electric motors are around 4 times the efficiency of gasoline... Based on this 25% would mean 6.25% more electric generation... very doable, imo, considering the current annual increases in generation.
But @Harry Havens the electric grid in th US is seriously outdated and vulnerable to breakdowns. Almost every year at some point there are brownouts and blackouts caused by an overloaded system. And this is without any electric cars being plugged in.
That has been the claim for nearly 20 years, yet the consumption has increased 35% over that period. Electricity consumption has been at or near a peak for the past 5 years, as consumers have opted to save energy (money) although in many cases unwittingly via newer more efficient household appliances, etc. Utilities have no real incentive to improve the current system, as it provides no real monetary benefit. If/when demand increases, the utilities will have that financial incentive (supply/demand). Converting the entire U.S. fleet of gasoline driven vehicles would increase electrical consumption by about 22%. We would/could expect the utilities to increase the system by 22%. Meaning the vulnerability would remain generally the same. Squirrels would still consider transformers an attractive safe haven from predators, ice storms would still bring down power lines, hot days will still strain the system, etc.
If an ice storm or hurricane knocks out the electric power and I have a tank of gas in my car, I can still travel. Would I be able to do that with an electric car?
Yes, provided the car was charged up. If there is no power... then you can't charge your car, nor can you get a fill-up at a gas station.
I dunno. They are making vast improvements in electric cars. But the ones I have seen are still so small. How will we get Mama, papa, three kids, the dog and all the accoutrements in it?
That depends on type/size/cost of car... anywhere from 90~335. The Chevy Bolt is considered the best buy at 235 miles and under $40K. VW has a model at $28k, but gets only 125 miles. The new Nissan Leaf is expected to get 150 miles at about the same price. It's about the battery and recent developments suggest much longer ranges in a few short years...https://www.livescience.com/59052-new-battery-could-supersize-electric-cars-range.html Fisker has applied for a patent for battery technology of 500+ miles. https://electrek.co/2017/11/14/fisker-solid-state-battery-breakthrough-electric-cars/
It wouldn't be worth the price for us. But since we don't go very far anymore that part would work okay. How fast can those electric cars go...and would the faster you go power down the battery faster too?