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Interesting Study of Gas v. Electric Vehicles

Gabe

Gabe

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http://www.gizmag.com/empa-study-environmental-impact-electric-car/16181/

The upshot of a European study is that given the mix of European electricity production (which is similar to California, I think), an electric vehicle (EV) has the same environmental impact (including mining, production and disposal of the batteries) as a fossil-fuel-burning vehicle that gets around 70 mpg.

Not as clean as I thought, but not as dirty as the EV-opponents say, either. As electricity production gets greener, that number will change to be more favorable to the EVs.
 
Interesting. I have always wondered which was better. 70 MPH equivalent out of an EV is pretty darn good.
 
Interesting point that I seldom see discussed: There is not enough infrastruture in place to supply electricity for current peak demands.. Where is the power coming from when the equivalent of 20 million barrels a day of oil converted to gasoline is changed to elecricity?

Magic?
 
afm199 said:
Interesting point that I seldom see discussed: There is not enough infrastruture in place to supply electricity for current peak demands.. Where is the power coming from when the equivalent of 20 million barrels a day of oil converted to gasoline is changed to elecricity?

Magic?
Click to expand...

Most of the demand will be off-peak.

It will be a gradual change, I'm sure the energy companies will adapt.
 
Think the coolest thing I've seen was hybrids that people modded so that you can charge the battery by plugging in the car when parked (I'm avoiding the name Prius but yes it was on a Prius).

Besides this they also modified the speed at which the gas motor kicks and added more batteries, it made it possible to drive around town without using any fossil fuel (at least directly).
 
afm199 said:
Interesting point that I seldom see discussed: There is not enough infrastruture in place to supply electricity for current peak demands.. Where is the power coming from when the equivalent of 20 million barrels a day of oil converted to gasoline is changed to elecricity?

Magic?
Click to expand...

Science!
 
Well, we actually use 9 million barrels of gasoline a day, not 20 million, but in any case, what if I said this:

Interesting point that I seldom see discussed: There is not enough infrastruture in place to supply electricity for current peak demands.. Where is the power coming from when energy consumption increases due to increased population and economic activity over the next 50 years?

Magic?
Click to expand...

Not magic, but from power plants that human beings will build because we have to build them anyway. If we can build 100, we can build 120. Hopefully these will use some kind of cleaner, renewable energy source.
 
Gabe said:
Not magic, but from power plants that human beings will build because we have to build them anyway. If we can build 100, we can build 120. Hopefully these will use some kind of cleaner, renewable energy source.
Click to expand...

:rofl Not in California you can't!
 
I just typed up a lengthy post but deleted it to this: Eh,..wateva.

Pretty much sums up how I feel about eco-friendly vehicles.
 
I like the hydrogen idea. Corn = no, electricity = not in our lifetime..too long to recharge.

the problem is the only one i see is the BMW and they want 6 figures for that. not exactly a way to make a dent in the emissions.

make it cheap, quick to fill up and you got a winner. Not some car that only a geek or engineer drives around, but every 4kn body.
 
Hydrogen still has the electrical generation problem. In fact it's a bigger problem, because you've added another step for inefficiency in the system.

PS njy ur low energy density

It'll be nice that you can fill a fuel cell quickly, because you'll be doing it all the time.
 
RD400man said:
I like the hydrogen idea. Corn = no, electricity = not in our lifetime..too long to recharge.

the problem is the only one i see is the BMW and they want 6 figures for that. not exactly a way to make a dent in the emissions.

make it cheap, quick to fill up and you got a winner. Not some car that only a geek or engineer drives around, but every 4kn body.
Click to expand...

[youtube]4AUurBnLbJw[/youtube]

Top Gear and Leno's stamps of approval. Makes it irrefutable. :teeth
 
afm199 said:
Interesting point that I seldom see discussed: There is not enough infrastruture in place to supply electricity for current peak demands.. Where is the power coming from when the equivalent of 20 million barrels a day of oil converted to gasoline is changed to elecricity?

Magic?
Click to expand...

Lovedoc said:
Yup PG&E willl take care of everything, no worries:thumbup
Click to expand...

Archimedes said:
Fixed.
Click to expand...

I know y'all are the resident curmudgeons, but I swear it's almost like you want humanity to fail. These really aren't insurmountable problems, not by a long shot.

Obviously there will be hiccups, but as pointed out, we're not going to see a flood of electrics any time soon. They will hit very very gradually since the use profile is so different than what Americans are used to and comfortable with. Most of their grid use is off-peak, which additionally softens the blow. Finally, as soon as we either have brownouts or electricity prices spike, you know there will be action. Nothing moves politicians like voters in pain. Everyone's all worried about nuke, oil, coal, etc until they're the ones with a $300 monthly power bill and mandatory blackouts. Then they'll build a nuke in the middle of a hospital/elementary school.

Where's the faith in the free market and darwinism?
 
Aluisious said:
Hydrogen still has the electrical generation problem. In fact it's a bigger problem, because you've added another step for inefficiency in the system.

PS njy ur low energy density

It'll be nice that you can fill a fuel cell quickly, because you'll be doing it all the time.
Click to expand...

Errr, have you seen the Clarity FCX?

EDIT: Someone beat me to it.
 
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