Investing in the Electric Car

Lokolo

Loughton_Monkey wrote: »

There may be some truth in that.

But surely you realise that the best batteries in the world are in the order of 2% efficient????

I suspect the further loss from battery to actual wheel-power is an even further overhead. But 1 unit of battery power requires 50 units of power produced at the power station.

As for the 'green energy' argument, so-called 'green' energy is very limited and very short supply. I'm aware there are very few 'sockets' for electric cars. How many of them have two sockets, one marked 'ordinary' and the other marked 'green'? Or did National Grid just duplicate their entire UK infrastructure while I was asleep?

You should read up on Tesla, you might be enlightened. Their cars plug into mains and take approx 10 hours to fully charge (although you can install a large power supply in a garage which will take less time to charge), which will last around 300 miles (which is their biggest range), although the range will obviously depend on speed at which people travel.

However, because the vehicles are fully electric, there are no engine parts which can will need replacement over age, only things like tyres will need changing, so car repairs would be less over time. The battery would need replacing around every 7 years though.

As above, break regeneration. No noise pollution etc.

atush

I take it you and BixWeir are the same poster then?

cepheus

It is true that there are large energy losses between the power plant fuel and car wheels, the same is true with conventional powered cars, this is called well to wheel efficiency and is about 15% for a typical car overall. As a general rule electric cars are more efficient for town driving, and IC engines particularly Diesels are more efficient at highway type driving.

However, these comparisons miss the point a bit since it is cost, environment and security of supply which are the really important factors. Electric cars provide the potential to be charged from overnight nuclear, wind farms and solar sources, and to store that energy and release it when required.

Idiophreak

Loughton_Monkey wrote: »

As for the 'green energy' argument, so-called 'green' energy is very limited and very short supply. I'm aware there are very few 'sockets' for electric cars. How many of them have two sockets, one marked 'ordinary' and the other marked 'green'? Or did National Grid just duplicate their entire UK infrastructure while I was asleep?

There are several suppliers you can switch to which will give you green energy...it just comes through the same socket..?

birkee

I've met nobody yet that can cope with batteries, they always have problems maintaining them.

Plus they are always unsufficiently charged for a particular job, and can't cope with things like going on holiday for a one car family.
Extra weight when cornering, makes skidding more likely. Battery only, small cars are a nightmare.
Wouldn't even touch a hybrid!

(20 years experience building electric vehicles)

Biggles

cepheus wrote: »

However, these comparisons miss the point a bit since it is cost, environment and security of supply which are the really important factors.

Unfortunately, electric cars fall down on all three of those factors. I agree that they are a short-term option till something better and genuinely greener and more sustainable is invented.

Idiophreak wrote: »

There are several suppliers you can switch to which will give you green energy...it just comes through the same socket..?

I wonder how long before someone discovers that they are selling and 'delivering' more of the 'green' sort than they are actually generating?
;-)

Lokolo

Biggles wrote: »

Unfortunately, electric cars fall down on all three of those factors. I agree that they are a short-term option till something better and genuinely greener and more sustainable is invented.

Yeh it will be interesting, there was some rumours about hydrogen fuelled cars, haven't heard anything like this in a while!

Idiophreak

Lokolo wrote: »

Yeh it will be interesting, there was some rumours about hydrogen fuelled cars, haven't heard anything like this in a while!

I saw this thing once that was like a mini-nuclear reactor that only needed household waste to work. Not only could it power the car, but had enough energy left over for the flux capacitor, too!

Reaper

CarlosTheJackal wrote: »

Some used to say invest in rare Earth metals because they are getting very rare and they are need for electric cars.

No they are not. It's just that extracting them is expensive and polluting so everybody stopped for a while apart from the Chinese, who then realised they had a temporary monopoly.

But now the Japanese have found loads of the stuff in the ocean miles off Japan.

No they haven't, it's little more than dirt and not extractable: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/07/04/japan_discovers_rare_earths_under_pacific/

welshmoneylover

With the way electricity prices are rising, would it not be feasible to suggest that people cannot afford to run the darn things?