Posted on 09/16/2008 3:58:35 AM PDT by decimon
ARGONNE, Illinois (Reuters) - A future of all-electric cars coasting along streets and highways may be illusory, given that their range may be cut in half by aggressive drivers speeding along with the air conditioning blasting, U.S. scientists said on Monday.
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Aggressive driving -- faster acceleration and driving at faster speeds -- may cut that range to between 28 and 32 miles. Using the air conditioning may reduce the vehicle's range to around 15 to 20 miles, he said.
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Another Argonne researcher told the conference a highly efficient diesel engine was much more cost-effective for highway driving than a hybrid vehicle with a lithium battery, based on the current cost of fuel and electricity. But the hybrid would beat the diesel vehicle in city driving.
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(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Eclectic ping.
It took a scientist to figure this out?
Sheesh!
:-P
People are starting to find out that the electric car is not the “be all and end all” they originally thought it was. Last week, an article highlighted the impact that the electric car would have on the electric grid and indicated that utilities are meeting with GM to discuss a rollout plan for the Chevy Volt that won’t overload the grid. I have a distinct feeling the GM will sell a lot fewer Chevy Volts during the first few years than they thought.
Drill!!! Drill!!! Drill!!! Oil is still going to be a major necessity over the next 50 years.
It would take a scientific method to determine what is reality as opposed to assumption.
I like like what this says of this group. They seem to be taking a cost approach rather than a perfect world approach to this and to be considering all factors.
I've been trying to find out how much you can drive the Volt as a hybrid rather than electric vehicle. That is, can you drive it without ever recharging the batteries from an external source?
It seems that an electric run-about car for local use — grocery shooping, local commerce, deliveries, etc. are a good idea, but then have a diesel car for the long trips.
Here in Shanghai, bicycles are going out, and electric bikes and scooters are in. The bike shops have just as many electric scooters on sale as they do bicycles now. You see the people coming home from work and pulling the batteries out of their scooters for the overnight re-charge. In the morning they are off again.
The scooters are not really the answer for most Americans, obviously. But soon two-car families might have an electric run-about plugged-in in the garage next to a high efficiency, cleaner-burning diesel vehicle.
A car will not solve society’s problems.
A car may solve an individual’s problems. It is not the car’s job to solve society’s problems, real or illusory.
An electric car may be a good alternative to somebody who has a certain driving pattern. For instance, I have a 15 mile commute I drive each day. A small, light, simple electric car might be a good alternative for me. My wife commutes to the train station, two miles away, each day. An even smaller, speed-limited covered electric golf cart would meet her commuting needs. For the weekend, we would still have to step “up” to the Scion xB we now own.
Depending on the cost of electricity, particularly if time dependent pricing is added to the mix, electrics might be a good solution for my family. As for what it does for society, that is not my immediate problem, is it?
Our grid cannot handle millions of these band-aid vehicles.
How much pollution is created making their toxic batteries?
What happens when the batteries will not take a charge.
After the batteries are replaced at 1/3 vehicle cost, how much will the government charge you for “recycling”?
There is as much BS in hybrids as there is in the GW BS that created them.
Maybe we need wind powered cars... sails... yep... that's the ticket!!!
LLS
In Europe, diesels are surpassing gasoline engines in sales.
Unfortunately, in Europe, diesel is taxed at a much lower rate than gasoline....here in the US we do the reverse because "big trucks" are evil.
Diesel is a great answer because its fuel efficiency exceeds gasoline by a wide margin and current engines have lower emissions than their gasoline counterparts. Also, diesels are better for highway driving (which we drive more than any other nation) and have a longer engine life.
However, asking the federal and state governments to lower taxes on diesel is unthinkable, therefore, it may never develop here as it should.
Oh, so true. This article states the longest available range with a lithium ion battery, the best available, is now 40 miles on one charge. This leaves out everybody except a few trendy Hollywierds. When ordinary folks discover they've bought 30K - 40K pieces of junk that won't go more than 40 miles on a charge, and learn how long it takes to charge a new wonder vehicle off a standard 120 volt, 20 amp circuit, they'll want to go back to their old gassers.
GEM has some interesting stuff but these vehicles are street-legal only where the posted speed limit is 35 or less.
There are two electric cars on the market with a 150-200 mile range under normal driving conditions. The problem is cost.
I hope that works but there are a lot of hydrogen conversion scams and chimeras right now.
Right now, plug-in hybrids look most appealing to me because they leave you not entirely dependent on either petroleum or electric supplies. But then, if hydraulic hybrids live up to their promise then petroleum supplies may never again be a problem.
Well, I'm driving one right now! My Mercedes E320 Bluetec so far is getting an average of 32.8 mpg (4700 miles). With 398 lb-ft of torque it accelerates like a Detroit muscle car from days gone by and the drive quality is wonderful. Several people that have gone for drives with me in it have expressed surprise that it's a diesel, it is so quiet. Unfortunately, not built in Detroit, I wish Detroit had something similar. I wonder why Mercedes-Benz will not use its clean diesel technology in its Chrysler division, perhaps they will the technology is simply so great a leap it is hard to see how it could not get a great reception with the American car buyer once properly introduced.
The Chevy Volt is supposed to switch from electric to gasoline whenever the battery is low. So, if you never recharge the battery, the car will start up on gasoline.
The problem with that is, that when you do that, you will be driving a $38,000 automobile with a huge battery and electric motor that you aren't using. If you want to run on gasoline, you might as well buy a $20,000 Hyundai or some other similarly priced gasoline car.
Here’s an article about lithium batteries...it seems to indicate that lithium batteries aren’t as ‘ready to go’ as some would have you believe.
Lithium battery for many vehicles seen a ways off:
http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-GreenBusiness/idUSN1527538820080916
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