[cpdiii]

An electric car that recharges from the power grid actually uses more energy in total than a gasoline engine. The vast majority of our electricity is generated with coal, gas and fuel oil. At each conversion of energy you lose a certain percentage of the total energy available in the fuel. You lose energy when you convert fuel to motive power for the electric turbine, you lose energy in the transmission of the electricity to your house, you lose energy when you charge the batteries of the car, you lose energy when the battery discharges to run the electric motor of the car. The whole concept of charging car batteries from electric power is a loser unless the electricity is coming from nuclear power plants, or renewable sources. To run an electric car from batteries that are recharged from the electric grid will use more hydrocarbons than the gasoline to run the car. Nuclear and solar (if they ever get the cost of solar panels down to economic levels) is the way out of our energy mess.

If the green weenies and the liberals will just keep their damn hands off the market place it will take care of the problem.

PS
Considering the recent record snow fall in New York and Bitter Cold in Europe, this would be a good time to do poll of the public in those area about their belief in Global Warming.

PS PS
I forgot to add it is Bush's Fault. :)

[oceanview]

so what, we have plenty of coal and can produce electricity from that, and perhaps get a few more nuclear plants built. the idea is to use less gasoline, period, and therefore import less oil.

[M. Dodge Thomas]

An electric car that recharges from the power grid actually uses more energy in total than a gasoline engine.

OTOH, it's a lot easier to control point-source than automotive emissions - especially as conventional cars get older.

IF (and note I didn’t say WHEN) we discover in a decade or two that we have to start seriously cutting the amount of CO2 produced, then point source emissions control becomes a very important part of the equation, and it would be nice at that point to have had the experience of operating reasonably mature hybrid technologies at the automotive end of the chain.

So I appreciate the people who are willing to pay a bit extra participate in an experiment that many or may not prove important – and I get a bit ticked off at the person (unless he or she really has an objective need of such a vehicle) who makes fun of the guy in a Primus from the front seat of a conventionally powered full-size SUV or Pickup.

[Cobra64]

At each conversion of energy you lose a certain percentage of the total energy available in the fuel.

Bingo! At least some around here studied high school physics.

[SuziQ]

The whole concept of charging car batteries from electric power is a loser unless the electricity is coming from nuclear power plants, or renewable sources

Sounds good to me. Instead of running down the whole concept, folks should be pushing for those nuke and renewable sources. I myself would love to live in a sunny enough place that I could put some solar cells on the roof of my house, and keep the car plugged in in the garage when I'm not using it.