Posted on 03/30/2008 6:56:03 AM PDT by Dane
It’s hard to say what sounds better: 100 miles-per-gallon, $1 a gallon fuel, or a car you only have to fill up once a month.
All that is the promise of a new type of car, and this one isn't a far off pipe dream, it’s something you should be able to buy in just 2 years. And it runs on fuel made in the USA.
The long yellow extension cord isn’t the only thing that makes the Toyota Prius Bob Breeze, and his co-workers, drive special. The Austin Energy Company's fleet cars have the one feature everybody wants.
“Definitely, you will get better than 100 miles per gallon,” said Breeze.
That’s more than double a regular Prius.
(Excerpt) Read more at wfaa.com ...
Maybe they’re using free energy generators to charge the cars.
You know, there is so much left out of these equations. It makes me wonder if more than 5% of the population really understands the consequences of all these new initiatives and products.
I work as an industrial electrician and my boss falls for this stuff all the time. When I remind him of the load on the infrastructure as it exists today he kind of goes blank. He should be able to look ahead and see this but he doesn't. He sees "big oil" as the culprits and that's as far as it goes.
How are we going to solve our energy needs if you toss water on the fire by using [horrors] logic?
Darn, caught again ;-)
...and your electric bill would triple.
Did you figure in recharge-braking?
They should put a solar panel on the roof of every car, so that while it’s parked at work or the grocery store, there could be some recovery.
We’ve got to open up ANWAR, and build windmills to charge these cars. I say we spend $9B a week on them - we can obviously afford it - just have to win in Iraq, divert the cash in the teat being sucked on by DoD contractors.
The plug-in Hybrid holds a lot of promise - and threat to some.
So did the "expert" on the video. He said if they charged the cars at night you could add millions of these cars onto the grid when energy demand is lower. In Texas Air conditioners run 24/7 in the summer. And all it seems to get you was 30 miles before the gas engine kicked in, and this was with a Prius that cost another $3000 to modify! Until someone comes up with something that you can drive 80 mph for 500 miles with a 15 minute refueling time, no one will buy this...expecially a Prius!
And what’s wrong with building new power plants? Just think of the jobs it will create.
Now, you’re just being one of those dreaded “Doom and Gloomer’s” don’t you know.....Don’t think about the outcome or anything like that. Only Engineers do that. (Well, some of them anyway.)
Except you forgot a couple of factors: Electromagnetic transmografiers will vastly improve the cyntilation of electrons in the Knuter assembly thereby enabling the rebasacken modulator to quadruple the output of the new envior-windings on the power circuit.
From the article:
With a plug in hybrid you're paying less than a dollar a gallon equivalent for the energy you're using,” said Breeze.That's 1/3 the cost of gas right now, and can be run off nuclear, solar or other clean and non Middle Eastern power sources. Good stuff!
“Did you figure in recharge-braking?”
Recharge-breaking doesn’t add to the 24 HP for 1 hour, It just uses it more efficiently.
Huh and just think if Thomas Edison had listened to the doom and gloomers of his day. The electric lightbulb is dangerous, yada,yada, yada.
You are wrapped in your own preconceived notions and fatalism.
Thank god Thomas Edison didn't think like you.
“Except you forgot a couple of factors: Electromagnetic transmografiers will vastly improve the cyntilation of electrons in the Knuter assembly thereby enabling the rebasacken modulator to quadruple the output of the new envior-windings on the power circuit. “
I thought it must be something like that...
If we build new Power Plants, where will we get the source to make the power?
And, most modern power plants have automated systems and will employ mere hand fulls of people nation wide. As far as the construction, the massive cost to build one these days will slow things down even more. And they will only employ a few highly specialized construction workers.
Don’t even consider Nuclear. They won’t make it past the application stage.
“In Texas Air conditioners run 24/7 in the summer.”
Are Texan businesses really stupid enough to waste all that money? I’m sure they’re at least smart enough to raise the thermostat a bit at night.
Almost everywhere, including in hot climates, electric demand is much lower at night. If nothing else, it takes much less energy to cool a building at night than it does during the day.
You sound like an envirowhacko, with your above statement.
Seems that you are just fine with us being over a barrel with OPEC.
Clearly, you do not understand how electricity works.
Solar panels will be completely useless for charging an electrical system of this type. A solar panel the size of a roof on an auto would have to be exposed for several months in order to produce an hour’s worth of power to move a mass such as this.
Good Stuff? Yah, if you can't do math. The point is that the article starts out with incorrect data (and then goes on to draw incorrect conclusions from it). The energy in electricity costs twice as much as the energy in gasoline. It does not one third as much.
you are mistaken my friend.
The govt is losing money in form of fuel taxes.
They will either continue to raise taxes on fuel, or go to road use taxes in form of tolls or mileage tax.
Short term I am betting on fuel taxes, as gas/diesel vehicle owners have very little recourse.
Gas car owners will then be subsiding hybrid owners, forcing more folks into hybrid/electric cars.
When there are more hybrid/electric cars than gas/diesel vehicles, the govt will raise taxes on electricity to pay for the roads.
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