Posted on 12/14/2013 3:59:04 PM PST by chiller
Engineering breakthroughs like the Tesla Model S may be burning up the electric car market (figuratively and literally), but they’re leaving drivers cold and under-powered in the face of Old Man Winter.
Cold temperatures have adverse effects on batteries, slowing down the incoming and outgoing flow of energy and inevitably losing some in the process. The 250-mile average range of an electric car in normal climate conditions can see its performance reduced by 70-miles on a single charge in average winter conditions. The colder it gets, the shorter than range.
Not only that, the average winter driver tends to turn up the heat — a function that also puts a draw on the battery uncommon during other seasons.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailycaller.com ...
Better to not have peaking plants, then?
Not here. Lots of them under construction. Here’s a few samples:
http://www.lcra.org/energy/power/facilities/index.html
http://www.pandafunds.com/broadcast/news-releases/sherman-groundbreaking/
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/03/utilities-texas-peaker-idUSL1N0HT00720131003
As are yours on the evolution threads.
>> Silly me. Here I thought the epitome of conservatism is “NO NEW TAXES!”
Yet it actually appears to be Chicago Politics writ large: “Target your enemy with new taxes!” <<
.
And you are unaware of how much we are being taxed to encourage production of useless electric cars?
Our taxes are financing much of Tesla plant construction. No one would be crazy enough to build an electric car if there were not massive tax incentives too.
Please put your head back on before further posting!
The comic book evolution threads need some common sense injected.
Better not to need so many just because of relying on unreliable power sources.
PV power only makes sense when operating in conjunction with a battery bank on site.
Ever own an old Volkswagen Beetle?
Unless you had the optional Gas Heater, the regular one heated up the back of your ankles.
‘Norway has the highest per capital Tesla ownership in the world.
Money to fuel my car does not bolster the international price of oil and get filtered to Iran, Russia, Venezuela, and Al Qaeda.”
Are you in Norway? They are the 8th largest exporter of oil in the world.
Yes I am. Those taxes, that meddling in the market, is wrong.
Still adding even more taxes is NOT a solution to too many taxes.
The Tesla plant was the old NUMMI plant, it wasn't new construction. I'd be willing to bet a lot of the old car manufacturing machines and tooling were re-purposed at pennies on the dollar.
When the time comes to build locomotives, people will build locomotives.
It is nearly time to build electric cars, not as a total replacement for fossil fuel cars, but as a very useful and appropriate means of local transportation in many niche applications.
In a free market we'd have our electric cars within the decade. Nearly all the technical puzzle pieces are in place, and the remaining piece, the need for smaller vehicles for short commutes, moderate surface street speeds, and local shopping runs is growing with re-urbanization.
You do know I have a grid-tied (no batteries) PV array on my roof, don’t you?
Rememberr, Chevrolet Corvairs (1960 - 1968) used the "shrouded exhaust" heating system. The fuel fired heater was optional on later models as well for those living in extremely cold climes.
What is “unspecified” in the graph? Is it oil?
Yes, being forced to subsidize the whole electric car thing is the biggest problem with it for me.
I never thought of a car without a normal heater.
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I recall my 1968 VW that would get so hot it required me to roll down the window part way in below freezing temps. The heating was fed directly from the manifold and there were only a couple of small levers to regulate how much heat entered the interior of the car. There was no separate heater.
Would it help to put something like a heating pad or hot water bottle on the batteries at night or in the hours before you plan to drive your electric car?
I can remember long lines at the gas stations, and odd and even numbers on license plates getting gas on alternate days. I don’t recall the hours being changed.
In one eastern city I know of permitting for property owners delays installation of solar panels about 6 months. In germany the installers are certified, and it takes 2 weeks.
“Yes, but when it craps out in the middle of the intersection and gets t-boned by a semi the driver can feel as one with the homeless community as they gather to bask in the warmth of the bonfire provided. Keep a pint of MD 20-20 handy for these gabfests. No Chardonnay please.”
Best Post in months! Cheers!
The old air-cooled VW Beetle gas engines could not heat the vehicle in the winter,...
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False. My ‘68 Bug and the later ‘72 Super Bug, would both heat the interior so fast that I had to drive with my window half down.
In the late ‘60s, during a snow-sleet-ice storm in the DFW area, I drove the 70 mile round trip to work and back. Most cars couldn’t even go up slight grades on the highways, but I would go around them on the right and drive steadily up using the off road shoulders. Those Beetles were great!
That’s okay, because if it is a northeastern city, the panels will be under snow and producing no power for 3-6 months anyway. :P
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