Posted on 01/03/2012 11:21:53 AM PST by jazusamo
The average global efficiency of coal-fired plants is currently 28% compared to 45% for the most efficient plants (see graph).
That too, but I touched on that with durability.
The guy who sits next to me bought a used 2001 Prius. Got a few years out of it then had to replace the battery or a substantial portion of it - 3 grand. That didn’t entirely fix the problem, it needed a new tranny - another 3 grand. Wound up dumping the car for $1000 plus a refund on the battery. The scrapper probably made a killing.
I drove from Louisiana to my parents’ house in Pennsylvania for the Holidays. I too needed to stop and “recharge” my vehicle four times....
Why, shop in the Cracker Barrel gift shop, of course. Doesn't everyone love to while the happy hours away in The Country Bumpkin Boutique?
The more the plug-ins are down, the better for business in the gift shop. Brilliant merchandising strategy!
Leni
...aaaand, when there are bunch of other recharger greenies lined up at the charging station?
Aned yeah, no resale, just “writeitoff investment”
Jus’ another dumbest idea from RAT gummit!
You need to re read what you responded to.
It is not.
Yeah, and the great thing about recharging your car is it takes about 10 minutes, all told. :-)
About 6~8% line losses.
Sorry, I hit return to quickly on the previous post.
Total system looks more like this.
A coal plant is still a heat engine and has the limitations of a Carnot Cycle. Just as a nuclear plant or a natural gas plant does. It simply cannot reach those types of efficiencies.
I think at the current technology, folks are trying to apply electric vehicles in ways they are not designed.
Every time I see one of these rolling coffins a scene from the Woody Allen movie "Sleeper" comes to mind and I laugh may ass off.
So.. did this guy buy something at the cracker barrel while he was there sucking down their electricity for free?
Mooched off us, and the customers of cracker barrel no doubt.
There are 2 charging spots that I know of in Minnesota.. The spots are right up front. I park in them all the time. I don’t give a rip, and this time of year, the Leaf is out on the highway because it ran out before it got there anyways. there is not fine for parking there, just a sign that says “electric vehicles only”
My car has spark plugs. It requires electricity. It just happens that it makes it on it’s own.
If anyone is surprised at this... then they are a complete idiot.
Batteries cannot be charged quickly like an empty gas tank can be refilled at a gas station. That, and there are very few charging stations to charge your car... at a considerable time cost.
Whenever electric vehicles have a greater range than gasoline cars... a faster ‘refuel’ time than gasoline cars... a cheaper refuel cost... and an overall cheaper price than gasoline cars; then, and only then, will they become competitive.
They are affected -- bigtime.
For example, LiFePO4 starting batteries are frequently installed into motorcycles as starting batteries when the original SLA gives out. They are great when warm -- often more cranking amps and are much lighter, of course. But when below freezing the diminished response of the battery plus the extra drag due to viscosity increase results in their not even being able to crank the engine at first. But with a few seconds of cranking load applied the battery heats up internally and then will turn over the motor. So it does generally succeed in the end. Some people actually turn on the headlight for a minute or two to pre-warm the battery.
They are affected -- bigtime.
For example, LiFePO4 starting batteries are frequently installed into motorcycles as starting batteries when the original SLA gives out. They are great when warm -- often more cranking amps and are much lighter, of course. But when below freezing the diminished response of the battery plus the extra drag due to viscosity increase results in their not even being able to crank the engine at first. But with a few seconds of cranking load applied the battery heats up internally and then will turn over the motor. So it does generally succeed in the end. Some people actually turn on the headlight for a minute or two to pre-warm the battery.
Cracker Barrel’s HQ must be infested with coastal MBA types. I can’t imagine that their customers are a very big part of the market for electric cars (and I say that approvingly.)
I was simplifying the calcs. 85% efficient is the boiler efficiency. I went with 50% line losses to account for all other losses. .5 times .85 is .425. I think you will find that my final answer is around the correct number even though I didn’t do it the right way. I didn’t expect there would be anyone on this thread that would be bothered by my shortcuts. Next time I will show every little loss in every device between the coal fire and the extension cord. sheesh.
A boiler isn’t a power plant.
Looks a lot more like just making stuff up to me.
Since I’m in the boiler industry, a boiler is a power plant to me.
They’re still better than the “electric vehicle charging stations” at our local gas stations. These are identical to the electric outlets on my back deck. 110v/60hz three prong jacks.
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