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Far from Electrifying: Electric car hopes never die — but electric realities keep intervening.
The American ^ | November 26, 2012 | Vaclav Smil

Posted on 12/03/2012 1:55:45 AM PST by neverdem

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To: Eye of Unk
"deaf and blind"

Yes, you are currently miserable, but think of the money you could make by being a perfect reverse barometer. If indeed you get no snow after buying a Polaris, I (and many other people in Wisconsin who hate snow) might be willing to pay you millions to move here. Ditto for the driest lower forty states who need rain. You move to one of those states, buy a motorbike, and it starts raining heavily, think of the fortune you could make. (lol)

21 posted on 12/03/2012 3:48:33 AM PST by driftless2
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To: neverdem

Another in the series of strategic fiscal failures for the Obama economic interruption team. Glaringly obvious testimony against this Administration’s economic policies.


22 posted on 12/03/2012 3:58:35 AM PST by Cvengr (Adversity in life and death is inevitable. Thru faith in Christ, stress is optional.)
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To: palmer

I suspect Obama’s next strategic energy debacle will hinge upon all US employees installing Zip lines between their homes and place of work, which working half the time (can go downhill one way, but the round trip takes power to return), will still be over 3x as successful as the electric car industry sales he has promoted.


23 posted on 12/03/2012 4:04:00 AM PST by Cvengr (Adversity in life and death is inevitable. Thru faith in Christ, stress is optional.)
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To: Cvengr
I wonder how many hurricane Sandy survivors are considering an electric vehicle for their future?
24 posted on 12/03/2012 4:40:08 AM PST by bitterohiogunclinger (Proudly casting a heavy carbon footprint as I clean my guns ---)
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To: neverdem

Even a potential electric car buyer can see the coming increase in electric rates with the coal industry under attack. Why spend more to buy a car to save money when the end result might be something yet again even more expensive to drive?


25 posted on 12/03/2012 4:48:30 AM PST by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing)
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To: neverdem

Flying electric cars that go 500 miles on a 5 minute charge are only 2 years from hitting the market.


26 posted on 12/03/2012 4:56:09 AM PST by SampleMan (Feral Humans are the refuse of socialism.)
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To: neverdem

-——with a standard gasoline engine.———

I don’t know what standard means in this context. How big is the standard gas engine in the volt? Does it power the car or a generator that charges the batteries?


27 posted on 12/03/2012 4:57:47 AM PST by bert ((K.E. N.P. N.C. +12 .....The fairest Deduction to be reduced is the Standard Deduction)
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To: neverdem
Too bad those "SuperPacs" don't run some advertising - 500,000 electirc cars was the promise, more spotted owls, energy jobs from renewables - or "PAPER OR PLASTIC" at the checkout...these are all ideas from the Democrats. How have worked out?

Tell college kids - "You'll be paying on their credit cards till you are ready to retire." Where are the Super Pacs when the noise of campaigns is cut by 90%?

28 posted on 12/03/2012 4:59:04 AM PST by q_an_a (the more laws the less justice)
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To: Alaska Wolf

——— -52F at Tok-——

I’ll bet there weren’t many folks in the campground to enjoy that degree of cold


29 posted on 12/03/2012 5:02:26 AM PST by bert ((K.E. N.P. N.C. +12 .....The fairest Deduction to be reduced is the Standard Deduction)
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To: Eye of Unk
If I stay in Alaska any longer I am getting a natural gas converted Silverado, and yes we have them now up here.

Back in the 60s & 70s, I knew several farmers who converted their pick ups to N.G., I never ran into a single one who actually liked the results for various reasons. Maybe it has improved since then.

30 posted on 12/03/2012 5:04:23 AM PST by Graybeard58 (What G.O.P.e. candidate is in store for us in 2016?)
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To: Eye of Unk

“Because madmen and zealots control the fossil fuel AND they are sabotaging electric solar and hybrid automotive companies.”

huh, nobody from the fossil fuel industry is “sabotaging electric solar and hybrid automotive companies”. Heck, they do that all by themselves.


31 posted on 12/03/2012 5:08:34 AM PST by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: bitterohiogunclinger
I wonder how many hurricane Sandy survivors are considering an electric vehicle for their future?

Good point. There are still areas of the northeast without power. After the hurricane, people with gasoline powered cars were sitting in line for hours to buy gas - but at least they were able to obtain fuel for their vehicles. If necessary, you can walk to a gas station and fill up a can with gasoline to bring back to your car. If you own an electric car, what do you do? You can't walk somewhere and get a can of electricity to bring back to your vehicle.

32 posted on 12/03/2012 5:12:07 AM PST by GreenHornet
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To: bert

In the Chevrolet Volt there is a 1.4 litre gasoline engine which recharges the battery pack. The actual drive train is all electric.


33 posted on 12/03/2012 5:29:18 AM PST by reg45 (Barack 0bama: Implementing class warfare by having no class.)
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To: Eye of Unk

Aren’t steam engines prone to explosions?


34 posted on 12/03/2012 5:34:58 AM PST by palmer (Jim, please bill me 50 cents for this completely useless post)
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To: jonrick46
These lithium batteries experience a gradual drift into senescence as they age. That is, they develop an increasing internal resistance that reduces their charging capacity. No one know how long they will last before they need to be replaced. Cost estimates are between $9,000 and $18,000 to replace

What no one is revealing is that any rechargeable battery has a memory.

Example:
If you constantly charge your cell phone while it has a half charge on it, And this does take a while) when it eventually runs all the way down, when you charge it to full, it will only have taken a half charge.

35 posted on 12/03/2012 5:53:37 AM PST by Focault's Pendulum (Romney has run a business, an Olympics, and a state. Obama has never run anything but his mouth.)
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To: driftdiver

“physics is a b*tch”...


36 posted on 12/03/2012 5:54:54 AM PST by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter admits whom he's working for)
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To: neverdem

Yesterday, Sun 12/2/12, I was driving down I26 in South Carolina. The speed limit is 70 and there were lots of trucks on the road.

Traffic began to slow down until everybody was barely doing 40. I couldn’t see what the holdup was because of all the trucks.

Finally I worked my way through the jam and saw the problem. A woman was driving a Chevy Volt in the left lane and going about 43 mph. As I passed her on the right I glanced over. She was banging her fist on the steering wheel and, based on her facial expressions, yelling her head off.

Nice car. Wonder where it is today?


37 posted on 12/03/2012 6:02:27 AM PST by upchuck (America's at an awkward stage. Too late to work within the system, too early to shoot the bastards.)
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To: Eye of Unk

“we used to have warm summers, last time was 2004, now every winter is warmer and wetter, more snow, summers are cooler and wetter.”

The only constant with weather is change.


38 posted on 12/03/2012 6:25:08 AM PST by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: Red Badger

Ping.


39 posted on 12/03/2012 6:39:59 AM PST by Army Air Corps (Four Fried Chickens and a Coke)
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To: neverdem

Electric cars are not competitive. Which is why they require government subsidies.


40 posted on 12/03/2012 6:41:24 AM PST by popdonnelly
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