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BAR[_2_]

In article ,
says...

In article ,
says...

In article ,
says...

On Sun, 4 Mar 2012 13:35:14 -0500, BAR wrote:

The jury is in on electric cars. They are the future. The problem is
that there hasn't been enough R&D to make them feasible yet.

The hybrid, gas-electric, is just a diesel-electric locomotive downsized
with the added benefit of pulling the electricity generated from
breaking and coasting to charge the batteries. The all electric needs
needs work with storing enough power to be useful over a longer period
of time and distance.

===

I think we both agree on most of those points. Where we seem to
disagree is whether or not it makes sense to roll out half a loaf.

Knowing full well the limitations of half a loaf, I still say yes.
The reason being that getting some electric cars on the road starts to
get people thinking about the infrastucture issues (like charging
stations and better batteries). Same thing with alternative energy
like wind and solar. If you don't start rolling some of this out to
the public you end up with a perpetual chicken and egg syndrome where
you can't have the chicken because you don't yet have an egg and vice
versa. There are also a lot of people whose transportation needs
would be well served right now by a car like the Volt. The problem
is price of course, and prices will not come down until there is
economy of scale, with the engineering and tooling costs amortized
across a wider base. I could use a Volt right now if the price was
right. It would be great for running short errands and the like,
running on gas for the occasional longer trip.

The power grid isn't robust enough today. Adding more and more charging
stations is going to put more pressure on the system that it may not be
able to handle. It is like keeping the 100 amp service into your house
but re-wiring the inside to support 300 amps of continuous draw. Fancy
new charging stations on the old busted power grid is like putting
lipstick on a pig.

The heads on the wind turbines are still tearing themselves apart.

You can get lots of sunshine out in the middle of the desert but, you
have to push the electricity too far to make it useful.

My argument would be that you should buy a Prius or other small hybrid.
The vehicle is more practical and can be a replacement for a couple of
vehicles rather than just an around the neighborhood car.

New things bad... FOX tell me....

Ok, buy a Volt and tell me how much you enjoy owning it.

If I had to buy a Volt or Prius I would buy the Prius. Why, I don't have
to get a special station installed in my house in order to charge up the
battery. I don't have to worry about running the batteries down.