250 MPG

[Les Kern]

I saw THIS article, and it got me to wondering...
I KNOW that energy isn't free, that even if we have to supplement the Prius with house current that we pay in the end... but that doesn't take into account how our recent energy bill was the biggest rip-off suffered by the American people in a long time. Exxon posts a 6 BILLION profit in THREE MONTHS and gets a tax break, as do all other corporations. There is LESS money for research. Bush's cronies are happy. The Saudi's are happy. Wall Street is happy. The energy companies (who WROTE the energy bill) have industrial strength woodies.
But you and me? $3.00 a gallon and climbing.
Think about it... IF we push for nuclear, solar, wind and hydro power, then we can afford to plug in those Prius's. But no. Not in America.
In 1960 Kennedy said that by 1970 we will land on the moon. Today we have no vision. We have no leadership that will look beyond the hand of the lobbyists straight into the eye of the American people and say : "We need to do this for you". Instead they say "We're going to do it to you".
Where is the outrage, sheeple?

 

[HiRez]

Today we have no vision. We have no leadership that will look beyond

Apparently you haven't heard of this! Get excited!!

 

[rockthecasbah]

woo woo, i was just talking about this with my dad...all he really did was add like 18 batteries right? Anyone know how long it takes to charge, im too lazy to read the article.

 

[wdlove]

Yes, the trip to the Moon again and then Mars is vision.

It's the American Public that has to become outraged before anything will happen. There is still purchasing of large cars and driving on vacations. Labor Day might be some indication is there is any outrage by the American Public yet. If record driving continues, then there is still no outrage. That means that politicians won't do anything. It will take a crisis for that.

 

[applecrag]

Apparently you haven't heard of this! Get excited!!

you should be even more excited over this!!


http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/default.mspx

 

[Les Kern]

Apparently you haven't heard of this! Get excited!!

I have.
He has to say SOMETHING, doesn't he?
Baaa-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a----aaaaaa!

 

[Les Kern]

Yes, the trip to the Moon again and then Mars is vision.

It's the American Public that has to become outraged before anything will happen.

I don't know. Charisma, coupled with true sincerity and love for the common good is needed. I haven't seen it in a while.

 

[LethalWolfe]

How environmentally friendly are those batteries when they are disposed of?


Lethal

 

[ham_man]

The only problem with plugging in the car is where it gets its energy. That's right - coal burning power plants. Frankly, I think that people need to start making more sacrifices for the good of themselves and society. If that means they will have to take a hit in the wallet, so be it. As for Bush giving tax breaks to the oil companies, well, I am not all to happy about that...

 

[Counterfit]

Hmm, the concerns about having to plug it in at night gave me an idea.

The Car Dock! You just have it installed in your garage, it will let you when you're in the right spot (with bumps, nothing too fancy), and will physically connect to the car whenever parked and charge it.

Who wants to design it for me?

 

[Les Kern]

How environmentally friendly are those batteries when they are disposed of?


Lethal

Of course the devil is in the details... but nothing we can't figure out IF we put in the effort as a society. Nuclear waste disposal is, in my opinion, first. Plastics, some of which degrade in exactly never, might be second.

 

[LethalWolfe]

Of course the devil is in the details... but nothing we can't figure out IF we put in the effort as a society. Nuclear waste disposal is, in my opinion, first. Plastics, some of which degrade in exactly never, might be second.

I propose we just shoot it into space. Towards the sun or something...


Lethal

 

[mpw]

The only problem with plugging in the car is where it gets its energy. That's right - coal burning power plants. Frankly, I think that people need to start making more sacrifices for the good of themselves and society. If that means they will have to take a hit in the wallet, so be it. As for Bush giving tax breaks to the oil companies, well, I am not all to happy about that...

Of course 1coal powered power station will produce the power for Xnumber of cars but it is far easier to regulate and control the polluotion at one efficient site than it is to control and regulate the emissions of the Xnumber of cars.

The power station supplying the energy could of course be powered by means other than coal.

BUt you are of course right generally in what you says IMHO.

 

[mpw]

…But you and me? $3.00 a gallon and climbing…

Try $6.40 here.

…In 1960 Kennedy said that by 1970 we will land on the moon. Today we have no vision….

Tell Bush there’s oil on the moon and see how quick NASA can convert the shuttle to a tanker!

 

[gwuMACaddict]

is this more of a current event story or a rant about the energy bill? maybe we're in the wrong forum here, folks

that being said, i agree it's fishy that the oil compnies can continually report growing profit margians...

 

[Abstract]

I don't really get this idea. Normal hybrids use the battery at slower speeds, like when they are accelerating, and then switch to petrol at higher speeds, since cars use up a lot of petrol while accelerating from a full stop.

Okay, so this car, which has 18 batteries in it's boot, uses battery power at acceleration, but uses these extra 18 batteries while at high speeds? In other words, it uses the battery at slower speeds, and it uses the extra batteries + petrol at higher speeds, when in a normal hybrid, it would only be using petrol.

Correct?

 

[Mac_Freak]

To bad that such technology won't adopt as quickly here as abroad, like Europe. In Europe a lot cars now run on natural gas, which not only that is cheaper it also is safer on the environment. From what I hear the technology has advanced to the point where they get more performance -horsepower-by using natural gas.
Hybrids are nice, but plugging in is not that convenient and even impossible if you live in the city if you live in an apartment; and that is where you need this technology the most.

 

[cslewis]

In Europe a lot cars now run on natural gas, which not only that is cheaper it also is safer on the environment. From what I hear the technology has advanced to the point where they get more performance -horsepower-by using natural gas.

Having cars run on natural gas can reduce emissions, but you have to remember that it's a finite resource just like oil. Hydrogen cars, in my opinion, offer the most hope. You can get hydrogen from natural gas, coal, and oil via steam reforming, as well as from water via electrolysis. Experiments have also proved that a solution of titanium dioxide and water bombarded by sunlight can produce hydrogen. Under certain conditions hydrogen can even be made from algae!

I think the future of energy will be decentralized, with each household producing it's own hydrogen via electrolsys, with the enegy from solar cells on their roofs, or a cooperative wind farm. Energy production must evolve like food production... we must progress from hunting and gathering to farming our energy.

*Lecture Over*

 

[wdlove]

It's a garage inventor like this that provides some hope. My prayer is that the American consumers will wake up and force politicians to do what's needed to reduce our dependence on foreigners. This will soon begin to hurt the economy. I think that both politacl parties are to blame equally.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/08/15/hybrid.tinkerers.ap/index.html

 

[rjphoto]

Park it in the sun and recharge

I'm going to need some help here from our engineering friends...

How big would a Solar Panel need to be to recharge the cells of a totally electric car in, say, 6 hours while I'm at work and my car is sitting in the parking lot baking in the sun anyway? How much would it cost to build a fold up unit like they sell for the iPod?

I travel around 60 miles a day commuting and on the job related travel each day in a '97 Honda Civic that gets 30-33 MPG. 50% of it is in stop and go traffic. That works out to around $1300 a year in gas at todays prices where I live. (I paid $2.42 yesterday and today the same station was $2.52)

The Toyota Prius MSRP is $22K and some change with tax, title, blah blah blah... They get what, 45 MPG. That's only a 50% increase in mileage, so I would save $400 a year. It wouldtake many years to pay for itself in gas savings. Even from the enviromental aspect IMO it's still not worth it yet.

Total electric...I would think about it.

Also, take into consideration that to get more range out of the batteries you will be increasing the weight of the car with current battery technology.

 

[Yvan256]

How environmentally friendly are those batteries when they are disposed of?


Lethal

And when they're made, too.

 

[Yvan256]

The only problem with plugging in the car is where it gets its energy. That's right - coal burning power plants. Frankly, I think that people need to start making more sacrifices for the good of themselves and society. If that means they will have to take a hit in the wallet, so be it. As for Bush giving tax breaks to the oil companies, well, I am not all to happy about that...

Only in USA can people equal "electricity" with "coal burning".

(yes, I live in a region where most of the electricity comes from hydro power)

 

[millar876]

i wish you yanks would stop complaining about aparently high fuel costs.

1 us gallon = 3.785 litre
uk fuel costs = 88.9p per litre

the magic F12 button (calculator and unit converter) tells me that at current exchange rates that works out at $6.04 ish per US Gallon.

Maybe it about time you copied the rest of the world and actualy made efficient cars, i.e. a german engineered 3litre V8 will give you a lot more horses and healthier pockets thar an american designed one, plus your speed limits so slow (in places, 55 on some highways, Geez we got 30 in town, 50 on single track(thats 1 lane for both directions Not each) 60 on single caridge wars (1 lane each) and 70 on everything else) heck we have some roads with no speed limits (isle of mann) and still bomb arroung the roads at dangerourly high speeds in 1.0-2.0 Litre hatch backs that weigh less thal a small heard of obese elephants. Americas "drive" (loosest sence of the word) for economic cars seems at best half assed. i mean not signing up for kyoto, lack of diesel cars, and some cars where fuel economy is measured in Gallons per mile.

Im all for fuel economy and saving the planet, my wife has a 1.0Litre 4 cylinder car that gets filled up on £26 ($47.05) and that lasts 300+ miles, my car is a 1.6 4 cylinder takes £45 ($81) to fill the tank and can do 425 miles beafore it needs fuel, if it were a diesil it would my car would cost the same to fill up, but do 900 miles before the next trip to the gas station, with the same Horse power and lower CO2 emissions (those are bad so less is a good thing)

The production model Prius is a great idea but in many real world dosnt do any better (fuel economy) than a diesil and has less power to boot.

I think Fuel cell vehicles or cars with hydrogen engines or even fully battery powerd cars are the way forvard, but until they are viable for every day use at viable prices (prius in uk is overly expencive due to the fact it basicly it has two engines therfore nearly twice the price). but until then i think that new cars should be more efficient and smaller (i.e. more horses for a smaller size)

There are 3 cars out here, all city cars (super compacts i think you'd call them) that were developed by toyota, citroen, and pugeot, that have a 1.0L 3 cylinder petrol engine that only wieghs 79 KG (174 us pounds) and develops 76 Horse power and manages a combined fuel economy figure of arround 61.4 Miles per uk gallon (73.7 miles per US gallon), that is impresive for a small petrol engine, top speed is arround 110 miles per hour and 0-60 in 14seconds. this is the kind of innovation the planet needs NOW as a stopgap until somthing better comes along.

Sorry for the rant earlier, it just riles me up when people complain about high fuel costs when its not realy that high.

Go green!!!

 

[kainjow]

Arg, I recently bought a brand new 05 Civic Si instead of the hybrid Civics because I wanted a speedy/zippy car, but I really wish I would have gone with the hybrid now

My guess as to why gas is cheaper in the US is because of supply and demand. You can't get by in America without a car (unless you live your entire life in NY ) so everyone needs a car. Sure, lots of people in Europe have cars, but public transportation/biking/walking is so much more common there then it is in the US...

 

[ham_man]

Only in USA can people equal "electricity" with "coal burning".

(yes, I live in a region where most of the electricity comes from hydro power)

My father works for an energy company, and almost all of their energy (90%+) comes from coal...

Having cars run on natural gas can reduce emissions, but you have to remember that it's a finite resource just like oil. Hydrogen cars, in my opinion, offer the most hope. You can get hydrogen from natural gas, coal, and oil via steam reforming, as well as from water via electrolysis. Experiments have also proved that a solution of titanium dioxide and water bombarded by sunlight can produce hydrogen. Under certain conditions hydrogen can even be made from algae!

I think the future of energy will be decentralized, with each household producing it's own hydrogen via electrolsys, with the enegy from solar cells on their roofs, or a cooperative wind farm. Energy production must evolve like food production... we must progress from hunting and gathering to farming our energy.

*Lecture Over*

Doesn't it take more energy to extract hydrogen than it produces?