Nobody said it was "the" solution. That's just your straw-man argument. It is one part of a solution though.
Let me know when the oil industry stops getting massive subsidies.
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Who has or is planning to get an electric car / EV Talk
- Thread starter PracticalMac
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Right after I’ve solved world peace I’ll change my focus to solving that problem. I’m very sorry I can’t manage both at the same time. Perhaps you can help instead of joining car threads?
Do you think that every city can function with only the people living in that city?
1) NYC does not have enough housing for all the people who work in NYC, people HAVE to live in the suburbs
2) There isn't enough mass transit to support every suburban area or the volume of people, or even get to every area within NYC
If you live outside NYC, and you work in NYC anywhere outside of Manhattan, it can range from adding a hour each way to adding several hours each way. NYC Mass transit is designed to get people to Manhattan... Another example is if you live in Queens, and work on the other side of Queens, it can take you FOREVER to get to work (trains spider web into Manhattan, not North/South in be outer boroughs).
Also, if you take away farm lands, what will people eat? Where will we put our solar/wind farms? Who's going to services these? There has to be grocery stores out there, medical care,...
People have to live outside Cities, and people have to live in rural areas. The choice is simply if the individual does or not, but society requires it...
But portable nuclear power plants small enough to be used in cars are a long way off. Yes, they’re in submarines, but still too large, too cumbersome, won’t pass most safety crashes, are REALLY expensive, reduces cargo space significantly, and regulators don’t think much of Joe and Mary Public driving around with enriched uranium. I also don’t see expended fuel rods being easily changed out at the corner gas station or Supercharger complex although one upside is that you may never have to do this unless you’ve been in an accident, the pile has gone critical, and you’ve eliminated most of the Eastern seaboard. Presumably your insurer will total the vehicle.
100% agree.
Many say it is the solution while actively working against other solutions, including the buffoons who worship Musk. Regardless of how many, these views should be challenged. Especially when they promote or lead to inaction in more meaningful projects.
Ah yes, how could you possibly spend any time advocating for sensible policy - you only have to live in the world.
I do help, by advocating for public transit, bicycle infrastructure, more remote work, LESS work, etc.
What is it you think you're arguing against? It is a CHOICE to not invest in reliable, efficient, and fast public transportation. That is the context of my comment.
The rest of what you wrote is a mash up of various ideas that are incoherent individually and together.
To be clear, I'm not suggesting in-car nuclear power, but rather a significantly increased nuclear power grid that will power car chargers (and many other things). Nuclear power could go a long way toward fixing our impending climate disaster, if we would let it.
Planning to get one someday, sure...but honestly, where I live, it's a long way off. Ease of use and reliability of function is a HUGE deal for me; I've been stuck in the middle of nowhere with a broken-down vehicle before in the middle of winter literally praying for someone to drive along and help. (Thus the reason I'm a pretty big fan of Toyota - I've owned 2 Highlanders, a Tundra and a 4Runner and have had no issues with any of them.)
Add severe range reduction and a complete lack of charging stations where I live (not counting a few @ the local university), and it'll be several years before I could even consider one.
Add severe range reduction and a complete lack of charging stations where I live (not counting a few @ the local university), and it'll be several years before I could even consider one.
Really enjoying the EV reviews and comments from those who have them in this thread. I don’t have one and may or may not someday in the long distant future, but it’s long overdue to see EVs become more widespread and I hope they keep proliferating sooner than later.
And fun for me to read about the kind of stuff they can do, like someone said their Tesla pre-cools the interior before they enter! 🤯 pretty dang cool
And fun for me to read about the kind of stuff they can do, like someone said their Tesla pre-cools the interior before they enter! 🤯 pretty dang cool
You can cool or heat the cabin of any vehicle before you get inside, not just EV's. The difference is that with EV's it is done by the use of electrical power, and by the engine on an ICE automobile. The reason for preconditioning an EV is to avoid using battery power while it is plugged to the electrical outlet that is used to charge the battery. In this case the cab will be warm (during the winter), and cool during the summer before you drive it, plus the battery will be fully charged.
If you want to do the same for an ICE automobile, you have to start the engine remotely. For example, it gets extremely cold where I live, so the tree vehicles my wife and I park outside have remote starters. We just set the vehicle to warm the cab when we turn the engine off and come in the house for the night. Then a few minutes before driving the car, we start the engine from inside the house with the use of a remote. In this case, the cab will be warm during the winter, or cool during the summer, but a small amount of fuel will be used by the engine.
Not universally true though. It is illegal to run a cars engine to warm up the interior in the UK due to the pollution in an ICE vehicle. No such concerns in my BMW.
Having a cool car in summer or warm car in winter is a great feature. No more scraping windows for me.
Have you downloaded one of the apps that show where they are? You might be surprised how many there are (depending where you live). Zap-Map is the one I use.
Would certainly be handy to be able to cool the interior. I burnt my back a few weeks ago when I sat in my Audi when Britain was in that heat wave. The option on EV’s to heat the interior would probably be used more here though with our winters.
Leather seats? I always use a sunshade and a reflective cover on my steering wheel. Helps a lot. But yes during the heatwave the precooled car was a godsend. The best 35 minutes of the day.
My old hobby was R/C Cars and at first I started off with gas R/C Cars as the electric cars didn't last long. However, once they improved electric R/C Cars batteries I switched over to them. I can say controlling Electric R/C Cars was a blast as they were quicker off the line and just as fast (if not faster) with a battery lasting 20-30 (it might had even been longer) minutes at full speed. I definitely want to switch over to an electric vehicle , but probably won't be able to afford one. 😔
I'm not that much of a save the earth type of person though I believe we should treat the Earth better for future generations, plus I think Electric Vehicles are getting a bad rap from people who are resistant to change. I just wish they would market electric vehicles in a different way.
I'm not that much of a save the earth type of person though I believe we should treat the Earth better for future generations, plus I think Electric Vehicles are getting a bad rap from people who are resistant to change. I just wish they would market electric vehicles in a different way.
I agree. Both the press and marketing seem to be focussed on either or both the environmental impact and range.
Cars that are not BEV don’t have that focus on range. And today it just isn’t an issue anymore. Sure that are some edge cases in remote “hostile” environments where that may be applicable to a few people but they tend to have specific vehicles anyway for their requirements.
In general and for the general population a BEV is just a much better driving and ownership experience. Soon enough it becomes the norm. As you say it’s already attracting normal car lovers who aren’t in it to save the planet.
It is simple, cities are not sustainable with a workforce that entirely lives within it's boarders, or within reach of a cost effective mass transit system. Even if one is to take mass transit living in a rural area but working within the city, they have to get to said mass transit, which can either be ICE or EV, which is better?
Also, if you lived and worked in the NYC area which has the biggest mass transit system in the US (probably the Americas) you would understand that even living within the MTA's reach, does not mean you do not need a car to get to work. Mass transit is designed to direct a workforce to a centralized location, which in NY metroplex is Manhattan. Commuting anywhere else with mass transit can be almost impossible (I did say "can" be, not is)...
Not sure how else to explain it, unless your intent is to simply dismiss actual counter points, if so, carry on, if not, an actual discussion involves more than simply insulting someone.
The reactors in subs are liquid sodium. Not practical for an electric car. The only good news is when you get car jacked in NYC the odds are the perp will wind up a crunchy critter.
The conversation above is very interesting. it leads me to question the viability of large cities in our society. If you look at the buildings in lower Manhattan and in Madison sq. You see large buildings meant to hold lots of people. Large businesses don’t need to operate this way today. Before I retired from a large corp. I traveled a good deal of my time. my “office” was wherever my lap top resided. I rarely had to go to an “office” and even then most of my company’s buildings had visitor offices that I could use if I needed to be on site for whatever reason. I liked this model better even though the travel was a burden on family life.
Jamie Dimon disagees with you. https://nypost.com/2022/08/25/why-jamie-dimon-is-quietly-clamping-down-on-remote-work-at-jpmorgan/
Yep….and evidently things have really changed in the last year. There was exactly one within 30 miles the last time I checked. Now they seem to be all over the place. I stand corrected!
This seems to be going on all over the place. These charging stations are popping up many a day all around me. If you don't look, you would never know...
Although with that being said, it still won't solve 'all' problems. E.g., my wife owns a 2022 4Runner; I own a 2020 Tundra. I suppose we could replace hers with an SUV; but I pull a trailer a few times a year for >300 miles or so, and use my truck all the time in the middle of nowhere where (I've already checked) there are no charging stations. Owning something like an F150 Lightning would require me to go WAY the heck out of my way to charge @ best; and @ worst is flat out unfeasible.
Out of curiosity, when you are way out in the middle of nowhere how do you charge your phone/mac?
True. But not a problem where I live at, and I assume most rural areas in the US.
P.S. Had to re-edit to explain the following: What is not allowed in some communities is excessive idling, but not the idling necessary to start the engine long enough to soften ice that has formed on the windshield, or water vapor that has condensed on the windshield. One cannot drive a vehicle where ice has formed on the windshield, or on the windshield inside the vehicle.
During the summer it does not take very long for an ICE automobile to cool the cab. In this case one does not have to sit in the car with the engine running very long. Just start the engine, turn the AC on, and drive the car.
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