Re: OT: Blast From The Past

On 30 Apr 2006 23:11:42 GMT, claudel@xxxxxxxxx (Claude V. Lucas)
wrote:

In article <Q9idnblPEuAVqsjZRVn-jw@xxxxxxxxxxx>,
TD Madden <tdmadden48-no@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Claude V. Lucas wrote:
In article <NLWdnYcbNcbyv8jZRVn-tA@xxxxxxxxxxx>,
John Wheaton <wheatonjohn@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

"Rich Koerner" <richk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message

Talk to me about your electric car there tink!!!!!!!!!!!!

You plug that thing in the wall yet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Hey Rich!

Have you ever heard a Radio Talk Show from KGO in San Francisco? The evening
guy on the weekends is Dr. Bill Wattenberg, a scientist who has been
involved in all kinds of projects over the last 40 years. Anyhow, a caller
was talking about how much better off we would be with Electric Cars, and Dr
Bill went on to scientifically explain how that would be far DIRTIER than an
internal combustion car.

Most of the Electricity in this Country comes from burning Coal for the
Electricity, and that is dirty.

The further that you transmit the power, the more of it you lose between the
Coal Burning Plant, and the socket that the car is plugged into.

More of the power is lost in trying to store it in the battery.

All in all, he prefers hybrids, but Electric Cars are overall bad for our
environment.




Another thing about electrics/hybrids is the question
of depleted battery disposal.

Where do you put the dead batteries?

What sort of expense/mess is involved in reprocessing them if
it is even possible to recycle any of the materials.
Haven't you ever traded-in an old battery when you bought a new
one....they are recycled.

I did a bit of net surfing and Toyota, at least, claims that
the materials in thier batteries are 100% recyclable. I just
wonder how clean a process that might be, and how much that
adds to the cost of battery replacement. I saw estimates for
total power pack replacement that ranged from $2K<>$9K US and
I also saw a cost-benefit analysis that claimed auto gas needed
to be at $9.20/gallon for a hybrid to be cost effective. I didn't
drill very deeply into it and I don't know if that particular
source was pushing an agenda or not, but that doesn't seem to
me to be a particularly good selling point for the hybrids. Of
course, if they are marketing to the "Oil Eeeeyyyvvyyylll" crowd,
and the only person *I* know that actually owns a hybrid falls
into that camp, then rational activities such as cost/benefit
analysis probably don't apply.

http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=135399&page=1

Claude

I'm still waiting for the Wankel engine to revolutionize the
automotive industry.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: OT: Blast From The Past
    ... was talking about how much better off we would be with Electric Cars, ... Most of the Electricity in this Country comes from burning Coal for the ... More of the power is lost in trying to store it in the battery. ... All in all, he prefers hybrids, but Electric Cars are overall bad for our ...
    (alt.guitar.amps)
  • Re: OT: Blast From The Past
    ... was talking about how much better off we would be with Electric Cars, ... Most of the Electricity in this Country comes from burning Coal for the ... More of the power is lost in trying to store it in the battery. ... All in all, he prefers hybrids, but Electric Cars are overall bad for our ...
    (alt.guitar.amps)
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  • Re: Hydrogen Production Method Could Bolster Fuel Supplies
    ... put up battery changing stations on the ... I'd expect plug-in hybrids to make a big impact. ... Hybrid powered from UK electricity grid: ...
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  • Re: OT: Blast From The Past
    ... Anyhow, a caller was talking about how much better off we would be with Electric Cars, and Dr Bill went on to scientifically explain how that would be far DIRTIER than an internal combustion car. ... Most of the Electricity in this Country comes from burning Coal for the Electricity, ... More of the power is lost in trying to store it in the battery. ... What sort of expense/mess is involved in reprocessing them if it is even possible to recycle any of the materials. ...
    (alt.guitar.amps)