[ausev] Electric is good, but gas is worse

[Sarah & Erik]

John,

I think of this as different tools for different jobs.  I drive my EV
everyday, and I can resolutely say that it doesn't matter that my car
can't do 400 miles at highway speed, or that it takes more than 5
minutes to charge. Would I like more, faster, better? Sure, but I
don't need it. It doesn't matter because most of my driving is to and
from work with other runs to the grocery store, Home Depot and
Blockbuster. If I need to go further I take my gas car.

Remember to ask the tough questions in both directions. Can you decide
where your gas comes from? Why don't the emissions on a gas car get
better as time goes on? (newer power plants are typically cleaner than
old ones) Why is the well-to-wheels efficiency so low on my gas car?

I would agree that PHEVs are a great way to bridge the gap and bring
EVs into common use, and what I've read show biofuels to be a net
positive.

Getting off topic here... (but less so if you imagine the boiler
driving a generator to drive an electric motor)
External combustion can have fantastic cycle efficiencies, but tends
to need very heavy equipment. Turbines have somewhat fixed losses, so
the larger they are, the less the losses make up of the total. Boilers
need to be heavy to hold high pressure in (the higher the pressure the
greater the efficiency). Also, the idea of driving around with a
turbine doing 100k RPM and a pressurized steam vessel under the hood
give me the willies!

Erik

On 5/15/07, John Rumsey <beesidemeusa at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> EV's that I have read about either have low speeds,
> short ranges, high cost and long recharge times [when
> you can find a place to plug in], or some cobination
> of these. There is definitely a place for the EV in
> the mix of vehicles. I have not yet seen an EV that
> will go 400 mi.at highway speeds, recharge in 5 min
> and cost about the same as an IC hybrid. Since the
> idea is to have less pollution there is another way to
> go.
>
> Start with a plug-in EV that has short range, for
> those little trips, for slow traffic, but which could
> go 100 mph. Use the lowest pollution engine to drive
> an on board alternator which keeps the batteries
> charged for long trips. External Combustion has the
> least pollution because using a forced air flame
> results in very complete combustion. Biofuels work
> very well in EC use, while in IC engines they still
> require petroleum blends to run "properly" and still
> produce unburned hydrocarbons and other pollutants.
> Biofuels simply recycle CO2 and add no more to the
> atmosphere, which is the aim of using EC.
>
> An EC engine is a steam engine. The majority of
> electricity is produced by steam power, why not in
> vehicles too? I have attached my ideas so far. I wish
> I had $ and thumbs that would work [2 left ones] so I
> could build it. I would like to see someone do it and
> would like to discuss the idea further.
>
>
>
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