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Feedback: electric cars
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Feedback: electric cars
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Feedback: electric cars
«
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05/08/2015 10:50:01 »
alan northcutt asked the Naked Scientists:
I believe the solution is informing people about the planetary emergency we are in. And people should buy electric cars so we can survive. you're wrong on cost: the leaf would be perfect in london & not expensive.
the future is electric. i think you were unfair to electrics.
What do you think?
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Last Edit: 05/08/2015 10:50:01 by _system
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alancalverd
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Re: Feedback: electric cars
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Reply #1 on:
05/08/2015 15:59:36 »
How would you generate the electricity? What is the environmental and energy cost of making batteries? How many electric cars can run for 300 - 500 miles at 70 mph on a single charge and be refilled practically anywhere in 5 minutes?
The perfect form of transport in London is a bike, bus or underground train. The problem with cars in a city isn't one of moving traffic, but congestion caused by parked or parking vehicles.
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alan northcutt
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Re: Feedback: electric cars
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Reply #2 on:
10/08/2015 23:08:20 »
1)yes, of course you are correct that mass transit is the best means of transportation as far as greenhouse gas emissions. but I was responding to the naked scientist
program about electric cars when I made my comments.
2)when I said the leaf would be perfect for London I meant the range of 84 miles would be adequate for many drivers within the city for daily driving. and I thought
the program was unfair on electric car prices as being too expensive. the leaf is about 28.980 USD.
3)I drive a volt which gets about 35 miles on a charge, usually enough for my daily drive to use electricity only. the car has gasoline backup for long trips and will do 75mph with
no problem . the price was about 25,000USD after federal tax credits. I find it to be a fantastic car.
4)no car may have your specifications yet, but I think we should be willing to sacrifice a small amount of capability in the interest of combatting climate change.
in 2017 tesla and chevy are coming out with 200mile range plug ins for around 35,000USD.
5)although yes there are environmental costs in making batteries (no device is free of these costs) I believe the life cycle analysis finds electric cars highly superior to
gas cars.
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Re: Feedback: electric cars
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Reply #3 on:
11/08/2015 07:27:24 »
Currently, the energy input to make a small car exceeds its lifetime fuel consumption. Thus making any new car is a Bad Thing - we would do better to run every gasoline car into the ground rather than replace them with electric cars (or more efficient gas cars) before they die.
I do like the Tesla but it still suffers from the chicken and egg problem: the infrastructure cost of providing and supplying sufficient fast charge points everywhere, means "proper" electric cars will only benefit early adopters.
The gasoline car exceeded customer expectations from the start because fast personal transport was a novelty and the fuel (which at the time was industrial waste) could be transported and stored anywhere in huge quantities, transferred in less time than it takes to water a camel, and used when required. Electric cars don't meet any of those criteria.
As for the "planetary emergency", the real immediate threats are too many people, too much religion, and not enough water.
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Last Edit: 11/08/2015 07:29:36 by alancalverd
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