[geeks] electric cars

[Charles Shannon Hendrix]

On Mon, 23 Oct 2006 11:43:57 -0400
velociraptor <velociraptor at gmail.com> wrote:


> This is how the some of the "greaser" conversions work--it allows the
> most convenient use of veggie oil without the biodiesel conversion
> step.  There are some questions as to their impact on durability of
> TDI (rail injection) diesel engines, though, since even with
> filtering, impurities still get into the engine.

All of this sounds too complicated for the mass market.

I certainly don't want a system like that myself.

To me, I don't see hydrogen as a good solution either, mainly because
it can be incredibly dangerous, and it is difficult to store and use.

I also think of the problems of maintaining a hydrogen fuel system.  I
can see end-users making some pretty horrible mistakes, and I can see
the cost of repair and inspection being pretty high too.

We need something that reduces the complexity of the current system in
addition to replacing the fuel.  MHO of course, but I think that would
be almost as big a win as a better fuel.

Alcohol... mileage and power are reduced, but given the relative price
we might not really care about that.  It can be made from recent
biomass too.  

That's one thing in favor of the all electrics... they should be pretty
easy to repair and maintain, and also upgrade.

That last part... that's something the auto makers will not like.  An
electric car, well built, could last a very long time.  Not only that,
but given that electric system improvements don't require huge changes
to the chassis, your old electric car need not be an underperforming
dog either.  

I can see car manufacturers really, really hating that, so it seems to
me we'll see artificial failure built in to them, or lobbying for 
continuous changes in standards so that you can't upgrade old cars.

In some ways too, I can see why they would fear this... their sales
volume would drop like a rock if everyone's electric car ran like new
for 20 years, with upgrades giving you just about anything you want at
least in the drive train.

Of course, as I said before, I'm not really sure that electric cars
solve the pollution problem.  Power plants are heavy polluters, there
is a dependency issue, and batteries are heavy polluters too.


-- 
shannon "AT" widomaker.com -- ["Tara is grass, and behold how Troy lieth
low--And even the English, perchance their hour will come!"]