Nickz’s Recent Comments

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  An EV with a generator? The Volt!

  "I recently asked the local driver of one of these cars what he would need to drive down the freeway indefinitely. The answer was a 10 kilowatt generator. "

  You're describing the Chevy Volt, except that the Volt will be much better.  It's really not a big deal to slap a generator into an EV, and get an Extended Range EV (EREV).

  The Volt will be pricey to begin with because it's new, that's all.  Eventually it will get much cheaper.  

  The Volt will eliminate 90% of fuel consumption, compared to the average vehicle on the road today.  That's good enough.

  The perfect is the enemy of the good.

  Renewables's obstacles aren't technical, they're social: 20% of the workforce might be obsolete... http://energyfaq.blogspot.com/

  On L.A. Times: 'Hydrogen fuel-cell technology won't work in cars' posted 8 months, 3 weeks ago 77 Responses

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  Batteries are here!

  "why haven't batteries progressed to the point of mass acceptance?"

  Because...they have.  The Volt's battery is likely to cost about $4,000, which is more than cheap enough.

  The Volt's battery will at least last 10 years/150K miles - actually, it's highly likely to last 20years/250K, just like the Prius appears to be on track to do.

  Renewables's obstacles aren't technical, they're social: 20% of the workforce might be obsolete... http://energyfaq.blogspot.com/

  On L.A. Times: 'Hydrogen fuel-cell technology won't work in cars' posted 8 months, 3 weeks ago 77 Responses

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  A few hydrogen answers

  "You cannot compare a 2-seater vehicle to a 4-seater family car. "

  Why not?  The first Tesla was a 2-seater because their target market was luxury sport-car enthusiasts.  The EV-1 was a 2-seater, but the Volt, which is based largely on the EV-1, is a 4-seater.  The evolution wasn't hard, which we see from the fact that the Chevy Volt will go from vapor-ware in January of 2007 to production in 2010, which is very fast for a conventional vehicle, let alone a new drive-train.  They couldn't have done it without building on the EV-1.

  "For a 300 mile range vehicle, even using the best batteries (lithium-ion), your battery system would be both twice the weight and twice the volume of the hydrogen fuel cell system that gets you the same range."

  That's silly.   The Tesla's batteries weigh 900 pounds, which is only 500 more than the Volt.  As I asked before, why would an extra 400 lbs of battery make a difference?

  "there are infrastructure costs with gasoline plug-ins too"

  Not until 2025, according to your chart.  Anyway, it's very hard to believe that hydrogen infrastructure is anywhere as cheap as adding more power outlets.

  Renewables's obstacles aren't technical, they're social: 20% of the workforce might be obsolete... http://energyfaq.blogspot.com/

  On L.A. Times: 'Hydrogen fuel-cell technology won't work in cars' posted 8 months, 3 weeks ago 77 Responses

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  David, your electric car list needs updating

  The list http://greyfalcon.net/electriccars.png is a little out of date.

  The Zap X, for instance, isn't due out till 2010.

  Phoenix says "Phoenix Motorcars' first electric vehicle program is scheduled to launch on Maui during the first quarter of 2009. " per http://www.phoenixmotorcars.com/news-and-events/releases/ ...

  The Miles Highway Speed Sedan is an electric car with room for four people. The range is 160 km and top speed is 128 km / h. The car will come on the market in 2010 and $ 40,000 costs. per http://www.energieportal.nl/Newsflash/Newsflash/Miles-Hig ... translated by Google.

  Renewables's obstacles aren't technical, they're social: 20% of the workforce might be obsolete... http://energyfaq.blogspot.com/

  On L.A. Times: 'Hydrogen fuel-cell technology won't work in cars' posted 8 months, 3 weeks ago 77 Responses

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  Tesla could be scaled up

  The NHA said: "vehicles like the Tesla can never survive as multi-purpose cars even if you scaled them up"

  Obviously, plug-ins like the Chevy Volt are far more practical than EV's like the Tesla (at the moment), but for what it's worth the Tesla could be scaled up prett well.  

  The Volt, a 4 person car, uses about the same energy per mile as the Tesla.  If you were to build in 900 lbs of batteries, like the Tesla, you'd only lose a few % points of efficiency (regenerative braking almost eliminates the old trade-off between weight and MPG).  You'd lose more in acceleration, but you'd still have 0-60 in 10 seconds, which isn't bad.

  Renewables's obstacles aren't technical, they're social: 20% of the workforce might be obsolete... http://energyfaq.blogspot.com/

  On L.A. Times: 'Hydrogen fuel-cell technology won't work in cars' posted 8 months, 3 weeks ago 77 Responses