Something snuck into the garage overnight

[Dairyman]

Very nice! What transmission is in it?

 

[begreen]

This is an electric car with a single speed transmission clutched to the generator.

 

[Dairyman]

Forgive me for asking silly questions almost all the vehicles I've been around rattle. The only electric powered rig was my father in-laws golf cart that caught fire the one time I road in it.

 

[begreen]

LOL, that must have been worthy of a Chevy Chase movie.

 

[Dairyman]

It was pretty bad. I got out of there quick....didn't want to help fix it.

 

[save$]

I am fearful that it won't long until states start to think they can't stand the lost fuel tax money for road repairs etc. Then you and other electric car owners will be assess a mileage tax. When you consider how much of the cost of gas is tax, that mileage assessment is going to be a hard pill to swallow. My other concern is from the fossil fuel foot print used to generate the electricity to fuel an electric car. I am not trying to be critical. There are a lot of issues still on the burner for conversion to electric cars. That being said, I would stand at the head of the line to support anyone for buying the car they want. I know a lot of Prius owners and have yet to meet anyone who isn't happy with their car. If my wife would go along with it, I too would own a Prius, or similar car.

 

[Vic99]

They have been tossing around a mileage tax here in MA, but so far it's not a threat in the near future. However, like lots of things here, it's inevitable, I think. They want transponders in cars registered here. So much is incorrect about that, such as why would I have to pay MA if I wanted to drive to FL. In the meantime I'm hoping to cheat the man with rooftop PV if I can buy a volt next year.

Serious grid overhaul would be needed if a significant number of vehicles were to tap power plant generated electricity. Can you imagine how much more coal would be burned in the short term? That would result in a spike in CO2 and mercury emissions. Of course in some cases people would get energy from wind, water, solar.

I'd like to see newly built power plants that handle future increased loads to be only renewable. Over time a change to LED light bulbs would have an impact as well, but of course price needs to come down . . . And I'm not a fan of telling people what they have to buy because I think I know better.

 

[begreen]

You're right. They're considering a mileage tax here too, but it is complicated. We put in a solar panel to help defray consumption. Another thing is that these cars have a significant battery pack. Off peak charging and grid-tying the batteries (say in all-day parking lots) could actually supplement the grid during times of peak demand. The more we run on the electrons, the less need to go stirring up some hornet's nest in the middle east. Hopefully that will allow some soldiers to come back home to family and friends.

 

[semipro]

The more we run on the electrons, the less need to go stirring up some hornet's nest in the middle east.

Well said!

 

[Highbeam]

I visited a few dams this week that were dumping tons and tons of water, bypassing the turbines, since they had so much surplus. It's nice to hear those powerlines crackling from all of that non-coal power. We watched a nissan leaf "start his engine" and drive off from a burger stand too. Pretty funny.

 

[begreen]

I let a friend and neighbor try out the car over the weekend. He had the silliest grin on his face when he came back.

 

[georgepds]

.... My other concern is from the fossil fuel foot print used to generate the electricity to fuel an electric car. I am not trying to be critical. ....

I know it's an old post but the answer is, all things considered, electric cars really are cleaner

Here is the conclusion from the union of concerned scientist reported on vox

http://www.vox.com/2015/11/16/973772...hicles-cleaner

One argument is electric power sources are dirty. The UCS puts out a map showing how efficient a gas car would have to be to match an electric car. The higher the mpg the cleaner the electric source

They also link to a tool that lets you map your vehicle and zip.. Here is the result for a 2016 chevy volt in southern NH

"A 2016 Chevrolet Volt charged in 03054 produces about as much global warming pollution as a gasoline vehicle getting 72 miles per gallon."

http://www.ucsusa.org/clean-vehicles...Chevrolet/Volt