I was just reading about the Chev Volt...
http://www.drive.com.au/Editorial/Ar...&vf=12&IsPgd=0
...the current discussion is that it will have ~60 km full-electric range and more with the generator running. I will start by saying that I think the idea of Hybrids is stupid, you go either full electric or economical internal combustion, combining the two is dumb. But that's not the reason for this post.
Even with a piddly 60 km range I would never visit a petrol station. I would be on electric power 100% of my daily commute. The cost to recharge that 60 km ~ $0.80, or about $8.00 per 600 km. My CDTi costs about $60 to cover the same distance. Obvious savings, obvious attraction.
Now here's the thing, these e-cars will start flooding onto the market (from a number of manufacturers) in 2010 onwards, I'd expect it to reach fever pitch around 2013-2015. Now think about the knock-on effects from the coming paradigm shift from internal combustion to e-cars...
1. Petrol consumption will start to plummet (all that money that was flowing into petro-chemical companies will go elsewhere)
2. Your 4c off at Woolworth's voucher will be irrelevant to you (so you shopping habits may change)
3. Power stations will sell more power, generate more efficiently and make more money
4. The value of internal combustion cars will plummet, overnight they will look old-tech, expensive to run and dirty
5. ...etc etc etc
This is going to be a storm...and it starts in ~2010
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Petrol is for the weak
thats a pretty poor range... i would be asking why so low when the ev1 had 260km
-edit-
The top speed has also been increased on the Volt, from 80 miles per hour (130 km/h) to 120 miles per hour (190 km/h). The battery pack size has also been reduced between the two, from about 300 L in volume in the EV1, to just 100 L in the Volt.
volt wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Volt
Glider aka Toby, 94 Calibra Turbo
I wouldn't sweat about the specs too much at this stage. I expect traditional manufacturers have to walk a fine line to make the transition, if the Volt did 300 km on a charge and did 200 km/hr I would expect traditional car sales would virtually stop over night. It's possible also that they are trading range for performance, quickish charge-times and less batteries to keep the costs down.Originally Posted by glider
I can't help thinking that 'tuning' an e-car will be quite a business, replace a chip here or there, sacrifice range for power and you may well see 0-100 in 4 sec
digifish
Petrol is for the weak
Ok, I've done some research into the LaTrobe valley and etc at uni. Hazelwood powerstation which is the main supplier of baseload energy for VIC currently uses wet brown cole which is abundant in VIC. Hazelwood is the dirtiest powerstation in the World. It produces, if I remember correctly, around 1.6T for each MWh produced.
And it says there that the Volt uses a 16kWh battery. Now if you do the calculation you'll find that, if the Volt was to be recharged during base-load via the Hazelwood powerstation, it would have emissions of 421g/km whilst running on the electric engine alone!!!!!
Your CDTi produces bloody 150g/km mate...electric isn't the solution, it's the opposite of that. Bloody hell...Electric energy isn't produced magically you know...
The way of the future is Hydrogen...
You got romance. You got the boots. So, I just gotta ask. Can I get in your pants?
My thesis had nothing to do with the environment, but the change to the economy that e-cars will bring.
digifish
Petrol is for the weak
I'm just trying to say, electric cars must not take off. People are gullible and will believe that electric is the way to go. Most of the industrialised world uses fossil fuels to produce electric energy. It's a bit of an oxymoron producing electric cars then...don't you think?
You got romance. You got the boots. So, I just gotta ask. Can I get in your pants?
I think they will take off, simply because they will be so cheap to run. Slashing your fuel bill to 1/10th the cost, it's going to pull a lot of sales.
That's what made me sit up and take notice.
digifish
Petrol is for the weak
Though, in stating the above...if we were to produce electricity via renewable energy sources(Iceland uses 100% renewable energy, not a single kilo of fossil fuel is burnt) then electric cars are suitable. But not for the time being...
Either way, we are still far far away from a 'clean' car. The best we can do for the next 20-odd years is to be buying the latest tech diesel cars.
You got romance. You got the boots. So, I just gotta ask. Can I get in your pants?
Well, from that point of view...yes electric cars are great. They are doomed though...as soon as I run out of fuel for my diesel you'll be running out of electricity for your Volt also.
metaphorically speaking
You got romance. You got the boots. So, I just gotta ask. Can I get in your pants?
I am really hoping that bio-fuels take off. I have not done a massive amount of research in to it but I think there are some massive benefits to it.
Most existing cars can run on it
It can be grown by third world countries thus generating an economy for them
The courdroy wearing yoghurt knitting hand wringers always shriek about farmers growing the crops for bio fuel instead of food crops...but heres the thing with bio fuel, it can be made from plant waste...banana skins, corn husks, plant leaves and stalks.
It can also be made from algea grown on lakes...so a lake is built, algea is grown for fuel...water is used for plants and live stock.
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