what is the advantage of the electric car?

[Neverborn]

i was pondering about this for quite some time now and i don't understand the advantage of it. environmentalists say it stops from polluting the air because the car runs on electricity instead of gasoline but they seem to be forgetting where electricity comes from, burning coal/oil/natural gas or by nuclear power which produces small amounts of nuclear waste every few years or so which they are also against..

i must be missing something because i just don't know what the advantage is.

[OuTpaTienT]

Bingo!

Welcome to TechIMO...your new home. You're obviously a thinker. And a smart one too. So please hang out for awhile. I bet you'll like it here.

The welcome wagon ought to be arriving any minute now.
uT

[Neverborn]

i've been here since march......i don't care for posting, i just read other peoples' problems and right down the answers incase it happens to me

[OuTpaTienT]

Ah ha! Now I see.

Like I said...you're smart. However, now that I know you're smart, I'd encourage you to share your wisdom with us a little more often. (Some days I need all the help I can get. )

While I don't have evidence to back it up, I would certainly think that electric cars are more efficient in regards to the total amount of pollution created and resources consumed per driven mile.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to be buying an electric car until I either have no choice, or electric cars match the performance and range of petroleum powered vehicles, but I do expect that when all things are considered, electric probably is considerably more efficient from a pollution standpoint.


This could be a good thread

[ClubMed]

Welcome

I see the electric car as a method of reducing pollution. In a way it is an interim sollution until we come up with alternatives that are better.

The electric car will not, and cannot prevent pollution, it merely tries to remove one form of pollution output.

Although I think it's great to have environmental awareness, I am often skeptical of all tree-hugger projects and ideas. These environmentalists often rightfully identify a problem, but fail to present those involved with a viable and usable alternative.

The electric car is at the moment not an alternative. It simply does not live up to the standards we need.

[krusty the klown]

One advantage of the electric car is that it can be charged at 'off peak' hours, making best use of the electricity generating plant. Just like having a pumped water storage hydro electric station does... it's a means of storing energy in times of plenty to make up for times of high demand.

An electric car is much more efficient (at source) in terms of energy required to propel the vehicle a given distance: electric motors are over 90% efficient, gasoline engines are up to 30% efficient and diesel engines are around 40-45% efficient.

The power station is around 30-35% efficient

Whilst a majority of our electricity comes from pollution-generating sources, electric vehicles move the pollution from the cities to the countryside and do not seem to offer a significant reduction in CO2 emissions. Obviously, if the electricity came from an environmentally friendly source, then electric cars DO offer genuine reductions in CO2 and other pollutants

I would be interested to see the FULL 'life cycle costs', both financially and environmentally, of an electric car, a similar sized gasoline car and a similar sized diesel car. I think that would be interesting reading

The same argument could be put foreward for "zero polluting" hydrogen powered cars - produce your hydrogen from an environmentally friendly source and it's great.....

As far as I see it, the most efficient and practical (in terms of range, performance, etc) alternative vehicle propulsion would be a diesel-electric hybrid system.

[Epidemic]

I still say the most environmentally friendly car would still burn hydrocarbons. Alcohol and methane can be produced from virtually all plant matter. It has a lower BTU per gallon so you would have to burn more. But the real prize is that it is a cyclical fuel. Burning farm produced fuels would require that free carbon be stored in the plant matter before its use. This means every gallon of fuel is now made from the previous gallons.

The oil companies dont have to even die to do this. They can still refine the alcohol and distribute it. Electric cars are nice but the alcohol hybrid method does not simply shift carbon dioxide to the country side. It is a real solution unlike those suggested by our leaders.

Another benefit over electric is that you simply get a bigger tank and you can now go just as far with an alcohol hybrid.

Finally an alcohol vehicle would simply not require a whole lot of retooling at the auto plants.

[krusty the klown]

Originally posted by Epidemic
I still say the most environmentally friendly car would still burn hydrocarbons. Alcohol and methane can be produced from virtually all plant matter. It has a lower BTU per gallon so you would have to burn more. But the real prize is that it is a cyclical fuel. Burning farm produced fuels would require that free carbon be stored in the plant matter before its use. This means every gallon of fuel is now made from the previous gallons.

The oil companies dont have to even die to do this. They can still refine the alcohol and distribute it. But this method does not simply shift carbon dioxide to the country side. It is a real solution unlike those suggested by our leaders.

A similar, genuinely environmentally friendly idea is the use of BIODIESEL.

Biodiesel can be blended in any ratio with petro diesel and can be used in diesel engines without engine modification. It can be made from old vegetable and animal oil, or from virgin vegetable oils.

http://www.soygold.com

http://www.biodiesel.org

A particular environmental benefit of biodiesel is that it is massively more biodegradable than petro diesel, making it very attractive as a marine fuel in highly sensitive areas

A side effect of burning biodiesel is that your exhaust will smell of popcorn / french fries

[Epidemic]

I was going to mention the diesel thing but i got lazy.

I do not know about the Btu per gallon on the two methods. Probably a combination of both would make up the fleet.

The byproducts of plants would probably yield both alcohol and oils.

The point is that why are they stuck on the stupid electric cars that are ultimately fueled by fossil fuels.

As far as the wonderful electric car. Charging batteries is not efficient. There is thermal waste there as well. Pluss how do you drive to florida from new york. You will have to stop for 5 or 6 hours every 4 hours to recharge. Life cycle costs and pollution associated with batteries and other such things now puts lead lithium sulfuric acid and such into the environment. I hate to see what happens when the old electric cars dump lead laden sulfuric acid on the streets. Just a little leak on a few hundred thousand cars will make the roads and eco systems surrounding them wastelands.