OT: Electric Vehicles--anyone driving them or seriously looked at them?

[tomato coupe]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

... very few people buy an EV for the above. They aren't marketed as such, and I doubt many sales lizards harp about the 'saving the planet' approach.
It's all about POWER, SPEED, 0-60 times...E-Mustang? Not a save the planet vibe there.

I know dozens of people that own EVs -- not one of them has cited those reasons for their purchase.

[Ozz]

Originally Posted by saab2000

I’ll be curious when large-scale energy storage has an impact on the electric grid, prices, stability, etc. Tesla, and I’m sure others, are creating electric storage batteries that are huge. They should help deal with spikes in demand. Ideally, they would charge with solar and/or wind when those resources are available.

From what I have read, the Sand Battery concept seems pretty simple, cheap and low impact.

Also seems like the whole concept of giant generation plants seems outdated (and vulnerable)....diversified sources (wind, solar, nuclear, etc), distributed generation (solar or wind on every house & office building), and a more interconnected grid (sorry Texas) would solve a lot of the "obstacles" discussed here. The engineering problems seem relatively easy (most tech exists) and it is the inertia of the current system that keeps it from progressing.

[AngryScientist]

The several people I know who drive EVs all seem to be doing it for the cost savings and convenience. Most of them have a deal with their employer where they pay some silly small nominal fee and get to charge at work all day, and they have longish commutes, so their fuel spending went from a pretty significant number down to essentially zero.

If I were in a similar situation, i would take advantage of that too.

I kind of want to convert a classic muscle car to EV. would be a fun project.

[Ozz]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

...

I kind of want to convert a classic muscle car to EV. would be a fun project.

Here you go: Best Electric Conversions

[Elefantino]

So apparently RadPower isn't the only company skimping on brakes on their electric vehicles. Ford's CEO admitted that the company “underinvested in braking technology to save on the battery size.”

[MikeD]

Originally Posted by tomato coupe

That seems like that should be an obvious feature. Odd that's it's not.

It is if you have battery backup.

[dgauthier]

Originally Posted by Davist

Batteries aren't the best answer for grid level storage. Pumped hydro (as an example run pumps off solar in the day raise water to a higher elevation reservoir, then use the water flow to generate during the night) can give huge storage with days of duration. Batteries get big fast when talking about grid scale.

Yes, I remember being surprised by this when looking up information about utility-scale batteries: gravity-driven energy storage is among the top alternatives. One opts for it when weight is not a consideration and you need to store and release energy reliably every day for decades and decades.

[MikeD]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

We export more oil than we import..how does that make any sense?

We don't anymore. That's changed.

[tomato coupe]

Originally Posted by MikeD

It is if you have battery backup.

The question still remains; why doesn't a solar setup without battery backup disconnect from the grid and power your house during an outage?

[dgauthier]

Originally Posted by xcandrew

(...) Here's the US chart. Road transport sector is higher in the US at 27%:
https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sou...gas-emissions#
(...)

Thank you for this xcandrew. I notice electricity generation is responsible for an additional 25% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. If we electrify transportation and generate electricity 100% from renewables, we cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in half. That is a big, big deal. (In my best Jeremy Clarkson voice: "How hard can it be?")

[fa63]

It would be more than that, actually. Commercial and residential buildings, as well as industrial operations, also run mostly off of electricity so you would cut a large chunk of those emissions as well.

Originally Posted by dgauthier

Thank you for this xcandrew. I notice electricity generation is responsible for an additional 25% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. If we electrify transportation and generate electricity 100% from renewables, we cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in half. That is a big, big deal. (In my best Jeremy Clarkson voice: "How hard can it be?")

[MikeD]

Originally Posted by tomato coupe

The question still remains; why doesn't a solar setup without battery backup disconnect from the grid and power your house during an outage?

I don't know for sure but regulating the power output is probably too hard to do without batteries (think when a cloud shades the panels and the power level drops). Fluctuating input power to devices in the home could be damaging.

This looks promising https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/...verter-mb1494/

[robt57]

Originally Posted by MikeD

I don't know for sure but regulating the power output is probably too hard to do without batteries (think when a cloud shades the panels and the power level drops). Fluctuating input power to devices in the home could be damaging.

Car have to basically have [or be] one giant capacitor. Doable... ;O

[dustyrider]

I’ll just stick this in here for good measure: Will Prowse

[dgauthier]

Originally Posted by dustyrider

I’ll just stick this in here for good measure: Mike Prowse

Windsurfer posted the same video yesterday. Nice kid in the video but he seems to have gone off his ADHD meds...

Wait...you *have* read every post in this thread...haven't you?