Why aren't we going electric?
With Iran having a headlock on the entire world, and the rising prices of gas, why aren't we phasing out gasoline powered vehicles? Why are we allowing Iran to dictate a pace for everyone? At this rate, I could literally see the price of gas rise to $10.00 per gallon. Why not, California pays an average of $5.00 per gallon.
Re: Why aren't we going electric?
Originally posted by Stoic
With Iran having a headlock on the entire world, and the rising prices of gas, why aren't we phasing out gasoline powered vehicles? Why are we allowing Iran to dictate a pace for everyone? At this rate, I could literally see the price of gas rise to $10.00 per gallon. Why not, California pays an average of $5.00 per gallon.
First off Iran isn't setting the pace, they're as much under the sway of oil prices as we are, just they have slightly more control as they're one of the large (but not the largest) suppliers. Saudi Arabia can and will offset anything Iran does at least in the short term. And in either case we get most of our oil from Canada.
Second off electric powered cars require fossil fuels or nuclear power.
Re: Re: Why aren't we going electric?
Originally posted by Omega Vision
Second off electric powered cars require fossil fuels or nuclear power.
This.
I like the idea of fuel cell tech. But like all initial technology, it'll be much more expensive to implement than using current fossil fuel tech.
If one's interested in investing in future technology, they could always buy themselves a hydrogen powered car, but those things are expensive. (And good luck finding a hydrogen station!).
Re: Re: Re: Why aren't we going electric?
Originally posted by cdtm
This.I like the idea of fuel cell tech. But like all initial technology, it'll be much more expensive to implement than using current fossil fuel tech.
If one's interested in investing in future technology, they could always buy themselves a hydrogen powered car, but those things are expensive. (And good luck finding a hydrogen station!).
Of course if we managed to set up mining facilities on the moon we could get some of that sweet sweet Helium-3.
Re: Re: Re: Why aren't we going electric?
Originally posted by Symmetric Chaos
No, they can use electricity from any source.
Wind or Hydro? Nope.
Nuclear, maybe.
Solar? Admittedly I'm not up to date on the advancements but I'm willing to to bet it hasn't reached the point where we could power all or most of the nations cars with it.
Coal seems the most likely suspect. Or natural gas. Or oil.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Why aren't we going electric?
Originally posted by Omega Vision
Wasn't arguing that. But how many reliable sources are there at the moment that could reach all parts of the country?Wind or Hydro? Nope.
Nuclear, maybe.
Solar? Admittedly I'm not up to date on the advancements but I'm willing to to bet it hasn't reached the point where we could power all or most of the nations cars with it.
Coal seems the most likely suspect. Or natural gas. Or oil.
Most people who seriously advocate electric cars also want to diversify our energy portfolio. At the moment, in the US, the majority of energy for everything is going to come from coal. That's not a permanent state of affairs.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Why aren't we going electric?
Originally posted by Symmetric Chaos
Most people who seriously advocate electric cars also want to diversify our energy portfolio. At the moment, in the US, the majority of energy for everything is going to come from coal. That's not a permanent state of affairs.
I could be mischaracterizing him though.
How long do you see it taking before we could get a system of electric cars (i.e. more than 50% of all cars in the nation) that don't derive their power from some form of fossil fuels?
Or if the answer is not in the foreseeable future, maybe lower the bar and just say less than half of the power from fossil fuels.
Well, they managed to make a hydrogen maker (a hydrolysis machine) that is the size of a common box (something you could carry in your arms) and runs off of solar power, and costs less than $1000 per unit. An Australian company did this. You just have to pay for the water bill AND buy all the containers (connectors, hose, etc) needed to store the hydrogen and oxygen. You'll have to replace the filters every so often just like a water filter.
The storage containers cost between $500-$3000 dollars.
I would assume a scaled up version to power the home and car would need to be 4-5 times as large as would the storage containers. But that's another discussion.
If this is all true, it's pretty eye-opening...
Re: Why aren't we going electric?
Originally posted by Stoic
With Iran having a headlock on the entire world, and the rising prices of gas, why aren't we phasing out gasoline powered vehicles? Why are we allowing Iran to dictate a pace for everyone? At this rate, I could literally see the price of gas rise to $10.00 per gallon. Why not, California pays an average of $5.00 per gallon.
It is easy said then done.
Originally posted by Omega Vision
Well...there are a couple things wrong here.First off Iran isn't setting the pace, they're as much under the sway of oil prices as we are, just they have slightly more control as they're one of the large (but not the largest) suppliers. Saudi Arabia can and will offset anything Iran does at least in the short term. And in either case we get most of our oil from Canada.
Second off electric powered cars require fossil fuels or nuclear power.
Thanks for bringing me up to speed. I was only going by what the media feeds the general public. From what I've heard on the local news, Canada is a major importer but we do not yet have a direct line to their oil reserves, and that it will take time to build, as well as the supposed fact that we have not yet cemented any deals with the Saudi's. The only thing that was stated was that Iran has decided to stop selling oil to several European countries. This is the headlock that I was writing on.
Originally posted by ADarksideJedi
It is easy said then done.
Up til now, we have been what seems to be reactive, and not proactive in our approach to solve this dilemma. I never said that it would happen over night, but there are electric cars in existence. Omega may be correct that this may be worse for our Eco-system as burning coal is dirtier than burning oil, but is it certain that this would be the only way? Could it indeed be the oil conglomerates that also hand a hold over this planet? We have reached peak oil over here in the US, and it has been estimated that within the next 15-20 years, that this will also be the case in the middle east. Will we as a people allow ourselves to walk silently into the dark as reactive people, or will we ever begin to be proactive?