things are never as they seem
“Da, Boris, we haff won the cold war. The silly americans, they burned up all their oil!”
We believe in communism now, oh yes, we do.. “GIMME YOUR OIL! SHARE!”.
I can’t believe that Bush is going to get away with this. I know in my heart of hearts that he is, that the people will not stop him.
Poster. I can’t quite get myself to be patriotic enough to put it on the EV, but it’s a clever idea.
This may be turned into a bumper sticker by Dean Grannes, the originator of the idea 😉
March 5th, 2003 at 8:31 pm
Are the electrons still American if they’re generated by consuming imported fuels?
March 5th, 2003 at 11:31 pm
No, of course not. However, a fairly low percentage of our electricity (less than 20%) comes from consuming oil.
The majority of our electricity is generated from burning coal. Next up is natural gas (always popular with the ‘peaker’ crowd).
In any case, burning oil in a supercritical steam plant and then running it through a EV is considerably more efficient than burning it in a (18-21% efficient) gasoline engine after it’s been through a (60-70% efficient) refining process.
But your point is well taken. This isn’t a downcheck for EVs, though, it’s a downcheck for the power grid!
But MY electrons are 100% american – they come from the hydro station just down the way. 😉
S.
March 6th, 2003 at 4:41 am
I find this to be offensive to all protons.. forign and domestic.. just because they are typicaly seen doing nothing but sitting around most of the time.. damn it.. they are attractive.. positive.. and are all around good particles..
hmmph
March 6th, 2003 at 8:35 am
Exactly! More nuclear, geo, hydro, wind plants are needed for the coming hydrogen economy. I think fuel cell/capacitive hybrids will be the way to go for EV.
However you didn’t account for the efficiencies of the power system on the EV, as in the losses due to charge/discharge cycling. What would be a good comparative measure of total efficiency? Mileage per barrel of sweet crude, perhaps?
March 6th, 2003 at 10:10 am
Sadly, the FCV (fuel cell vehicle) is a myth. There simply isn’t enough platinum to put one in everyone’s driveway. You can make a few, but not a few million. Yes, the automakers know this. Even if the coating on the plates were one atom thick (not currently possible, but they’re working on it) you would still need several ounces of platinum per car.
Even if it weren’t a myth, the efficiencies involved are miserable. The hydrogen economy, as they call it, is something only Dubya would be dumb enough to come up with.
In the meantime, batteries are rapidly passing fuel cells. the honda FCV-1 (honda’s prototype fuel cell vehicle) has a range before refueling of 200 miles. QM, my car, has a range of 120 miles, and a QM built with next-generation nickel zinc batteries (available today) would be able to do 150. And, with high amperage charging becoming a affordable reality due to the drop in prices of power silicon, 30-minute charge times – or less – are available today.
Yes, measuring milage per BTU might not be a bad idea. A typical EV controller/motor combination is about 90% efficient – some a little higher. Batteries vary between 90 and 98% efficient, depending on the chemistry, thermal management, and state of charge.
Ultracap hybrids are a neat idea, but ultracaps aren’t developing fast enough – by the time ultracaps are good enough for production hybrid use, we’ll be out of gasoline. 😉 [This could change at any moment, of course]