What is Digg?Sponsored by HowLifeWorks
How to Make Your PC as Fast as the Day You Bought It view!
howlifeworks.com - What's the fastest way to restore a computer to its original blazing glory
203 Comments
- Shwaavay, on 07/02/2009, -1/+36Description FAIL
The pic explains nothing of different hybrid types. How does this crap hit the front page? - inactive, on 07/02/2009, -0/+31Hydrogen Cars: 10 years away, every decade since 1970
- norle, on 07/02/2009, -3/+29How does this graphic explain "the difference between a hybrid, a plug-in hybrid, a 2-mode hybrid, and a neighborhood electric"??? Buried for inaccurate description.
- Subiklim, on 07/02/2009, -2/+25Whomever didn't know the information listed there can't be the smartest people in the workd.
Yeah, I was really confused, doesn't an electric motor create pollution?!
On another note, electric cars are not emission free, unless all of your electricity comes from a natural renewable resource (not bloody likely). - AmyVernon, on 07/02/2009, -2/+24The one issue I have is that you don't really know who owns the utility company. Maybe it's not OPEC, but most municipalities don't own the utility companies anymore, and they're not much better than OPEC. Of course, that doesn't make it any worse than OPEC, but also doesn't necessarily make it any better.
- Indyanna, on 07/02/2009, -4/+26But I don't want to wait hours to recharge my car, and I definitely want more than a 100-mile range. And no, I don't want to have to own one electric car and one gas car.
- suntzusputnik, on 07/02/2009, -2/+21out of curiosity, what's the deal with the hydrogen car? haven't heard from that in a good while
- ryanfaith88, on 07/02/2009, -0/+19Turns out we need electricity to make the hydrogen for the cars, and it wasn't that efficient.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industr ... - pacerx, on 07/02/2009, -0/+18Well then keep using old technology until the new technology improves :)
- shadebane, on 07/02/2009, -2/+19What happens when the batteries need to be disposed of or replaced? It seems it would be both expensive and bad for the environment? thoughts?
- DiscoLando, on 07/02/2009, -2/+17Everyone knows Steve Gutenberg and Patrick Stewart killed the electric car.
- Subiklim, on 07/02/2009, -0/+14Also, the diagram compares electric to gasoline cars. I see no mention of plug-in hybrids, and 2 mode hybrids, as discussed in the description. Buried.
- kefkastudio, on 07/02/2009, -2/+15I own a hybrid and it's been great. Just thought I'd mention something before you all get real chummy on this pic: (from http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~coreyp/hybridenvimp.h ... "The greatest environmental impact comes from the pollution caused by the elaborate battery system that powers the electric engine. The battery pollution is substantial because the creation of the batteries requires destructive mining to produce the batteries and the caustic substances that power the batteries must later be disposed of. The caustic substances that power the batteries are very poisonous and when released into the environment leech into the waterways and poison groundwater."
- ousthouse, on 07/02/2009, -0/+13is the electric motor really that small in comparison to the combustion engine?
- Solkre, on 07/02/2009, -1/+11The car doesn't make any pollution to run, but the electricity and car production comes from somewhere that's pollutive.
- 0biKwiet, on 07/02/2009, -5/+15Gas emissions may hurt the environment, but the couple hundred pounds of Lithium Ion batteries, which will wear out fairly quickly compared to the life of a gasoline vehicle, are a disaster.
- pacerx, on 07/02/2009, -1/+10Yes, electric motors are relatively tiny.
- ivanmarsh, on 07/02/2009, -3/+12Sorry but there's quite a bit missing from that graphic... like the pollution created in the manufacture of the electric car and the pollution from disposing of the electric car and all of the heavy metals in the battery once it reaches end of life.
- FLUX, on 07/02/2009, -2/+11they forgot to mention the extra 5k-10k cost of the electric , the incredible pollution produced in making the battery and lastly the battery lasts only about 100k miles and it costs over 7k to replace so there went all your savings on a car you cant take on a day long road trip
- raggedtoad, on 07/02/2009, -0/+7The technology is there. The big car companies are just waiting for it to become cost effective. That will only happen if gas prices spike again or if someone invents a way to produce compressed hydrogen very cheaply.
- jasdf, on 07/02/2009, -1/+8The Volt gets a lot of crap, but I think it is a good idea. Pure electric for 90%+ of trips, and then it turns into a high mileage gas car (with electric drive train) once the battery is depleted. Do I feel like spending $40,000 to buy one....no.
- ChronicColonic, on 07/02/2009, -1/+7It might be 2 cents a mile, but you should also figure the cost of having to replace the expensive battery packs.
- diggB, on 07/02/2009, -0/+6From http://www.evworld.com/
Yes, electric cars have no tailpipe emissions. They produce no local pollution or carbon dioxide, but they aren't entirely pollution-free, especially if they are recharged from an electric power grid that burns significant quantities of fossil fuels like coal.
So, are they any better than a normal gasoline car? Absolutely.
For starters, in terms of carbon dioxide emissions, they generate a fraction that expelled by a normal gasoline engine car. For every gallon of gasoline burned, approximately 22 pounds of CO2, an important global warming gas, are created. If a car gets 25 miles a gallon it will emit 22 pounds of carbon dioxide over that distance, as well as other pollutants. By comparison, an electric car may travel the same distance consuming 5 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electric power at a rate of 200 watt hours/mile. Assuming the local grid is 100% coal-fired, roughly 5 lbs of coal would be consumed to create that 5kWh. Depending on the grade and carbon content of the coal, one kilowatt hour creates approximately 1.4 pounds of CO2. That's 7 pounds of CO2 vs. 22 pounds to travel the same 25 miles. But recall that the power grid isn't entirely coal-fired; it includes hydroelectric, natural gas, nuclear and a small, but growing segment of renewables.
But what about other pollutants, aren't today's cars significantly cleaner? Yes they are and getting more so all the time, which is good. But so is the power grid, at least in terms of many criteria pollutants, if not CO2. And as more wind and solar electric power is added to the grid, and older, more polluting power plants are decommissioned, the grid can get cleaner, though it will still take citizen awareness and pressure, especially in the light of the fact that hundreds of coal-fired plants plan to be built around the world in the come decades, to ensure the very best technology is used, including carbon sequestration if we plan to continue to utilize coal. - shadebane, on 07/02/2009, -0/+6Is that service free or is there a charge? If its free thats a good thing!
- Solkre, on 07/02/2009, -2/+8Chevy Volt
http://www.chevrolet.com/experience/fuel-solutions ... - raggedtoad, on 07/02/2009, -1/+7I love the concept of the Chevy Volt. Most of the drives I make around town are less than 10 miles, and certainly less than 40. And when you need to make those long drives, there is still a good 'ol gas burning engine underneath the hood. It's cool that you can just use cheaper fuel (electricity) and keep it charged in your garage and then just burn gas if you need to.
- UnFriendlyFire, on 07/02/2009, -1/+7Tail pipe emissions are transferred to the power plant (not eliminated).
Power plants buy oil form OPEC, too.
Also what about the toxins for the batteries? - DrDragun, on 07/02/2009, -0/+5Cool chart.
Since we are talking about current technology, not "future potential" (the stats for range, charge time, cost/mile are all current) then it should be reflected that most of the electricity from plugging in does, in fact, create emissions from the coal plant that makes your electricity.
Also there should be some index for comparing the environmental impact of disposing of lots of batteries vs. a larger combustion engine, and how much strip-mining is required to make each version. - ghatid, on 07/02/2009, -0/+5umm, they are smaller, but not that small. That picture shows a motor you'd find on an electric scooter or something. On the other hand, the picture is obviously not drawn to scale because that battery needs to be x100.
- c010rb1indusa, on 07/02/2009, -0/+5Or the batteries used in electric cars could be standardized and gas stations could convert from pumping gas, to swapping out batteries, it be easier to to swap out an already charged battery with a dead one than waiting for your car to charge. This would not only solve the problems of electric vehicles but it would keep gas stations in business.
- pathouston22, on 07/02/2009, -10/+15Wow, looks like ***** to me. Where do you think your electricity comes from? Yup, greenhouse gases/pollution. Unless you get all your electricity from solar, wind, hydro, or nuclear.
Oh, and our gasoline wouldn't come from OPEC if we drilled here and now instead of sending our money overseas. - inactive, on 07/02/2009, -1/+6I'm so glad that those batteries are made of unicorn farts and fairy dust...
- h8f8kes, on 07/02/2009, -1/+6So how exactly do the utilities generate power and what is the cost? While I am all for dumping OPEC and our reliance on petrol; not having all American resources (oil, natural gas, nuclear) on the table weakens us in the short term.
- eclasssystems, on 07/02/2009, -0/+5This could be the most obvious info graphic I've ever seen.
- LiquidIse, on 07/02/2009, -4/+8Hey there! You take that logic and reason some place where it is accepted.
- Akairenn, on 07/02/2009, -10/+14$0.02 per mile?
Is that including the ridiculous price of hybrids vs. the rather low price of my gas guzzler? Forgive me if I'm not drinking the NyQuil on this one. :p - jimpim, on 07/02/2009, -1/+5How about if you charge it when you sleep then if you're out and you're running low you just go to a gas station (guess they're called electric stations in the future) and swap your battery for a filled one.
I suppose that's how it would work, rather than just having one battery you always stick to. - c010rb1indusa, on 07/02/2009, -0/+4Because the pollution moves from non-point source pollution to point-source pollution. It's much easier to circumvent point-source pollution such as coal plants and replace them with wind, solar, and nuclear power plants than it is finding a fuel that burns clean and can power an automobile similar to the way gasoline can.
- D3L3T3D, on 07/02/2009, -1/+5I'll keep my carburetor and pushrods, thanks
- pacerx, on 07/02/2009, -0/+4Nope, electric engines have been ready for decades now. The only real changes have been in battery and charging technology.
- blqysmg, on 07/02/2009, -0/+4There ARE ways to rapidly charge electric cars; they are just not widespread. Normal household delivery of electricity is too slow for rapid recharge, but the batteries are capable of absorbing the electricity quickly enough. All that is required is a high energy delivery system. Several have been demonstrated that can recharge a car in 10 minutes.
- EtherGnat, on 07/02/2009, -1/+5@ivanmarsh: Batteries can be almost completely recycled. Read about Tesla's plans for their batteries for more info.
@tdmeth
DOE studies have shown our current electrical grid is capable of recharging 70% of all light vehicles in the US due to excess capacity at night. Plus the transition will be gradual so there isn't going to be a sudden shortage of energy, and the grid needs to be upgraded anyway. Charging vehicles at night actually improves the efficiency of the power grid which can only be a good thing for electricity costs. - ghatid, on 07/02/2009, -0/+4Yea! lets switch out a massive battery every time we run out of electricity.
Just to let you know, the new prius (not even 100% electric) has a battery pack that's about 150lbs. So...if it's full electric it's probably at least 300lbs...it's not particularly viable to switch them out.
And then there's the problem of getting some old crappy worn out battery after you just switched out... - EtherGnat, on 07/02/2009, -0/+4Yes, because it's a piece of cake swapping out a 900lb battery, and people will be happy to trade in their brand new $10,000 battery for one that may not work as well.
The technology to quick charge batteries is there, it just needs to be refined. - inactive, on 07/02/2009, -0/+3Electric only cars produce 3% of the CO2 of a ICE.
ICE engines spend 97% of their energy doing nothing.
Next time you drive work out what percentage of time you spend actually using the engine to power the car along - i.e Foot on pedal. The rest does nothing but run the radio. - potatonet, on 07/02/2009, -1/+4All batteries can be quick charged in under an hour. The degree to which the battery is stressed is the only issue.
lithium iron phosphate batteries in the tesla roadster can be charged in less than 10 mins and lithium titanate batteries coming out in various electric vehicles can be charged in less than 5.
a glass finish to recent LiFePO4 batteries allows them to charge in under 5, multiple years till market though.
that infographic is incorrect and assumes lead acid batteries would be used. or at least a very slow charger - ghatid, on 07/02/2009, -0/+3Or you can just schedule your sleep around charging your car.
"Oh! it's 3pm, but I'm out of batteries. Time for a 7.5 hour nap!" - xenuxenuts, on 07/02/2009, -0/+3Until we get rid of coal as our main source of power, hydrogen is going to be worse than plug in hybrids. Gasoline is a pretty clean burning fuel, so overall pollution isn't really any better with electric or hydrogen cars. However, in large cities, it makes sense to reduce the concentration of the pollution, and that's where plug-in part of hybrids make the most sense.
Hydrogen will require a huge infrastructure expenditure and it would make more sense to spend the money else where until hydrogen actually has clear advantages. Right now, we really have to pay attention to where we spend our money as a society, and if it doesn't have a clear payback, we can't afford to do it. Improving efficiency will pay back in many ways and do it quickly, and it pays out even if you ignore pollution as a factor. LED lighting and more efficient gasoline vehicles are the clearest way to do that. - zjbird, on 07/02/2009, -1/+4Not to mention the fact that your car is still causing pollution. It's just causing it elsewhere.
- realeskimopimp, on 07/02/2009, -0/+32 cents a mile? Sign me up.
-
Show 51 - 100 of 205 discussions
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is