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Old 11-21-2010, 01:43 PM   #10 (permalink)
Ryland
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Irukandji83 View Post
I suppose I'm shocked because diesel engines are inherently more fuel efficient than gasoline engines for starters.
If I had kept driving 100+ miles each way to work then I would have bought a diesel, but I realized that it was a better choice to change my life so I could be 3 miles from work and 8 blocks or less from every where else I tend to go, Diesel vehicles have their place, diesel trucks are great and the people who I know who live in the middle of no where tend to drive diesel vehicles, but they don't work well for short trips, electric cars work well for short trips, gasoline hybrids seem to work well for the rest of the trips, things like delivery vehicles.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Irukandji83 View Post
I don't get electric vehicles right now, I think it's much too soon. They put a bigger strain on our power grid charging up, with electricity sourced from coal burning plants and using expensive Li-ion batteries that have a negative effect on the environment during manufacturing and disposal(not a great impact, but still worth mentioning).
Who knows though? CD players cost in excess of $3,000 in the 80's when they debuted,
What is your source for this? who is saying that electric vehicles will put a strain on the grid? average car is driven 15,000 miles a year or 41 miles per day, electrical cost to charge that comes to a dollar per day, it's pretty easy to find ways to reduce the average persons electrical use by a dollar per day as Mr. and Ms. average American spend $110 per month on electricity when they don't need to.
I just went to a presentation on lithium batteries and it was stated that the largest environmental impact comes from the copper and aluminum in the battery, not the lithium and that the disposal is not an issue as there is no reason they can't be put in the trash... putting lithium batteries in the trash is stupid and wasteful but safe, alto in a I thik 600 pound lithium battery pack in a vehicle like the Nisson Leaf there is around 7 pounds of lithium, the rest of it is copper, aluminum and plastic.

Last of all my 1981 electric car cost around $4,000 new in 1981... of course it also used technology that was already 100 years old.
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