Posted by Michael B on September 22, 2009, 5:48 am
Not quite. There were several attempts at such before
that, including hot-air balloons.
But they also said such about the personal computer.
> They said that about heavier than air flight before 1903.
Posted by harry on August 8, 2009, 6:36 pm
wrote:
> I guess nobody told Nissan yet huh? They just announced a mass-market
> electric
car:http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/aug/02/nissan-unveils-electri ...
> > The answer is simple. When everyone gets home from work and plugs
> > them in, the lights will go out. Throughout the country.
> No, you got that 100% wrong. Grid capacity is one reason why electric cars
> are unlikely to become ubiquitous any time soon. Our present grids can
> easily support millions of electric vehicles, particularly in off-peak
> hours..
> > I suppose the effect could be moderated if there were charging points
> > at work but then who's going to pay for that?
> What? You want cars to charge during peak load hours? Really?
> > Super/ultra capacitors would make things even worse.
> How so? Just because supercaps CAN be charged quickly does not mean that we
> MUST charge them quickly.
> > Also the gov in the UK is making a fortune out of fuel taxation, how
> > are they gonna tax your fuel for your electric car?
> Don't worry, the bureaucracy will figure that one out!
> > I'd buy an electric car if it had a range of say 100 miles when the
> > battery was new. I could manage as it deteriorated to say 30 miles.
> > ( but only for 95% of the time.)
> I might be a customer also, but it would depend a lot on the price and
> operating expense of the vehicle compared to its capabilities/limitations.
> Strangely, now that I am retired and my transportation needs have become
> simpler, I find that an electric car may not be a good match. First, I no
> longer have need for a second car so I would be stuck 100% with the electric
> car's limitations. Second, since I now drive fewer miles, I now have less
> economic incentive to invest money to lower my transportation costs.
> > And if it was the same price or thereabouts as conventional car.
> > And if I could get a big solar panel too charge it for a reasonable
> > price.
> You are confusing transportation expenses with energy expenses. If it were
> cheaper to charge our electric cars from solar panels, then it would also be
> cheaper to run our homes from solar panels. So if solar panels were
> suddenly much less expensive than today, we would all buy them and connect
> them to the grid with net metering.
> Further, it will be most convenient to charge most electric vehicles at
> night; exactly the time when solar panels are quite usless!
> > Nope, it ain't gonna happen. What will happen is that we'll all be
> > back (in my case) on the buses and trains.
> I agree that it is unlikely to happen anytime soon, but we seem to differ
> greatly on the reasons.
> Regards
> Vaughn
Re solar (PV) panels, it is the ideal way to charge your batteries if
the car is only used infrequently & you are retired.. Solar panels
are less practical for the home because peak use is at the end of the
day. Where I live, I used to drive home in the dark.
If you're retired, I suppose you could plan your life round the
weather forecast. Do all your washing & cooking at midday!
If you want solar panels on the roof for domestic electricity they
only way forward is to be able to export electricity through the day
to make up for your usage of (conventional) electricity at night.
I have looked into all this, at present it makes absolutely no sense
moneywise, you need to be a complete nut to contemplate it. I
already have zero heating bills due to massive home insulation I have
installed. Electricity, I have reduced as much as possible but zero
electricity bills are gonna have to wait.
Posted by daestrom on August 8, 2009, 2:50 pm
harry wrote:
> The answer is simple. When everyone gets home from work and plugs
> them in, the lights will go out. Throughout the country. And our UK
> electricity grid is more robust than in the USA. (At the moment.)
That sort of 'problem' is easy. Here in the states you can sign up to
put large loads on a utility-controlled box that allows them to cycle a
number of home-owners water-heater or A/C on/off on demand. As long as
you don't need 12-16 hours to charge your car, the utility could stage
what cars are charged at each time.
Besides, this problem will only come up slowly as consumers transition
to electric. So the problem isn't going to suddenly come up Monday
evening the first time everyone comes home from work and 'plug in'.
<snip>
> Also the gov in the UK is making a fortune out of fuel taxation, how
> are they gonna tax your fuel for your electric car?
Ah, well governments tend to find sources of income no matter what
consumers do.
> I'd buy an electric car if it had a range of say 100 miles when the
> battery was new. I could manage as it deteriorated to say 30 miles.
> ( but only for 95% of the time.)
> And if it was the same price or thereabouts as conventional car.
> And if I could get a big solar panel too charge it for a reasonable
> price.
> Nope, it ain't gonna happen. What will happen is that we'll all be
> back (in my case) on the buses and trains.
Well, mass-transit has a lot of positives anyway.
daestrom
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