Jt, I tip my hat to you for having the good sense not to try to take a picture on I-95. For the uninitiated, that’s a multilane divided highway that long ago surpassed the capacity it was designed to carry. And it gets worse every year.
Katidid, you’re very insightful. Yup, direct drive motors are an excellent fit for electric vehicles. And they can serve as regenerative braking systems too…
It should be noted that diesel locomotives also use direct drive electric motors at the wheels. The diesel engines actually only turn the electric generators.
I drive I-95 (aka 128) for a couple of exits…If you’re there at the wrong time those 2 exits takes me anywhere from 20 to 45 minutes. With no traffic it takes less then 10.
@caddyman: “When petroleum fuel sells for $10/gallon, electric cars will sell like hot-cakes…”
Hmmm, just got back from Turkey where the price of gas is equal to $11 a gallon. Didn’t see many or any electric cars over there. Just little boxes and buses. Of course electricity is in short supply,
One problem not talked about much is our inadequate electrical grid. We simply do not have the spare capacity for any major development of electric cars at this point.
“One problem not talked about much is our inadequate electrical grid. We simply do not have the spare capacity for any major development of electric cars at this point.”
If we demand more, supply will follow. Remember that electric utilities are monopolies. The state (at least my state) can tell them what to do and when to do it. I suppose the utility could refuse but my state is not afraid to make that decision a difficult one. The Public Service Commission can control rates if they choose to.
have they really built any new power plants in the last decade or so?
I would think that there’d be too much flak from either side. Build a nuclear plant for more effecient electricity you get enviromentalists claiming it’ll bring about the zombie appocolypse. Coal will require more coal to burn, which means more mines to dig out. Hydro plants aren’t really something you can build everywhere. Wind turbines need open areas with lots of wind and hope they don’t fly apart. Solar plants need constant sunlight.
I stick by my trash burning power plant idea, but even then you’d need to get everyone involved to sort their trash and whatnot. Maybe promises of lower electric bills would do the trick, I dunno.
I think that natural gas plants are the most likely to be built, along with solar or wind power. Natural gas plants can be started or stopped very quickly and can be used when wind or sun power is not available. Also, natural gas is abundant, cheap, and relatively clean-burning. We have refuse -burning power plants in MD and they work just fine. It’s a great way to extend the life of landfills.
One problem not talked about much is our inadequate electrical grid. We simply do not have the spare capacity for any major development of electric cars at this point.
It isn’t this simple - we have PLENTY of extra generating capacity for electric cars. Where the grid falls apart is in its transmission capacity into residential areas - apart from that, we’re actually in pretty good shape for the majority of vehicles to switch, and that would still take 20+ years.
Exactly. The studies that manufacturers have done with small fleets have shown that nearly all charging is done at night - and in most areas of the country, the grid is only using 60-70% of its actual generating capacity in overnight hours.
It also adds an interesting dynamic to power generation - right now it isn’t uncommon to use natural gas plants for peaking power - they’re easy to spin up or down, and they’re generally cheap to build. But they’re expensive to operate (at normal natural gas prices). OTOH, nuclear is expensive to build and cheap to operate. But it doesn’t like being turned on or off, up or down. Level out the demand, and you change the economics of which types of power plants are best to build.
I’m not sure I can get behind using CNG to make electricity.
ICE transportation (from mopeds up to supertankers) requires gaseous or liquid hydrocarbons to operate. Not all modes of transportation are readily adaptable to electric power (actually, a cynic might say that, as of today, none of them truly are).
By contrast, electricity can be made out of anything you can boil water with (and a few things you can’t, like tidal and wind). CNG, coal, oil…heck, even stuff like used tires and newspapers! (Not that I necessarily recommend that).
Given that natural gas is a finite resource, I say, save the gaseous and liquid hydrocarbons for the stuff that really needs 'em…particularly, transportation. (Our children and grandchildren will thank us.)
We have to use something to generate electricity. And methane is a lot cleaner than coal is, even after pollution abatement. I’m happy to use whatever burns, but garbage can’t be used exclusively.
As I mentioned above, I advocate using wind or sun when it makes sense augmented by methane for those calm and cloudy days.
I agree. It’s not like 20% of the cars will suddenly be EVs. It’ll be a (VERY) gradual transition to whatever %, so plenty of time to work out load levelling issues.
Yup…forgot about that…But many states also have an excise tax that must be paid every year. And this goes directly (or at least is suppose to go) toward roads.
I have no fear that once electric cars take hold, some form of use tax to replace gas tax wll be created. Politicians show some of their most creative thinking coming up with taxes. I can see a surcharge paid to the state when you register your EV based upon the mileage used for that year…and I’m much dumber than the average politician.
Fuel taxes in most places pay a great deal for road repairs and construction. Many governments will raise taxes to make up the losses from electric/hybrid vehicles. But the real losses are the increased mileage from the all cars. This has been going on for several years. My state has said that any new highways will likely be toll roads. This was true for the Inter-County Connector that recently opened. It skirts about half of the norther suburbs of DC and costs $4 to go from end to end at off peak times to go about 16 miles.