Thursday, January 16, 2020

"The future is stupid" - electric car edition


According to this meme (found on Gab), it certainly looks that way!




It's almost as good as a photograph I once saw of a non-hybrid model Toyota Prius (i.e. no engine - plug-in recharging only), driving along a road, with a gasoline-powered generator mounted on its towing hitch!

Peter

7 comments:

Rob said...

Electric cars are quiet, quick & they look clean (the fuel is made & used in someone else's back yard). As a plus they really force the user into doing everything in smaller area (keep it in the city).
Everything is easier to manage, the people easier to convince when they all in one place.
You can see it in the politics, the large population centers where the MSM has any easier time of getting the masses to vote in one direction.
Mankind is moving to the cities all over the globe, electric cars help in this move.

If you're rural & you either bring a generator, move to the city or don't use an electric car and the day is coming when an electric car will be your only choice.

The Freeholder said...

At least they've figured out how to address one of my objections to electric cars-how to carry a bucket of electrons to it when the battery dies.

Jim said...

Assuming the electric grid remains stable, and certainly in California that is not case, electric only vehicles make sense. Most of us travel only 10 or 20 miles a day and we can recharge them at night. Having an option for a high efficiency generator either attached or in a small trailer for the occasional longer trips solves that issue. Especially if I simply rent it when I need it.

Trains have been running diesel electric propulsion for decades. It is somewhat of a proven technology.

A more pressing issue is the difficulty of repair. Manufacturers are putting third party repair shops out of business. It is already well beyond the ability of the average owner to do any maintenance on the vehicles they supposedly own. I would be most concerned about the batteries.

Overload in Colorado said...

There has never been an electric-only Prius. All of them have a gasoline engine.
But yes, running out of electricity in an EV vehicle is bad thing. The Tesla version of the Walk of Shame is having your vehicle unloaded from a flatbed into a Supercharger.
I've owned a Tesla for five years. Never run out of electricity. Come close, and had to default to slower charging to get enough to finish journey. Known I was going to run out and slowed down to conserve a few times too. I liken it to taking a trip 100 years ago in a gas vehicle- You need to know where you can refuel when you plan your route.
Electric Vehicles can plug into standard 110V and a variety of 220v outlets (Welders, Dryers, RV plugs, etc). They just charge slower when plugged into these sources. Expect 3 miles of charger per hour with 110v, and about 25 miles of range via 220v.
With Tesla currently, and other plug standards soon, there are fast chargers that allow much faster recharging. I get about 200 miles in 30 minutes. For example, using the Tesla Supercharger network, I drive from Denver to Las Vegas in 14 hours. In a gas vehicle, it takes me 11. I stop 6 times for 30 minutes each vs 2 gas stops at 10 minutes each. Roughly.
There are currently 3 fast charging plug standards: Japanese (CHAdeMO), European (CCS/SAE) and Tesla.
Sorry, I can go on forever about this, if you have any questions.
Overload in CO

LJ Lyon said...

That sounds about right.

Andrew Smith said...

Peter, that's not a generator being towed by the rescue vehicle but a battery pack for a quick recharge.

Tal Hartsfeld said...

What would this world be without its paradoxes? It's oxymorons? And "Catch-22s"?