Well said, sir! Well said, indeed! Me too. A big thanks to the Jeffs for providing it!

Seriously, from an energy policy point of view, having ground vehicles use electricity DOES save the fuel for aviation where we need the energy density of hydrocarbons.

Mike C.

Concur.

The difference is that the fuel doesn't spontaneously combust sitting in the tank.

Lithium cells can do that with an internal fault that happens to trigger at some random time. If we up the energy density a factor of 10, this problem will only get worse.

Imagine if all cars were electric and someone suggested using gasoline instead. People would be horrified by the safety aspect of exploding liquid fuel!


I don't think it will happen that fast or that completely.

Some huge percentage of our driving (like 80%) is commuting. There, an efficient electric car can make a HUGE difference. We are on the cusp of making that quite viable, the only barrier is initial purchase cost at the moment.

So I'm pretty optimistic on electric cars primarily due to the fit with the suburban lifestyle.

A concept I like is fully electric car for daily driver, then for long distance driving, rent or second gas car, or tow small gas generator trailer behind electric. That model would cut car gas usage by ~85%.

Mike C.

Tell me you are not serious about this? You want to tow your gas-burning power source behind your electric vehicle?

Me really thinks you mean torque and not power. I'm old school enough to certainly appreciate torque. Max torque at start must be pretty cool - which is the electric forte.

Yeah, I'd love to drive one. Tesla is certainly leading the electric movement. Again, don't lust after any 4 door (got that from my dad) but that don't mean it's not pretty nice. And as others have said - the quiet has to be a big plus. Might be more cool than the power.

Much of "our" driving is long haul over the road transports, not just commuters leaving their hillside homes for the high rise office parks of Bay Area.

Do you really envision electric tractor-trailer rigs driving across country hauling 80,000lbs. Can they really do this efficiently?

Yes.

You use it only on long trips (which would be occasional, buy a gas car if you travel 1000 miles every week). Perhaps you rent the trailer only when needed. It only runs when necessary to recharge.

It is a common concept:

http://www.teslamotors.com/forum/forums ... tesla-cars

http://www.evnut.com/rav_longranger.htm

http://gajitz.com/little-generator-trai ... -distance/

Because the generator runs only at one power, it can be optimized to be efficient at that one power setting, so the overall system efficiency isn't that bad even towing the trailer. The big win is that majority of the time, you don't have it, which solves the occasional long distance driving need that a pure EV doesn't solve.

Mike C.

Yes.

They can't do it practically, that is, do it for long enough.

Diesel tractor trailers are not ripe for an EV revolution. They haven't even discovered aerodynamics yet.

Mike C.

Walmart spends upwards of a quarter billion (with a "B") on trucking annually and is certainly working on many different fronts to optimize that, including aero packages. I doubt they're the only ones.

Anecdotally, I see a lot more aero treatments on semis than I did first growing up. From side skirts to cab fairings and wings. I think the industry is trying. Part of the problem is that much of the industry is constrained to be able to handle the inter-modal containers, meaning a lot of the trailer shape is a given.

Yes.

You use it only on long trips (which would be occasional, buy a gas car if you travel 1000 miles every week). Perhaps you rent the trailer only when needed. It only runs when necessary to recharge.

It is a common concept:

http://www.teslamotors.com/forum/forums ... tesla-cars

http://www.evnut.com/rav_longranger.htm

http://gajitz.com/little-generator-trai ... -distance/

Because the generator runs only at one power, it can be optimized to be efficient at that one power setting, so the overall system efficiency isn't that bad even towing the trailer. The big win is that majority of the time, you don't have it, which solves the occasional long distance driving need that a pure EV doesn't solve.

Mike C.

Todd,

This actually would be a great solution for someone like me.
I do a few road trips a year, rest of the time I am a local driver averaging 10 to 20 miles a day. When my current car needs to be replaced, this type of option very likely could tip the scales for me to consider a pure electric car. Otherwise, if I go to an electric car, I am stuck renting a car a few times a year which would eliminate a fair amount of the potential savings.

Tim

The solution is real easy for us on BT. If you go beyond the range of the EV, you have to fly. I've made that my standard... :-)

-jason

Walmart spends upwards of a quarter billion (with a "B") on trucking annually and is certainly working on many different fronts to optimize that, including aero packages. I doubt they're the only ones.

Anecdotally, I see a lot more aero treatments on semis than I did first growing up. From side skirts to cab fairings and wings. I think the industry is trying. Part of the problem is that much of the industry is constrained to be able to handle the inter-modal containers, meaning a lot of the trailer shape is a given.

If I'm switching to an electric car I want it to also drive me around, drop me off up front, go home and wait on me to call it back to pick me up. No steering wheel.

I just don't get the electric car. 2X the purchase price and only it works as a stand alone vehicle if you dont drive much!

What savings? If you just drive locally how fuel are you consuming??

Arent most old Prius's hauling around a wornout 800lb battery that can no longer hold a charge? Whats that do to their mileage?

I think I can wait untill we are better able to store and transport electricity.