Sometimes, different is cool.

The iMac and iPhone use to be cool. Now they're just a good piece of hardware.

Plus, I have to think the silence when you step on the gas... power, is kinda neat.

Yeah....it's great we all have choices. If only those proponents of "electric cars only no more evil gas guzzlers" would just sit back and enjoy there little electric cars in silence...now that would be cool.

One car I always wanted was a Honda Odyssey. I remember going through a van stage in the 70's and 80's and I thought a modern version could be cool. Take all the seats out and haul like a cargo van. Load all the sporting goods in and go. Even sleep in it after you watch a movie if you want. Two giant sliding doors. Gets good mileage and rides like a car. Etc.

Problem is it is powerfully stereotyped as a mommy mobile. I could only take so many, "plenty of room for your purse and a diaper bag in that".

Weird how much we judge people by what they drive.

Coal is nothing more than sunlight stored, so perhaps we figure out how to bypass that long process and use it directly. Hydro, wind, photovoltaic, and direct solar do that.

Mike C.

It never made any sense to me that the cost of the back up system is not included in the cost for solar or wind. It's the only way to compare the actual costs of one source with another.

The best bet for this is something called "pumped storage". Basically a hydro setup where they can pump water up when they have excess wind (at 90% efficiency) and then turbine water down when they need the electricity (at 95% efficiency). Round trip, 85% efficient, which compares favorably to batteries but at far less cost per KWH stored. The "battery" is basically water in a pond up higher, so the "battery" can be VERY big for little extra cost.

Some info on it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumped-sto ... lectricity

In real life, the system runs at greater than 100% efficiency due to natural water gain from precipitation. The largest such system is in Bath County, VA. It was built to store electricity simply for supply and demand modulation, not to expressly store renewable energy.


Pumped storage converts an unreliable energy source into a reliable one.

Does require appropriate geography to work, however, though there are some designs to do this using an underground lower reservoir. In this case, it can't be > 100% efficient as there is no natural water outlet.

Mike C.

Now THIS is what I was always afraid of when I drove the Prius! I'm not a tree-hugger. I'm all for being responsible and all, but I liked the Prius because of the tech. It was fun to game it and see what kind of mileage I could get. It was early with the bluetooth and had cool screens.

It crossed my mind more than once that I was getting 50+ MPG on the way to the airport to burn 45 gallons of gas to go eat BBQ.

My 1 ton Cummins Ram Dually 4x4 Crew Cab gets 55 MPH at 55 MPH.

LOL, you got me there - 43 MPG at 55 MPH

Only the Duke can go slower than actual speed!

Todd, cruz is way uglier than a leaf. It looks like a brick with wheels. At least the Leaf has got some curves.

I think that the very most important thing about Electric is that it democratizes energy generation. As a user you can choose to get your energy from any means possible. Sometimes the grid is cheaper (depending on what/where) and sometime your own stuff is cheaper (solar, hydro, wind if available).

OPEC and their shenanigans become irrelevant. That's what's happened with US generation of oil/energy to some extent.

Yeah, and a Duchess is prettier than a Baron because it has a t-tail. Come on!!! Quit drinking the Kool aid!! The Leaf is electric and has some benefits due to that, but it is butt ugly.

Baron is way better looking than the Duchess. Cruz still looks like a brick. Kool-aid is actually not very good for you.

OK, what is cool about a car that goes 80 miles between charges, costs more than a better gasoline car, and looks like a modern AMC Pacer? I see nothing "cool" about this car.

Lest I remind you:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/pnCT24qod4M[/youtube]

[youtube]http://youtu.be/NpE5TtasBsc[/youtube]

I see Leaf's all over here in SoCal. I don't personally like the looks of them. They are kind of like a piper warrior and the Tesla Model S is like a Bo.

I also ended up putting Solar on after I got my Tesla a few years ago. My payback on the solar is less than 5 years, and if our rates keep going up, it will keep dropping. I can feed the grid during peak times (when the value is much more) and use during the off-peak times which is costs much less.

I would love to put batteries in and be able to go almost completely off the grid, but I don't think the cost/benefit makes sense yet.