Better Hurry

[CarlV]

We tried steam cars in the beginning because that is what was SOTA. The Germans tried to do diesel and that was to be bio fuel powered, petro diesel was later. Now that there is some demand, a better battery is being R&D'd.

Now Envia Systems, a start-up based in the East Bay city of Newark, plans to announce Monday that it has achieved a critical milestone: a rechargeable lithium-ion battery with an "energy density" of 400 watt-hours per kilogram, the highest energy density known to be recorded.

http://www.siliconvalley.com/ci_20051131
Maybe we shouldn't be so quick to dump the idea other than your President supports it.


Carl

[Charles]

Originally Posted by CarlV

We tried steam cars in the beginning because that is what was SOTA. The Germans tried to do diesel and that was to be bio fuel powered, petro diesel was later. Now that there is some demand, a better battery is being R&D'd.

http://www.siliconvalley.com/ci_20051131
Maybe we shouldn't be so quick to dump the idea other than your President supports it.


Carl

Doesn't matter if my president supports it or not. It's still too expensive.

Get the bugs worked out, make it affordable, and I'll be interested. Until then, it makes no economic sense to me.

If I have a bone to pick with my president and his administration, it would be the fact that they have pissed away a pile of money on these pie in the sky ventures, while standing in the way of proven energy sources which are currently affordable.

The way I see it, my president is unnecessarily costing me money. And I take a very dim view of people who unnecessarily cost me money. I draw my conclusions not on ideology, but instead on economic reality.

The future will get here. Let's just not go broke trying to force the issue.

Chas

[noonereal]

Originally Posted by Charles

Doesn't matter if my president supports it or not. It's still too expensive.


Chas

That is great for today but what about tomorrow?

We all know gas would not be what it is today if this country had followed Carter's lead in 76.

I don't know about you but the price of oil has changed my lifestyle. Not exploring other options has caused this and is as irresponsible as our national debt and cut from the same cloth. Live for today, let the kids worry about it.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by noonereal

That is great for today but what about tomorrow?

We all know gas would not be what it is today if this country had followed Carter's lead in 76.

I don't know about you but the price of oil has changed my lifestyle. Not exploring other options has caused this and is as irresponsible as our national debt and cut from the same cloth. Live for today, let the kids worry about it.

I thought we were exploring other options. All I'm saying is let's no go broke doing so.

As the old saying goes, the stone age didn't end because we ran out of stones. Have a little patience.

Chas

[Twodogs]

Originally Posted by Charles

I thought we were exploring other options. All I'm saying is let's no go broke doing so.

As the old saying goes, the stone age didn't end because we ran out of stones. Have a little patience.

Chas

I would like to see more research into the NG sector. It's proven to make electricity by much cleaner means than coal (which will be charging most volts). Or even propane, as the engines we already have run better, cleaner, and longer on either. If the public will pay 25k for a battery, why wouldn't they pony up 10k for a carbon fiber tank. Then all we need to do is get some fueling infrastructure up. I don't think we could ever run out of NG, not even 100s of years into the future. Tons of it gets burned only to prevent build up (the flares you see burning at well sites). They haven't even got the battery for cordless drills perfected yet, much less one to power the size of motor needed to run a car. Of course, I'm not sure if the NG cars would drive better than Beemers. That's like saying the ride in my work truck improves when I put premium in it.

[CarlV]

Originally Posted by Charles

Doesn't matter if my president supports it or not. It's still too expensive.

Get the bugs worked out, make it affordable, and I'll be interested. Until then, it makes no economic sense to me.

If I have a bone to pick with my president and his administration, it would be the fact that they have pissed away a pile of money on these pie in the sky ventures, while standing in the way of proven energy sources which are currently affordable.

The way I see it, my president is unnecessarily costing me money. And I take a very dim view of people who unnecessarily cost me money. I draw my conclusions not on ideology, but instead on economic reality.

The future will get here. Let's just not go broke trying to force the issue.

Chas

That link goes to a whole mess of reading that, in a nutshell, they Envia) have figured out a half the priced, longer distance, quicker charging battery. They say it could make the car prices go down to 25K and get 300 miles on a charge.
That strikes me as rather significant, YMMV I suppose.


Carl

[Charles]

Originally Posted by CarlV

That link goes to a whole mess of reading that, in a nutshell, they Envia) have figured out a half the priced, longer distance, quicker charging battery. They say it could make the car prices go down to 25K and get 300 miles on a charge.
That strikes me as rather significant, YMMV I suppose.


Carl

I looked over your link and took it as the battery was going to cost 25K, but the price would come down after they went into production.

Perhaps I was too quick in reading the link.

Point is, whenever these newer technologies become viable, I'll jump on the bandwagon. If someone is to build a better mousetrap, I'll buy it.

I just don't want to forced into buying something which is not only more expensive than what I currently have, but by having energy prices manipulated by the powers that be to make them appear affordable by comparison.

I simply can't afford it. And I've been around long enough to spot a shake down whenever it happens.

I'm not stupid, if I can save money with something better, I'd be a damn fool not to do so.

Chas

[Bigerik]

Originally Posted by Charles

Doesn't matter if my president supports it or not. It's still too expensive.

Get the bugs worked out, make it affordable, and I'll be interested. Until then, it makes no economic sense to me.

If I have a bone to pick with my president and his administration, it would be the fact that they have pissed away a pile of money on these pie in the sky ventures, while standing in the way of proven energy sources which are currently affordable.

The way I see it, my president is unnecessarily costing me money. And I take a very dim view of people who unnecessarily cost me money. I draw my conclusions not on ideology, but instead on economic reality.

The future will get here. Let's just not go broke trying to force the issue.

Chas

How many other $40K cars are you shopping for, Charles?

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Bigerik

How many other $40K cars are you shopping for, Charles?

None.

But if I were, I suppose you can guess which one in particular would NOT be on the list.

But if you want to buy one, that's fine by me. You could use it to go shopping for 3K IEC power cords.

Chas

[merrylander]

There is a perfectly sensible answer CANDU reactors but the oil and gas companies would rather screw up the environment.